Thank you very much for your prayers and expressions of care, even though I did not reply to all of them. None of our team of three is feeling perfect. We are continually hoping and praying for good health. And I believe your prayers were answered for me today: I felt quite weak this morning, but the minute I started interviewing, I have to say my physical condition either recovered or was overshadowed in importance by the seriousness of the stories. Sometimes, my pen falls limply on the page as the horror of the words hit me. The room falls silent.
“They stopped my husband at the border and they captured him. We received news of his death a year after. However, we were told that he passed away a month after they captured him. We kept on paying ransoms for a whole year to bring him back, but he was already dead, and we didn’t know that. People would tell me, “Pay this person”, and “Pay this person”, “Give bribes to these people and they will let him out.” But my husband was already dead.”
In discussion with one woman about whether we could take a picture of her or not, she asked me, if her picture was taken, would that mean people would pray for her and her children? I took the liberty to say, Yes. Feel free to start tonight by praying for a woman with a sick 5-year-old and a tiny baby in a yellow dress whom she is hoping will not be sick like her sister.
And here is a short clip of our complex prayers. So refreshing that God hears in any language!
On the lighter side, today five us sat down for lunch which was:
and two Lebanese men started talking football with animated expressions and words, which I picked up despite a predominance of Arabic. The Lebanese woman started laughing and said, “This happens every time! Shall we talk about something else?”
Some things are the same on any continent!