Partnership in Suffering

The knock on the door came soon after dinner. I was already in my hotel room, in bed for an early night’s sleep after a day leading seminars with my hosts. We had been meeting quietly in a double room of a small hotel. For two days we had crowded in, all fifty two of us, sitting on beds, the floor and a few chairs. We came to the room in small groups so as not to draw attention, and I spoke through interpreters. At the end of the day, I wanted to go to bed early to rest for our last session on the following morning. When I heard the knock on the door unexpectedly, I thought that perhaps we had been detected by local authorities, but my apprehension was quickly dismissed when I opened the door and found two of the ministry leaders seeking to speak with me. I invited them in and listened to their request.

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