By an Alliance international worker serving in the Middle East
“This is where our house was,” our friends say, pointing to a photo on their phone. “We had beautiful gardens with olive and lemon trees. Our whole family lived here—brothers, sisters, grandparents, grandchildren.”
All I see is rubble. I don’t know what to say.
Another family member says, “This is my brother.” We scroll through pictures of a young man in a makeshift coffin, people crowded around him, saying their goodbyes. “He was hanging up a sign protesting the government; the soldiers shot him dead.”
Again, I am speechless. I barely know how to respond to such loss in my own culture, let alone theirs.
“This is my niece.” A little girl with huge, brown eyes stares up at me. “She’s in a besieged city,” her aunt says. “My sister says they have only a piece or two of bread to eat a day. They’re starving, and there’s nothing I can do.”
My heart breaks. There is suffering throughout this world; and the more I become aware of it, the harder it is to trust the One running the show. I confess that at times I question His love—and stop praying in faith.
But then I see this reminder: “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” (Matthew 7:9–11).
If I—a broken, evil sinner—mourn this world’s sorrows, how much more does my perfect, good Father? What a humbling challenge to my weighed-down heart! What an encouragement to intercede for myself and those around me!
Will you join me in asking the Father for good gifts? Will you pray for Him to send more workers to His harvest field, including the Middle East? Ask Him to open the eyes of the lost, to restrain the evil responsible for so many atrocities this region. Ask Him to bring peace to nations and hearts.
Thank you for standing with me in keeping the faith.
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Take a look inside a refugee camp.