Esther John, born Quamar Zia

Esther John, born Quamar Zia ( 1929—1960) is one of ten modern martyrs, whose statues were installed over the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in 1998 Although born into an Islamic family, she attended a Christian school in India, where she was inspired to convert to Christianity by one of her teachers and by reading the Old Testament. On partition in 1947 her family moved from Madras to Pakistan, where she made contact with a missionary, Marian Laugesen, who gave her a copy of the New Testament and encouraged her study of Christianity. Seven years later she ran away from home because her parents expected her to marry a Muslim man. Working for an orphanage in Karachi, she was baptised and took the name of Esther John. In 1955 she moved to Sahiwal in the Punjab, where she worked in a hospital mission. Later in the following year she entered the United Bible Training Centre in Gujranwala. In Spring of 1959 having completed her training, she moved to Chichawatni where she evangelized in the villages, travelling around on a bicycle and teaching women to read. In February 1960, Esther John was found at her home having been brutally murdered.

Location: Niche over Great West Door, Westminster Abbey, London SW1.