Far Removed from the Horror

For the last several years, with ever increasing urgency, I have been asking you all to pray for the tense political situation that the U people are facing. Sadly, none of this has changed. Former friends and neighbours are still facing horrendous situations of imprisonment and forced labor. This is part of why I felt so strongly the need to continue to minister among the same people group. And yet, in my new location, I feel very far removed from the atrocity. People in my small town have heard that the neighbouring country is being hard on people of their ethnicity but don’t really understand how horrible it is. Most of them think, “Well, it’s not hurting me so it’s not worth worrying about.” Only one new friend, who also runs a store at the bazaar, seems to know what I am talking about. She has been left to raise her three nephews because their mother decided to visit family in her homeland across the border and was picked up by police. It is now more than two years later and she has not been reunited with her family. My friend hasn’t even heard a word from her sister-in-law since she left and yet she tries hard to care for the children on her own.  Please continue to pray for the cruel political situation of my former home and for this particular woman’s life who is daily touched by its effects.