On 21 November 2002, when volunteer nurse Bonnie Witherall answered a knock at the door of the Unity Centre in Sidon, a lone militant Islamist shot her three times in the head. At the funeral, her husband Garry said, "So many people think my wife's death was a waste ... but we believe that coming here with the message of Jesus would never be a waste. It is a message worth laying our lives down for. Whoever did this crime, I forgive them. It's not easy ... but I can forgive these people because God has forgiven me."

 

The centre and its workers had recently been threatened because through the centre's humanitarian service, Muslims were learning about Jesus. Rev. Sami Dagher, director of the Center and head of the Christian and Missionary Alliance churches in Lebanon said, "If they want to kill us all, we are ready to die. But we are not going to close either the clinic or the church." Pray for wisdom for the Church and for safety for Christian witnesses in Lebanon.

"...and the time is coming when those who kill you will think they are doing God a service. This is because they have never known the Father or me." Jesus to his disciples"
(John 16:2,3)