{"id":4924,"date":"2024-03-09T20:09:03","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T20:09:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/"},"modified":"2024-03-09T20:09:03","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T20:09:03","slug":"hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/","title":{"rendered":"HOSTAGE\u2019S WIFE: \u201cLook for the Promises of God and Pray\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was four in the morning when Els Woodke answered the phone to hear the words she\u2019d been praying for and waiting on for six-and-a-half years: \u201cJeff has been recovered!\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The last two weeks we\u2019ve shared the story of Jeffery Woodke<\/a>, American gospel worker in West Africa captured by Islamists and held hostage for more than six years. Now, Jeff\u2019s wife, Els, shares her side of the story of waiting and wondering and praying through that long ordeal\u2014and how God helped her never to hate Jeff\u2019s captors.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe moment I heard Jeff was kidnapped, I cried out to God,\u201d Els says.<\/p>\n

Shortly after Jeff\u2019s abduction, Els felt the Lord saying to her, \u201cI want you to love the enemy.\u201d She answered that call, never letting bitterness or anger toward the terrorists holding Jeff find a place in her heart.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lived in the Psalms,\u201d she says, often taking the prayers and promises recorded by the Psalmist and making them her own prayers for Jeff. Among those prayers was, \u201cKeep him alive in famine\u201d and \u201cdeliver him from death,\u201d based on Psalm 33:19. After Jeff\u2019s release in March, 2023, Els learned that his circumstances in captivity had been even worse than she could\u2019ve imagined.<\/p>\n

Listen in as Els speaks to the people all around the world who prayed for Jeff\u2019s release and for her. It strengthened her faith to hear that people were fervently and faithfully praying for Jeff\u2014for years<\/em>\u2014without knowing his condition. \u201cThank you for your faithfulness,\u201d Els says as she shares how peoples\u2019 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.<\/p>\n

Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast<\/a>. Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders for persecuted Christians\u2014in the VOM App<\/a> for your smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n

Listen to this episode on VOMRadio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was four in the morning when Els Woodke answered the phone to hear the words she\u2019d been praying for and waiting on for six-and-a-half years: \u201cJeff has been recovered!\u201d The last two weeks we\u2019ve 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\u2019s wife, Els, shares her side of the story of waiting and wondering and praying through that long ordeal\u2014and how God helped her never to hate Jeff\u2019s captors. \u201cThe moment I heard Jeff was kidnapped, I cried out to God,\u201d Els says. Shortly after Jeff\u2019s abduction, Els felt the Lord saying to her, \u201cI want you to love the enemy.\u201d She answered that call, never letting bitterness or anger toward the terrorists holding Jeff find a place in her heart. \u201cI lived in the Psalms,\u201d she says, often taking the prayers and promises recorded by the Psalmist and making them her own prayers for Jeff. Among those prayers was, \u201cKeep him alive in famine\u201d and \u201cdeliver him from death,\u201d based on Psalm 33:19. After Jeff\u2019s release in March, 2023, Els learned that his circumstances in captivity had been even worse than she could\u2019ve imagined. Listen in as Els speaks to the people all around the world who prayed for Jeff\u2019s release and for her. It strengthened her faith to hear that people were fervently and faithfully praying for Jeff\u2014for years\u2014without knowing his condition. \u201cThank you for your faithfulness,\u201d Els says as she shares how peoples\u2019 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. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders for persecuted Christians\u2014in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vom-radio","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nHOSTAGE\u2019S WIFE: \u201cLook for the Promises of God and Pray\u201d - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"HOSTAGE\u2019S WIFE: \u201cLook for the Promises of God and Pray\u201d - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It was four in the morning when Els Woodke answered the phone to hear the words she\u2019d been praying for and waiting on for six-and-a-half years: \u201cJeff has been recovered!\u201d The last two weeks we\u2019ve 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\u2019s wife, Els, shares her side of the story of waiting and wondering and praying through that long ordeal\u2014and how God helped her never to hate Jeff\u2019s captors. \u201cThe moment I heard Jeff was kidnapped, I cried out to God,\u201d Els says. Shortly after Jeff\u2019s abduction, Els felt the Lord saying to her, \u201cI want you to love the enemy.\u201d She answered that call, never letting bitterness or anger toward the terrorists holding Jeff find a place in her heart. \u201cI lived in the Psalms,\u201d she says, often taking the prayers and promises recorded by the Psalmist and making them her own prayers for Jeff. Among those prayers was, \u201cKeep him alive in famine\u201d and \u201cdeliver him from death,\u201d based on Psalm 33:19. After Jeff\u2019s release in March, 2023, Els learned that his circumstances in captivity had been even worse than she could\u2019ve imagined. Listen in as Els speaks to the people all around the world who prayed for Jeff\u2019s release and for her. It strengthened her faith to hear that people were fervently and faithfully praying for Jeff\u2014for years\u2014without knowing his condition. \u201cThank you for your faithfulness,\u201d Els says as she shares how peoples\u2019 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. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders for persecuted Christians\u2014in the VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-03-09T20:09:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"HOSTAGE\u2019S WIFE: \u201cLook for the Promises of God and Pray\u201d\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-03-09T20:09:03+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/\"},\"wordCount\":344,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"VOM Radio\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/hostages-wife-look-for-the-promises-of-god-and-pray\/\",\"name\":\"HOSTAGE\u2019S WIFE: \u201cLook for the Promises of God and Pray\u201d - 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