Summary

SummaryI’m Els Woodke, and at four in the morning, I heard the words I’d prayed for over six-and-a-half years: β€œJeff has been recovered!” πŸ™Œ During those long nights of uncertainty, God gave me a wordβ€”a cloud with a stringβ€”reminding me He was with me ☁️➑️🀲. I held onto the Psalms, praying β€œKeep him alive in famine” (Psalm 33:19) as my lifeline. Even when rumors came that Jeff might be dead, I refused to believe itβ€”how could millions of prayers be in vain? πŸ’– Through grief’s breaking dams, peace always returned. I chose to love my husband’s captors, because bitterness had no place in my heart πŸ’ž. Now we face healing and reconnection together. My prayer is that you, too, will cling to God’s promises and never give up in prayer. πŸ™

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It was four in the morning when Els Woodke answered the phone to hear the words she’d been praying for and waiting on for six-and-a-half years: β€œJeff has been recovered!”

The last two weeks we’ve shared the story of Jeffery Woodke, American gospel worker in West Africa captured by Islamists and held hostage for more than six years. Now, Jeff’s wife, Els, shares her side of the story of waiting and wondering and praying through that long ordealβ€”and how God helped her never to hate Jeff’s captors.

β€œThe moment I heard Jeff was kidnapped, I cried out to God,” Els says.

Shortly after Jeff’s abduction, Els felt the Lord saying to her, β€œI want you to love the enemy.” She answered that call, never letting bitterness or anger toward the terrorists holding Jeff find a place in her heart.

β€œI lived in the Psalms,” she says, often taking the prayers and promises recorded by the Psalmist and making them her own prayers for Jeff. Among those prayers was, β€œKeep him alive in famine” and β€œdeliver him from death,” based on Psalm 33:19. After Jeff’s release in March, 2023, Els learned that his circumstances in captivity had been even worse than she could’ve imagined.

Listen in as Els speaks to the people all around the world who prayed for Jeff’s release and for her. It strengthened her faith to hear that people were fervently and faithfully praying for Jeffβ€”for yearsβ€”without knowing his condition. β€œThank you for your faithfulness,” Els says as she shares how peoples’ prayers encouraged her to keep the faith. Please continue to pray for Jeff and Els Woodke as they continue to reconnect and recover from their experience and forced separation.

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Founded by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand https://www.persecution.com/founders/
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Time Chapters
Β 
02:19 God’s call to love the enemy
02:42 Hearing β€œJeff has been recovered”
04:14 Refusing doubt, holding faith
06:00 Promise of God’s presence
11:12 Choosing daily forgiveness
19:00 Allowing grief and finding peace
22:27 Praying for healing & reconnection
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Voice of the Martyrs USA
The Voice of the Martyrs serves persecuted Christians in the world’s most difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. Β 
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