Last week, I was discussing the persecution of Christians in the Middle East with another editor. A plight Newsweek called “The New Exodus.”
It’s something I know a lot about. As you might remember, my family is originally from a small town in Turkey that borders Iraq and Syria. Growing up, my parents told my sisters and me story after story about the persecution they faced as a Christian minority, as well as tales of survival from our great-grandparents, who lived through the Armenian Genocide.
What’s going on in the Middle East right now is heartbreaking to read about. Every day seems to bring more bad news. Kidnappings, beheadings, destruction of churches and holy sites. Christians forced to leave their homeland, the very birthplace of Christianity.
“It’s just terrible,” my colleague said. “What can we do?”
I didn’t have an answer for him. But that question nagged at me all week. What can we do?
I called my mom, hoping she’d have a brilliant plan. Some sort of fundraiser or campaign we could organize. She assured me that our church and patriarch, who’s based in Damascus, Syria, were doing a great deal to support the Christian refugees in the Middle East.
READ MORE: TALKING MIRACLES WITH MY MOM
But I still couldn’t shake that question. What can I do to help? What can I possibly do when a problem is so much bigger than just me?
I received an answer, only not the one I was expecting. Sort of a quiet voice inside me that said, “You can pray.”
That’s it? Pray? I was expecting a much bigger, grander answer.
And yet… What could be more powerful than prayer, really? I’ve been writing about miracles for over a year now, and I can tell you that prayer is always involved in the miraculous. When we pray, we’re not just talking into space. We’re talking to God, the creator of the universe.
God can use all of us to help those in need, regardless of our weaknesses and limitations. And prayer is the first step. The necessary spark that can make things happen. What bigger, grander thing could we possibly do?
So, today, I’m asking you to join me in doing one simple thing. Let’s pray for our brothers and sisters in the Middle East, and the persecuted everywhere. Let’s take that first step.
