The son who carries honor and dignity...

Friday, October 3, 2008

Part of our task in this trip, probably the hardest and at the same time most effective, has been the visits we made to Iraqi refugee families. Every visit represented a story, a story of suffering and tribulation.

This is the story of a family that we were not even supposed to visit, but for some estrange reason we met. They were not even related to the Church in Damascus we are serving with, so it was a first time not just for us but also for our guides and translators.

A son, the last son of the family had been kidnapped one month ago. He is only 7 years old.

As I listened the words and the heart of a desperate father, silently asked in my own heart ‘what can we say? How can we minister to this family? … There are no words…’

Suddenly the man said:

-The male child is the one who carries all the honor and dignity of the family… and this one who is lost, is a very special one since we cared a lot for him.

After a moment of silence the words came out of my heart…

-We are going to pray to God asking your son back… but first, let me tell you a story about another Son who was lost, a Son who carried all the honor and dignity of His Father, a Son who was given and died, but came back to the Father bringing glory and reconciliation to the world.

A seed was planted, not only the seed of salvation, which is the most important; but also the seed of a Father who gave His only begotten Son, and is able to understand the pain of any father who fears and worries for his children.

Love was released when Jackie and Stephanie prayed. We left with tears in our eyes and in our hearts. All of us; foreigners, natives, believers and non-believers. We became familiar in the midst of pain. In hope we are still familiar in the midst of prayer... so the grace of God will shine for His glory.