Mothers share fears and prayers amid Middle East crisis
“Since I became a mother, I feel I fear even more. I pray and try as much as I can to trust the Lord, but the news is frightening. My heart is with every mother in this war.”
This message to SAT-7 from Sara in Jordan echoes the heart cry of millions of mothers across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) – and indeed around the world.
Today, as conflict threatens the safety of families throughout the region, it is often mothers who bear the emotional weight. They fear for their children, their homes and their future; fears that are intensified both by the increasing instability and by women’s limited agency.
According to UNICEF, more than 1,100 children were reported killed or injured in the first ten days after violence erupted across the Middle East on 28 February. Even before then, at least 30 million children were estimated to be out of school in the MENA owing to conflict and poverty, and the current war has caused further widespread disruption to education.
Displacement
The challenges become especially intense when families are forced to flee their homes.
Matilda Al-Shammas, a mother from Deir Mimas in southern Lebanon, told SAT-7 ARABIC programme Good Morning From Beirut about the painful decision her family faced when conflict erupted again in the country.
“The hardest thing is leaving one’s home and fleeing, not knowing what to take or if you will ever return,” she said, tearfully. “This is the third time since 2006. But this time it’s more dangerous than before.
“As a family we had to decide whether to all leave or stay together. Our safety was the priority. We have children with us: a two-month-old baby and a five-year-old girl, and elderly.”
Many mothers in Iran are facing a similar dilemma as the crisis intensifies there. One shared her conflicting feelings and emotional exhaustion during a SAT-7 PARS online prayer gathering:
“I have a young child. For a long time, I have prayed that I would not have to raise my child in these conditions. I have worked hard for the life we built here. This is my homeland. I have invested my strength and years into building our home, and now it feels as though we are being forced out of it. I do not want to leave, but I no longer know what to do.”
SAT-7’s Viewer Support teams across the region are on hand, offering prayer, comfort and advice to mothers in such difficult circumstances.
Together in prayer
As well as sharing their own challenges, it has been moving to hear the prayers and concerns of SAT-7 viewers for other mothers and families during this latest crisis.
“I bring before You all the lives that have been taken from us,” prays a woman inside Iran. “Lord, I pray that You heal those who are broken in body and spirit; for families who have lost loved ones; for mothers who still cannot comprehend their loss. Be their comfort.”
Another woman in Iran reached out to SAT-7 PARS with a similar prayer: “I was sitting next to a mother who had lost her young son. I could see her pain and sorrow. I asked myself, ‘What is my duty as an Iranian Christian?… What can we do for them? How can we comfort them?’”
Throughout the MENA, life is hard for many women. Mothers, especially, carry the weight of their families’ stability and survival. Yet their determination does not diminish. Instead, when everything else lies beyond their control, they continue to care and pray: casting their burdens on a God who listens, loves and cares.
PRAY FOR MOTHERS:
- For strength to endure hardship, and perseverance in caring for their children despite instability, conflict and isolation.
- For wisdom and guidance, that they may raise their children with love, protection, and hope, even in uncertain circumstances.
- Pray also for fathers as they too carry heavy burdens for their families. May God give them strength to support and comfort their wives and children.