A HEALING CHURCH IN ACTION

BY GLORIA ONYURU—EPHESUS, TURKEY

IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL SUNDAY morning in May, which also happened to be Mother's Day. We were a group of Christian Scientists following St. Paul's journey establishing churches in Asia Minor (today's Turkey). We would be visiting Ephesus, an ancient city where the Apostle had lived for almost three years. I'd been to Ephesus several times before, but knew there was a lot to see, so I was happy just to tag along.

After walking through the ruins for a couple of hours, I decided to opt out of the next part of the tour, and sat down on a marble slab next to a tall column, grateful for its small patch of shade. That's when I had the thought to call my sister-in-law in Istanbul on my cellphone to wish her a happy Mother's Day.

She responded with tears, saying she wished it were a happy Mother's Day, but that the night before, her son (from her first marriage) and grandson had been kidnapped from their home in Beirut, Lebanon, by Hezbollah gunmen. I tried to comfort her as best I could, and told her our group would pray for her and her family.

After hanging up, I couldn't seem to collect my thoughts, but I did know that prayer was the answer. I told one of our tour leaders about the situation, and she informed the rest of the group, who also immediately went into prayer mode. Different members of the group lovingly came to my side, offering affirmative prayers of encouragement. One gently reminded me that Paul had been in prison, but had been released. He and Silas had "prayed, and sang praises unto God . . . And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed" (Acts 16:25, 26). And there were other times when "the church" prayed for early Christians in trouble.

Then I remembered my prayers for Jill Carroll, a correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, who had been kidnapped in Iraq. During the months of her captivity, many people around the world — including me — had prayed, and she was released unharmed. I realized that the prayers I'd offered for her could apply in this situation too. I must see both captives and captors as God saw them, as His loving, merciful, innocent children. And that's what I did.

Back on the bus, I could tell that, in their own way, my campanions were supporting me in prayer. I was so grateful for their love in that moment of need. I felt that we were truly a church united in prayer, a church of healers! No building, just a bus. No tradition, just trust. No membership list, just unity.

Simply the powerful collective thought of God and His eternal love for His spiritual creation, His Christ. Much like the churches Paul established centuries ago.

As we rode to our next stop, I took out my printed copy of my Bible Lesson, an online edition of the Christian Science Quarterly, hoping to find a reason for hope. I found the story of a mother who had been kicked out of her home and was weeping for her dying child. The mother was Hagar, and the child was Ishmael. An angel spoke to Hagar, saying: "Fear not; for God hath heard the voice of the lad where he is" (Gen. 21:17). I took those words to heart as God's message to me and started feeling expectant of good.

I was so grateful for their love in that moment of need. I felt that we were truly a church united in prayer, a church of healers!

Two hours and 15 minutes after I learned of the kidnapping, my sister-in-law called. Her son and grandson had been released and were now in hiding. Their captors had intended to recruit them as fighters, but when they determined that my relatives didn't know how to fight or to use weapons, they released them, saying that they would come back for them later, if they needed them.

My sister-in-law's son had assured her that they were in a safe place which he couldn't disclose, that someone was bringing them food, and that they couldn't return home for fear that the gunmen would return. That same day the Hezbollah forces pulled back from Beirut into the mountains.

This wonderful news showed me once again the power of Church in action — just as in Paul's day. Wonderful as it was to see the places that Paul had visited, perhaps the most previous gift for me was the selfless prayer that had kept my relatives safe and set them free. I think Paul would have liked that. CSS

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