Ava Thomas

BAGHDAD (BP) -- When Don Alan* thinks of Iraq, he thinks of friends who sit trembling in their walled neighborhoods, afraid to take their kids to school. There's good reason for their fear, he said. January 2014 was Iraq's deadliest month in nearly six years.

CENTRAL ASIA (BP) -- "Dad, I think we're being followed."       Meleeka* drummed her fingers nervously on the car door. Her father kept on driving the familiar route to drop her off at English class, singing a praise song to Jesus as he drove.

BEACHY HEAD, England (BP) -- For eight years, Ross Hardy has walked the white chalk cliffs of Beachy Head, England, among the thousands who travel there from around the world.       Many come to take pictures. Some come to die.       And by God's grace and a keen eye, Hardy usually can tell the difference.

[QUOTE@right@180="I read all the Gospels, and I saw that they were different and beautiful."]NORTHERN AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST (BP) -- Mahfuzah* thought no one knew she believed in Jesus until the day her mother beat her.       "She said, 'Something is different about you. What is it?' I told her I was the same," Mahfuzah recounted. ...

NORTHERN AFRICA AND MIDDLE EAST (BP) -- Sadiqah* has heard many stories of what sometimes happens to people in her country who turn from Islam to Christ.       She heard of some whose family tortured them with electricity and told them that's what it will feel like when they burn in hell.

ISRAEL (BP) -- The smoke trails of rockets make jagged cuts through the cloudless sky over Israel and the Palestinian Territories. "What we need is people who will pray for the believers in Israel and for the believers in Gaza to be bold to share in the midst of hard times," a Christian worker in the region says.

IRBID, Jordan (BP) -- A warm breeze whips sand around cars creeping down the main street of Irbid, Jordan. A man gestures to catch the attention of a carload of Americans, then lays his hand over his heart. He knows there is only one place they can be going. It seems the whole city is mourning the death of Southern Baptist representative Cheryll Harvey. "Even now, I can't believe she has died," said Eman, a young Jordanian woman, as she clutches a small cup of the bitter, Arabic coffee typically served at wakes. [QUOTE@left@180="She was like a candle who burned herself to show others the light."]Eman is among dozens at the wake, shedding tears, sharing stories and paying their respects to the woman who "loved everyone and was loved by everyone." They are crowded in the small classrooms in Irbid where Harvey taught. "Many people loved Miss Cheryll," Eman said, "many, many." Harvey, 55, from Sudan, Texas, taught English and other subjects in Jordan for 24 years. She was found stabbed to death in her apartment Sept. 4. Robbery was the apparent motive, according to police reports. But to students, friends and colleagues gathered at the center Sept. 10, no motive will ever make sense. "I have not been able to sleep since I heard the news," said Muhammad, a young man Harvey tutored at his home after a problem with his legs made him unable to attend classes. "I did not sleep, either," said his brother Ahmad, also Harvey's student. "Many of us have not slept," echoed one of Harvey's colleagues. They smile as they remember Harvey, they recall the many hours she spent working. "She was the most selfless person I knew, and the busiest. I don't know how she did all she did every day," another colleague said. "She started this center in 2000, and from the very beginning, people came and it grew and grew. And she spent so much of her time visiting the students in their homes. People just met her and loved her immediately." People like Muhannad, who met Harvey on the first day the center opened. Harvey reached out to the shy, young man who rarely talked. He invited her over for Friday lunch, and she "entered the heart" of his entire family. Harvey ate with them nearly every Friday for the past 12 years, Muhannad said. "I loved her as a mother, and she loved me as a son," said Muhannad, who had her listed as "Mama" in his mobile phone. "But she didn't just love me. Anyone who asked her for help, she would help." For several hours, Muhannad sits at one of the classroom desks, recounting detail after detail of Harvey's gifts to Irbid, as if he can't get them out fast enough. "She helped me pass college and nursing school. She sat with me and my sister one day for hours in the hot sun while my sister applied for the army. She took a friend who had cancer back and forth on the long drive to the hospital two or three times a week," he said. Harvey's closest friends were Jordanians. Most storeowners in the area knew her well; her dry cleaner wept when he heard of her death. And Harvey often spoke of staying in Irbid after she retired, Muhannad said.

IRBID, Jordan (BP) -- A warm breeze whips sand around cars creeping down the main street of Irbid, Jordan. A man gestures to catch the attention of a carload of Americans, then lays his hand over his heart. He knows there is only one place they can be going. It seems the whole city is mourning the death of Southern Baptist representative Cheryll Harvey. "Even now, I can't believe she has died," said Eman, a young Jordanian woman, as she clutches a small cup of the bitter, Arabic coffee typically served at wakes. [QUOTE@left@180="She was like a candle who burned herself to show others the light."]Eman is among dozens at the wake, shedding tears, sharing stories and paying their respects to the woman who "loved everyone and was loved by everyone." They are crowded in the small classrooms in Irbid where Harvey taught. "Many people loved Miss Cheryll," Eman said, "many, many." Harvey, 55, from Sudan, Texas, taught English and other subjects in Jordan for 24 years. She was found stabbed to death in her apartment Sept. 4. Robbery was the apparent motive, according to police reports. But to students, friends and colleagues gathered at the center Sept. 10, no motive will ever make sense. "I have not been able to sleep since I heard the news," said Muhammad, a young man Harvey tutored at his home after a problem with his legs made him unable to attend classes. "I did not sleep, either," said his brother Ahmad, also Harvey's student. "Many of us have not slept," echoed one of Harvey's colleagues. They smile as they remember Harvey, they recall the many hours she spent working. "She was the most selfless person I knew, and the busiest. I don't know how she did all she did every day," another colleague said. "She started this center in 2000, and from the very beginning, people came and it grew and grew. And she spent so much of her time visiting the students in their homes. People just met her and loved her immediately." People like Muhannad, who met Harvey on the first day the center opened. Harvey reached out to the shy, young man who rarely talked. He invited her over for Friday lunch, and she "entered the heart" of his entire family. Harvey ate with them nearly every Friday for the past 12 years, Muhannad said. "I loved her as a mother, and she loved me as a son," said Muhannad, who had her listed as "Mama" in his mobile phone. "But she didn't just love me. Anyone who asked her for help, she would help." For several hours, Muhannad sits at one of the classroom desks, recounting detail after detail of Harvey's gifts to Irbid, as if he can't get them out fast enough. "She helped me pass college and nursing school. She sat with me and my sister one day for hours in the hot sun while my sister applied for the army. She took a friend who had cancer back and forth on the long drive to the hospital two or three times a week," he said. Harvey's closest friends were Jordanians. Most storeowners in the area knew her well; her dry cleaner wept when he heard of her death. And Harvey often spoke of staying in Irbid after she retired, Muhannad said.

LONDON (BP) -- Brian Scott sees everyday what it's like to live with hurdles. He's had a "hurdler" living in his home for the past few years. "Our foster daughter Rachel, who's 24, is paralyzed on one side, and she has difficulties from a brain surgery she had when she was a child," said Scott, missions pastor at College Heights Baptist Church in Casper, Wyo. They are difficulties God is redeeming, he said -- and using for ministry. During the recent Paralympic Games in London, Rachel and the rest of the family shared the Gospel with other people working to overcome difficulties. It's something Scott said fit hand in glove, just like Rachel becoming part of their family. "My wife Hallie was a provider for kids who were wards of the state until she became pregnant with our daughter Lainie (now 3). Then she said, 'If I'm going to be home with Lainie, I'll only be able to help others with special difficulties if they're in my home, too.'" So when Lainie was born, Rachel also moved in -- a new baby, a new adult daughter and a new way to live out the Gospel as a family, Scott said. The Paralympics was just an extension of that, he said. The Scotts passed out water, visited in homes, painted faces, ran a soccer clinic and shared the love and message of Jesus at the Paralympics Aug. 29-Sept. 9. The Paralympic Games, a major international sporting event, is held immediately after each Olympic Games. Athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities ranging from amputation to cerebral palsy compete in 21 sports. "It's very easy to share the Gospel in that arena (the Paralympics)," Scott said. "People are going through trials, and it's a perfect time to talk about important stuff. They are overcoming obstacles, and it's so easy to then talk about the One who overcame our greatest obstacle in life for us -- our sin." The 2012 Paralympics got the best response ever worldwide, with 2.7 million spectators attending, 100 nations airing the broadcasts and unprecedented displays of enthusiasm from the host country, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

LONDON (BP) -- Brian Scott sees everyday what it's like to live with hurdles. He's had a "hurdler" living in his home for the past few years. "Our foster daughter Rachel, who's 24, is paralyzed on one side, and she has difficulties from a brain surgery she had when she was a child," said Scott, missions pastor at College Heights Baptist Church in Casper, Wyo. They are difficulties God is redeeming, he said -- and using for ministry. During the recent Paralympic Games in London, Rachel and the rest of the family shared the Gospel with other people working to overcome difficulties. It's something Scott said fit hand in glove, just like Rachel becoming part of their family. "My wife Hallie was a provider for kids who were wards of the state until she became pregnant with our daughter Lainie (now 3). Then she said, 'If I'm going to be home with Lainie, I'll only be able to help others with special difficulties if they're in my home, too.'" So when Lainie was born, Rachel also moved in -- a new baby, a new adult daughter and a new way to live out the Gospel as a family, Scott said. The Paralympics was just an extension of that, he said. The Scotts passed out water, visited in homes, painted faces, ran a soccer clinic and shared the love and message of Jesus at the Paralympics Aug. 29-Sept. 9. The Paralympic Games, a major international sporting event, is held immediately after each Olympic Games. Athletes with physical and intellectual disabilities ranging from amputation to cerebral palsy compete in 21 sports. "It's very easy to share the Gospel in that arena (the Paralympics)," Scott said. "People are going through trials, and it's a perfect time to talk about important stuff. They are overcoming obstacles, and it's so easy to then talk about the One who overcame our greatest obstacle in life for us -- our sin." The 2012 Paralympics got the best response ever worldwide, with 2.7 million spectators attending, 100 nations airing the broadcasts and unprecedented displays of enthusiasm from the host country, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.