[Today’s Prayer] Missionary Released After 7 Years in Al Qaeda: “God Was With Us”

An Australian missionary in his 80s who was held captive by the international terrorist group Al Qaeda for seven years testified that he was able to endure the cruel situation because “God was with him.”

According to British Christian Today (CT), missionary Ken Elliott (89), who was kidnapped by the Islamic extremist group Al Qaeda from his home near Djibouti, 200km north of Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou in 2016, said in a recent interview with ABC News, "Absolutely not. God has always been there with me," when asked, "Have you ever felt abandoned by God?"

“The brutal desert conditions, including the threats from kidnappers and extreme heat and cold, as well as the poor diet, began to deteriorate my health. My legs swelled and I could no longer walk,” he said. “I have only seen one case of scurvy in my medical career, and that was me.”

Despite Ken's pleas, the kidnappers said they had no nutritional supplements, and it was only after their leader learned of Ken's condition that he was finally given enough medicine to restore his health.

“The kidnappers tried to convert me to Islam, but I was firm in my Christian faith. I didn’t even pretend to convert,” he said. “I didn’t want to discredit God by converting. God is good.”

He confessed, “It is unclear what kind of circumstances and transactions occurred after my release, but the only reason I was released was because of prayers. I was able to be released because hundreds, if not thousands of people prayed together. We believe in the power of prayer.”

Meanwhile, missionary couple Ken Elliott and Jocelyn Elliott have dedicated their lives to serving those in remote areas who do not have access to medical care since establishing a hospital in Jibo in 1972. He said of his medical missionary goal, “Our ultimate goal is to show God’s love and goodness,” and “to show His power through medicine.”

When news of his kidnapping spread, residents of Jibo took to social media to call for his release, as he was the hospital's only surgeon and devotedly served the local community by performing up to 150 surgeries a month.

Source: Christian Today

For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end. (Psalm 48:14)

Hallelujah! Praise be to our God, who keeps and protects His children who trust and follow Him to the end!

Like Missionary Ken, who kept the faith in the midst of difficult and painful circumstances and followed the good God to the end, and like how God who was always with him, just like the missionary's confession, the members of the Global Church also desires to follow the Lord alone in these end times.

We believe that God will always be with us in every moment as we trust, believe, and follow in faith our good God, no matter what the circumstances!

Living Lord, who is our God forever and ever, who guides us even unto death, may we, like the story in this news article, live as those who reveal your love and goodness in our lives and carry the fragrance of it to the world, and may our very lives be a testimony.

May the members of the Global Church only seek your face and pray to the end; giving our lives to You, so that You alone may be glorified through our praise and our lives!