War & The Valley of the Shadow of Death

Seven U.S. military personnel have died in the war with Iran and at least 20 have been injured. Over 1200 Iranians have been killed, including more than 168 who died (mostly children) when a primary school was hit, apparently by a U.S. Tomahawk missile. The war has quickly escalated to become a regional one, multiple nations in the Middle East now suffering from drone and missile attacks while the resulting humanitarian crisis spreads. Here at home, gas prices are steeply rising while questions multiply about how this all ends.

But these are the costs we can read about in our newspapers. The relationships we steward through Global Ministries remind us that there are other stories to be told that put faces and flesh on this war.

Immediately after our country’s first military strikes on Iran, Global Ministries staff reached out to partners and mission personnel in the region. As hostilities between Hezbollah in Lebanon and Israel newly erupted, our concern turned to 3 mission co-workers serving on our behalf with two Global Ministries partners in Beirut. Israel was expanding its air strikes beyond its border with Lebanon, and Beirut was certain to be impacted; our partners saw the increasing threats and advised us to evacuate our mission co-workers. What followed were anxious hours and days of scrambling to find them a way out, the U.S. State Department urging Americans to leave but providing no assistance to help them do so. Finally on March 4, thanks to a connection that proved to be our saving grace, they were evacuated to safety. While we breathed a sigh of relief for them, we were also mindful that our partners in Beirut remained in harm’s way with little possibility of leaving. Nearly 500 people in Lebanon have now died and massive numbers of people have been displaced.

Meanwhile, since our war on Iran began, I’ve been receiving nearly daily messages from a friend in Palestine who I met during partner visits in 2024. Mohameed lives in a Palestinian refugee camp near Bethlehem with his wife and two adorable little boys. Before February 28, he occasionally sent me a message to let me know how his family was faring.  But now his messages are loaded with urgency as the situation in Palestine also escalates. The videos he sends me are evidence of increasing raids of the Israeli military inside the camps. On one particular night, he told me that more than 400 Israeli soldiers stormed the camp, breaking into homes over a four-hour period starting after midnight. His testimony echoes what one of our partners has also reported; B’Tselem released a report on March 9 that settler militias were also increasing their violent attacks on Palestinians since the Iran war began. All of this too is the cost of war, the war in Iran granting cover for other violence and agendas playing out in the region.

This Sunday’s lectionary readings include the familiar verses of Psalm 23:

 “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul.  He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.”

War is that deep valley of despair, a path strewn with destruction, death, and evil itself.  As the Union Army General William Tecumseh Sherman said in 1879, “War is hell.” Yet here we are again, perpetrating a war with no obvious conclusion but sure to heap suffering on countless nations and families, far beyond the headlines we see.

I cannot say that I share the confidence of the Psalmist as this war rages on. My fears and anxieties about the mounting, all-too-human costs of this war are not stilled despite the faith I carry. But I will recite these words as my prayer, and wait for goodness and mercy (and peace) to show up. And hold in tender grace the people and nations standing in that ominous shadow of war’s violence and death.

Please join with me in praying for all in harm’s way, remembering also our Global Ministries partners and friends throughout the region.

The Reverend Shari Prestemon began her service with the national ministries of the United Church of Christ in January 2024 and was elected by General Synod as an Officer of the UCC in July 2025. As the Associate General Minister & Co-Executive for Global Ministries she has the privilege of supporting several teams: Global Ministries, Global H.O.P.E., Public Policy & Advocacy(Washington, D.C.), and our United Nations representative.  She previously served as a local church pastor in Illinois and Wisconsin, the Executive Director at Back Bay Mission in Biloxi, Mississippi, and as the Minnesota Conference Minister.