In this war-torn, hungry and weary land, Yemeni people long for true peace. Here is one story from this nation.
Fawzia* grew up fasting and praying as a dutiful Muslim, but she never felt that her fasting and prayer connected her to God. As the years passed, she got married and then divorced. She had two children and suffered to raise them. She prayed to God a lot and did everything she knew to get closer to God and to get Him to respond to her prayers. But the road kept getting tougher until she could barely see any hope at all.
She began to hate God, religion and people, and even hated herself. Fawzia would wake up before sunrise to prepare her children for school and then head to her workplace. At night she’d return home exhausted with barely enough to feed her children. She asked questions that she couldn’t find convincing answers to. ‘Why does God like to torture me? Why do my children go to sleep deprived and crying? Why don’t I feel an inner peace? Why do I feel that I’m not on the right path? Why am I afraid of the unknown and of tomorrow?’
While she was asking all these questions, she began to browse the Internet on her phone until she came across a verse on a Yemeni Christian Facebook Page that stopped her: ‘Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest’ (Mt. 11:28).
She read it again and again, and with every reading she felt the years of pain and sadness being erased from her exhausted soul. Her inner turmoil was being replaced with peace and reassurance. The next night, before she went to sleep, she checked her phone again. That night she wasn’t complaining as she normally did or resenting her circumstances and poverty. She felt only tranquillity and peace in her soul.
Her inner turmoil was being replaced with peace and reassurance
The third night she read even more, and she got to know more about God. He touched her tired soul and made her rest and took her heavy burden and gave her peace, comfort and hope. The Facebook Follow-Up team started to disciple her and study the Word with her. We pray that God will continue His work in Fawzia’s heart.
*name changed to protect identity
Pray for Yemen:
- for the people of Yemen, who have suffered much over the past decade from civil war, cholera and famine
- for more Yemeni people like Fawzia to find the true peace of salvation
- for the small, Yemeni church facing persecution and for ways to reach people with the gospel, using radio, TV or social media.
