Loving your Neighbor (even when you don’t understand)
Fatima is originally from another country in the Gulf, however she moved to the UAE when she was a young girl. Fatima’s life was quite troubled as she grew up and married. Her husband was quite abusive, and she was eventually able to get a legal divorce. She had found a way to survive but life was never easy for her. She had a work colleague, Nora, that she had confided in. Nora is a follower of Jesus and said she would like to pray for Fatima. What Fatima learned over the next few years is that Nora’s God seemed to hear Nora’s prayers, but when she prayed, her prayers felt empty and meaningless.
This fall, Fatima’s mother passed away from a lung condition that she had developed over several years. During that time Nora was once again able to love on Fatima and her girls. Nora invited another church friend Sandra to go with her to the wake for support and to pray for Fatima and her family.
When Nora and Sandra arrived at Fatima’s home, there were about 25 ladies, young and old, crying and talking in hushed tones. Nora began sharing with Fatima words of encouragement. Fatima and Sandra, who had met a couple of times before, shared greetings, but it was not a time for English. So, while Sandra could not speak Fatima’s heart language, she knew that Nora could, and that Nora would be an encouragement and would be able to provide hope in this sad season.
While all eyes were on Sandra as a westerner that could not speak the language, Nora, from another area in the region, blended in a little more and spoke encouragement both to Fatima, to her two daughters and to her aunt. Many other ladies heard her words of encouragement all the while Sandra prayed for those in the room and for those that had no way of knowing or having a relationship with the one true God.
Join us in praying for God to reveal himself in a very real way to the ladies that feel “hopeless” in this country.
Pray for followers of Christ to be bold as they share the hope they have and for them to be faithful to pray for others boldly!