Day 9 - Drug Addiction 

Khalid sat hunched over in a close circle with three other men, a chaddar (large shawl) over their heads.  Underneath, he held a match to the tin foil and inhaled heroin through a paper cylinder.  Outside the university main gate, people were coming and going whose bright eyes told that they had vision and hope for the future.  But Khalid and the others were oblivious to the busy scene.  Sadly, no one seemed to take notice of them either.   

Growing up, Khalid was the youngest of four brothers.  His siblings were smart and confident.  It seemed they always got the attention, the rewards.  Khalid got either criticized or ignored.  With little encouragement, he didn't get very far in his education. When he left home at 16, nobody chased after him to bring him back.  He soon learned where others like him hung out and that getting heroin was easy and cheap.  He found the escape he needed from his fears and troubled emotions.  Yet soon his body was in the grip of a deadly power.  Now, at 25, he looked 40, and he was sick and wasting away.  

He was a Muslim.  Occasionally he wondered, "Why has Allah given me such a fate?"  In his rare moments of clear thinking, he would admit to himself that he needed help.  Then the question, "Who can help me?"

Pray that:  

• NGO's with drug rehabilitation programs will find addicts who sincerely want deliverance.  Pray the staff will be blessed by the Lord to be effective and have wisdom in presenting Christ.
• The heroin drug trade will suffer loss and judgment and finally be stopped by God Almighty Himself if not by governments and local authorities.
• God will give to Christians His love for drug addicts along with the faith and courage to find them and to offer them the Truth and hope.

James 5:15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up.  If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.