Update on Omar

I want to thank all of you who have been praying for Omar. Surgery went well. He had to stay in the hospital for 2 days but is "home" now. He is actually staying with an older Iraqi couple that he hangs out with regularly. They have welcomed him into their home.

We have had a few people provide meals for him while he is recovering. For those of you who have done this, thank you so much. His recovery is going to be slow. Right now, his perspective is that he should feel no pain when he takes pain medication. For those of you who have had surgery or had an injury like this, you know that just isn't true. Pain medication is meant to make the pain bearable. This has been a hard concept for him. It will be interesting to see what happens when the pain medication runs out.

We are trying to help Omar learn from this situation. I spent some time trying to explain that when people say things that are not true about you it is sometimes best to walk away. He stated that the people told him that he wasn't a man and that hurt him. I tried to explain the "walk away" strategy again. The whole concept is completely lost on him. We believe that is due to culture and his thick skull combined.

I ask you to continue to pray for him and his recovery. Most importantly, pray that he will get to know the Great Physician in which many of us trust.