About eight people gathered at NIU’s Wesley Foundation Wednesday night to think and pray about the heightened conflict in the Persian Gulf.

The Rev. Dave Schmidt, a pastor at the 633 W. Locust St. church, led the small congregation in hymns and prayers while they meditated about the sudden situation.

To help people deal with the crisis, Schmidt told the congregation that people are sometimes called on a faith journey, especially in a time of “strife and hostility.”

Schmidt also said that people praying for a resolution to the conflict in the Gulf shouldn’t pray to God to “rip down the enemy.”

The Wesley Foundation probably will offer prayer services today and the chapel will be open for silent prayers. “Maybe people need to be alone with their thoughts,” he said.

Also, the campus ministry will offer a program on Draft Counseling on Tuesday, Jan. 22 from 7 to 9 p.m., Schmidt said.