Sometimes life is hard.

The Reach the Nations team, working in an impoverished area of the world, often encounters suffering.

This woman, in Daska, recently broke her leg in a fall down the stairs. She needed surgery and is experiencing a lot of pain. Mehboob reports that the team was able to help her with expenses related to her surgery. He asks that we remember her in our prayers.

He goes on to remind us that people in Daska are living in crisis conditions because of the lack of consistent work. They are day laborers working in the fields or as day-to-day maids. Their wages are erratic, and extreme inflation is raising the costs of everything - especially food.

"But," Mehboob says, "they are true believers. They love Jesus Christ, and they are happy under His umbrella. After receiving the Word of God from the Holy Spirit through us they gain new energy. We visit them regularly and share the the Word of God in ways they can understand. As it written in John: 8:32, 'And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.'"

The instability of their situation causes great stress and, at times, depression. The man shown in the picture above has a wife and three children and is struggling to support them. He finds work when he can, but too often it is not enough to meet their most basic needs, and he finds himself depressed much of the time. The RTN team has prayed with this family and has been able to offer some help with what they need.

This family is in a new area where Irfan is working to begin a church. He and Mehboob are spending time there holding prayer meetings and visiting people in their homes. Many there are calling themselves Christians, but do not know what "Christian" really means. Mehboob says, "We trying to share the true Word of God and also pray that God will change their hearts and minds so they can understand the true meaning of the Gospel."