Sanaa is an Orthodox Assyrian from Iraq who now lives in Western Sydney. She was invited to join her Iraqi friend’s Discovery Bible Study in Sydney two years ago. She has enthusiastically started two more groups with other Assyrians since then. But Sanaa sometimes struggles to see many of them pray.
Praying outside of the local Orthodox cathedral is unheard of for many Assyrians. However Sanaa persisted because she was excited to see her own prayer life grow since joining the Discovery Bible Study.
Recently, the father-in-law of a women in one of Sanaa’s groups was dying in hospital with pneumonia. He had caught the latest Omicron strain of Covid 19. The doctors only gave the 85 year old man days to live. Sanaa’s friend pleaded for the group to pray and they did!
In fact they persevered and prayed for ten days for the man’s healing. They were deeply encouraged to see how he recovered each day until he returned back home where he became physically stable again and remains well to this day!
There is so much power when new disciples learn to pray together. Sanaa joyfully tells us that the group has learnt how “God always has the last word, not doctors”. Sanaa is also excited as she starts another group this year who she hopes will learn the power of persevering prayer.