Hard work is not sad. In fact, work is a gift from God. He made humans to be diligent in their labor. (Read Colossians 3:23 and Proverbs 14:23.) But it’s right to feel sad for and pray for people who work in unsafe conditions or risk their lives just to survive.

People with decompression sickness can usually be helped. Doctors can put divers in special decompression chambers with high pressure and lots of oxygen. This helps blood and oxygen flow normally to the body’s tissues again. But for this to help, a diver has to get help fast—within 48 hours. Only a few chambers can be found along the Honduran coast. Divers often must wait several days before treatment.

Mr. Atiliano has 10 children to care for. The day in September he got the bends, he lay paralyzed on a lobster boat. It took a day and a half to reach the docks. Fellow divers drove him to the hospital. Mr. Atiliano still can’t stand up by himself or sit for very long. He expects to return to sea. But he doesn’t want to. He has to. He says, “If I recover, . . . I’ll have to go back to diving.”

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people. ― 1 Timothy 2:1