many rituals that bind us together as a people of God.  'If you are to become a Christian you should learn of these too.'  Robert also took up this angle and said that according to our tradition, potential new members of the church must pass a series of exams and tests before Baptism.  
We were reluctant to encourage Ishmael too much for very good reasons.  It is a crime in Pakistan to proselytise Muslims, a crime that could end up being punished with death.  The strict observance of the law must be kept at all times, or the whole Church could be put in serious jeopardy.  It was also not unknown for some men to pose as potential converts in order to trap missionaries.  At best they would only have them expelled, or put on trial to make an example of them.  At worst, I don't want to imagine.
The policy of the Church was to play it slow and cool, let the person prove himself to be genuine.  I say he because it was almost unheard of for a woman to be allowed to even to come out of the home, let alone make a private visit to a church and to speak with the priests.
Fr. Robert, Ishmael and I talked and discussed many more things that morning until finally it was lunchtime.  Ishmael joined us and wanted to continue talking for the rest of the day.  It was well into the afternoon before we persuaded him to go home to his wife.  He finally left us loaded down with a Bible in his native Sindhi, several prayer books, and a catechism that we asked him to study before he made up his mind about joining the Church.
I thought that would be the end of it, but Robert said he would be back.  He was, over the next few months Ishmael was a constant sight in the Church compound.  He took almost everyone he met there aside to tell his story, or to ask questions about some aspect of the faith.  He badgered the catechists to teach him more and more, and eventually even more than they knew.  The senior catechists in the parish came to me one morning to say that they could teach him no more and that he must be ready for Baptism and reception into the Church.  Robert and I talked long that night about the implications of baptising a Haji.  The next morning Fr. Robert took Ishmael to meet the Bishop in Hyderabad.  
When they returned, Ishmael was jubilant. The Bishop had given permission, but on condition that he get an affidavit, stating that this was his desire alone, and that there had been no coercion or monetary incentives offered on the part of the Church.  Only when this legal document was duly notarised could the sacrament take place.
Early one spring morning during Mass, almost a year after he had first knocked on my door, Ishmael Baloch became Ishmael Yousaf Baloch.  Yousaf is the local pronunciation of Joseph.  We celebrated with an extended breakfast and the people of the parish congratulated him and welcomed him as a brother Christian.  There were more than a few who expressed their concern for his well-being that morning.  But he reassured us by saying he would be safe from any retaliation. He said his old friends understood him and believed in his sincerity.  Besides, he said, I can in all honesty say that I am a good Muslim!  Some of the men stopped with their mouths open in sheer horror.  'Yes,' he said aloud, so that all could hear him.  'A Muslim is one who submits to the will of God.  And I have submitted completely to his will.  By becoming a disciple of Jesus, I have become a true Muslim.  I believe my task in life is to now go and heal the divisions between those who call themselves Muslim and those who truly are so.'
Ishmael left Badin a few days later.  He travelled far and wide visiting his relations and making new friends the length and breadth of Pakistan, proclaiming his new faith in Jesus as the way to God Our Father, wherever he went.  I met him only one more time before I left Badin for my sabbatical leave.  On the eve of Easter he suddenly turned up for the Midnight Mass.  After the reunion he asked for a new Christian ID card and a copy of his baptismal and confirmation records.  He is still as far as I know a wandering pilgrim, a Holy Haji.  and as such being the most courageous and unexpected witness to the faith that I know.  
Journey well, Haji Ishmael Yousaf Baloch.