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Our Sunday School teacher told us about a country named Qatar today. Did you know it is the only country in the world whose name starts with the letter “Q”? If you look on a map, you can find it stretching out into the Persian Gulf from Saudi Arabia. Some people think it looks kind of like a thumb!

Qatar is almost all desert. The Qatari people are also almost entirely followers of a very strict form of Sunni Islam. Christians who live in Qatar are mostly people from other countries who have jobs in Qatar, working with the huge amounts of natural gas the country has. There are actually more people from other countries living in Qatar than there are people living there who are from Qatar itself.

It is against the law for Christians who live in Qatar to tell the Qatari people about Jesus. If a Qatari does decide to believe in Jesus and follow Him, his family might leave him. He might never get to see his wife or his children again. He might not be allowed to live in Qatar any more. And many people will hate him and treat him terribly.

But, do you know what? The Qataris who have come to believe in Jesus say that everything they suffer is worth it. Nothing in this life, not even their families, can compare with how wonderful it is to know that Jesus loves them and is with them, both now and forever.

There are many Qataris who go to school and work in countries outside Qatar, places where it is not against the law for someone to tell them about Jesus. We need to pray that Qataris, no matter where they live, will hear about Jesus’ love and trust Him.

“Dear God, please help the people of Qatar, the ones who live in the country and the ones who live outside of it. Please help every one of them to hear how much You love them, that You came and lived among us, that You died to pay for our mistakes, and that You defeated death and live forever in Heaven. Help each Qatari to believe in You and know that they can live forever with You in Heaven. Thank You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.”

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