She was married at 15 years of age, and widowed with six children when her youngest set of twins was 6 months old. She married even before her older sister, primarily because of her unusual and coveted coloring…blonde hair and blue eyes. Being married as a teen in not unusual in her family. Her mother married at 14 years of age; her neighbor is a great-great grandmother and still living. (She has grandchildren of grandchildren!)

This has profoundly affected her view of marriage, children and life in general. Her relationship with her husband was more like that of a father with a child. She was disciplined for chewing gum in public and given rewards for good behavior.

When she first gave birth, she was still in her mid-teens, and went directly to her mother’s house and held on to her physically all the way to the hospital. After giving birth, she refused to hold or look at her children; her mother would care for them for the first several weeks. Several pregnancies later and with a husband ill and bed-ridden, she took pills that she hoped would abort the babies (twin girls.) God spared them, and she drove herself to her mother’s in the middle of the night in order to literally drag her mother to the hospital for the last time.

Now that her daughters are getting older, she doesn’t want them to be married young. She is looking for someone who is financially stable and fair in coloring to match her children. When she asked us what we were looking for in sons-in-laws for our daughters, she shook her head when we said wealth and nationality and looks were not at the top of our list. We were asking Jesus for men who love Him more than they love our daughters, who will love them as Christ loved the church and gave His life for her, who will lead their families as they follow Jesus.

Pray for young Berber girls who step into mother-hood so early. Pray that they will know how incredibly precious they are to Jesus, not because they are physically beautiful, but because they are made in His image. Pray for the children of these young brides, that they will know that they too are precious, even if they hear their mother speaking of trying to abort them. Pray that God, in His mercy, will bring them to believers…that they will see godly marriages that are a picture of Christ and the church, and that they will know the beauty of being loved by Jesus as their Bridegroom who treasures them and gave His life for them.

She didn’t know that her words were right out of Scripture. “How many times should I forgive my brother, one, two, four?” She had dropped by initially to bring some wedding gifts for our daughter, but ended up asking how it was possible to forgive one who wrongs you over and over. Her story was heart breaking. She had generously allowed her brother to use her portion of the inheritance, an apartment, for a year, but he decided to stay on and now that her sons are looking for a house, he still refuses to move. He won’t talk to her on the street anymore. The money from the property that was sold in the countryside that was to be divided between all the children was distributed among all the siblings except her. And probably the most hurtful, he tells lies about her to her oldest child and this child no longer speaks to her. She said, “What else can I do? I have repaid evil with kindness over and over. Should I still forgive?” As a widow with six children, the inheritance is a big deal. I told her how Jesus had answered that same question (about how often one should forgive a brother) – 70×7 – and she immediately said, “He meant that you just keep on forgiving. But I can’t! And why should I?” I spoke of the poison that un-forgiveness is in our hearts but she said, “If I forgive my brother, then God will also forgive him.” She didn’t really want him forgiven by God.

Forgiveness is difficult and never deserved. Please pray for those who are caught in cycles of un-forgiveness that lead to loneliness. Usually, community comes from family circles. Among the Berbers in our city, afternoons out shopping or chatting over tea are usually spent with sisters and sisters-in-law. Holidays, weddings, and funerals are all times when families gather. She told me, “I don’t know any of my neighbors or really any colleagues from work. Only my sisters come over.”

Please pray that she and those like her will feel the weight of their sin and come to Jesus in repentance. Pray that they will know the incredible forgiveness of Christ and as they are forgiven, would also forgive.

Two intentional believers met a shepherd in the mountains recently. After greeting them, the shepherd shared that he had had a dream the night before that he bumped his head on the low mantle of the door of his house because it was dark. He was told in the dream that two men would meet him the next day to give him light. Wondering if they were the two, he listened intently as they shared about ‘The Light’.
Praise God that He is at work. Please pray for this shepherd.

Pray that the Berbers would have no peace and would seek the rest for their souls only God can give.