Middle East, North Africa (MNN) – For Samar,* suffering is as routine as waking up.
Samar battled depression and suicidal thoughts. For many women in the Middle East and North Africa, cultural challenges spawn mental health crises. Abuse, arranged marriages, cultural oppression, and outbreaks of war all drive women like Samar to the brink of suicide.
That’s why Horizons International creates Gospel-fueled social media content to discourage suicide. One anti-suicide video went viral, leading many women to reach out to Horizons International’s follow-up team. One of those women was Samar.
According to Pierre Houssney of Horizons International, Samar “experienced reconciliation with God, repented from her sins, understood salvation, and accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior of her life.”
Samar’s story wasn’t finished. God was preparing her for what came next.
Because Samar lives in Gaza.
When conflict broke out in early October of last year, Samar lived on the edge of a nightmare. “Everybody in Gaza is living from day to day with an understanding that they could be the next to be hit by a missile, snipers, all kinds of shrapnel, or huge explosions,” Houssney said.
Sumar waded into the bloodshed and found a way to help. “She worked at a medical center even before the carnage started happening; she volunteers with the Red Cross. She’s very much on the front lines.”
She’s bringing more than her medical expertise to the people of Gaza; she’s also bringing the Gospel. While people face more danger than most of them have ever faced, she’s giving them the Gospel. Houssney’s team reports that Sumar has seen wounded civilians trust God with their eternal lives even on their deathbeds.
“It’s really the untold story, because the media focuses on Hamas. It focuses on the Israeli army. It focuses on the political side of things, but it’s very unknown what the Lord is doing. He is working in ways that are not coming out in the public media.”
But Samar is still in danger, and so Houssney asks that you pray. Pray for Samar’s physical protection. Pray for peace in Gaza. Pray that God would protect and transform everyone Samar touches.
“I want to challenge people that are praying: pray that you would be transformed by the knowledge that someone is in there, that she is sharing the Gospel with people, that the Gospel is going out.Let that take your mind and heart away from the political things […] I am going to be pro-Gospel, be pro-peace, be pro- protecting the image of God in these people of all different religious, creed, [and] nationalities.”
Support Horizons International at their website.
*Name changed for security reasons
