Never Give Up Hope – Part 2

Never Give Up Hope – Part 2

Yesterday we met Salina*. Now living in hiding with her mother and brother, we continue her story.

Salina stared at her laptop. Her father, Pastor Quornelius*, had been missing for a full year. She had since learned that he was kidnapped while delivering supplies to a secret church in remote northeastern Pakistan.

Mentally drained, Selina wanted to check her email to see if her good friend, Hanna, had sent any news. “But this puts you at risk,” a church elder warned. “They will not stop looking for you, and if they find you and your brother it will uncover everything your father has worked to protect. Not only that,” asserted the elder, “they will force you to marry a Muslim man.”

Selina peered deep into her cold cup of tea, numb with disbelief. She longed to hear from Hanna. It had been six months since they last communicated. As she desperately searched past emails, Selina hoped that her friend might have secretly interwoven clues of her father’s whereabouts into the sentences.

“Does Hanna even think of me?” Selina muttered to the elder. He assured her that, “Yes, she does, and so does your father.” These words brought comfort, but not relief.  None could.  As the elder departed with a blessing, he promised Selina and her mother that he would return soon to their hiding spot.

Once out of sight, he felt tears well up in his eyes. With heavy heart, the elder did not have the courage to share that he had contracted hepatitis the last time he was in police custody. “They had enough problems of their own, and cannot lose hope that their beloved father and husband will soon return home safely.”

One With Them
Even when the stress and sorrow of Pakistani Christians reach such depths, these courageous believers endure, and carry on. Become One With Them. Walk side-by-side with them, praying in the precious name of Jesus for comfort, strength and support.

One With Them CHALLENGE
Join in praying aloud this prayer:

Father God, keep them strong, knowing that their perseverance is not in vain. Give them hope, as they consider that their present sufferings are not worthy to be compared to the glory that is to be revealed. Help them fix their eyes, not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. (Romans 8:18) In the name of Jesus, who reigns victorious even over our trials on this earth. Amen.

*Pseudonym

 

4/24/2013

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. 
(Isaiah 43:2)