From Mack: Something which happened in mine and Carolyn’s lives several years ago:
One day several years ago while we were praying, we read something that gripped us. The prayer request had to do with Christians living in Ache on the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The report told of the unique opportunities Christian Achnese had living where they lived, for they were uniquely situated to be missionaries to the millions of Muslim Asians flowing through their area every time Muslim made their treks to Mecca for their “hajj.”
Carolyn and I saw what a tremendous opportunity this was for Christians living right in the middle of a “tidal wave” of lost Muslim flowing like a mighty wave through their area. Convicted by the Lord, we began praying daily for the Achenese Christians to grab each and every opportunity to witness to as many Muslim as possible. We continued this daily prayer for more than two (2) years, until we were impressed by the Lord that we had petitioned heaven sufficiently. We have no way of knowing when the praying ceased, but I would say at least a year or more before the tsunami struck. It was as if the Lord said, “Enough!” We felt like we had done what the scriptures admonished us to do, to “pray without ceasing.”
The specific area we had been agonizing over was the area of Banda Ache. We were astounded when we learned that the earthquake that caused the great Asian tidal wave (tsunami) on December 26, 2004 had occurred just 155 miles SSE of Banda Ache, Sumatra, Indonesia, 3 and ½ miles deep in the ocean, the very area we had agonized over for more than two years. It was the fourth most devastating earthquake since 1900 and the most deadly in terms of deaths in earthquake history—220,000 killed and another 25,000 missing and presumed dead.
The question we would love to have answered more than anything else is the question: How many Muslim were brought to Christ during those more than two years of our concerted praying. I guess we will never know the answer in this life!
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From Indonesia:
We know that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh was destroyed by the Tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest.
But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh. In that town are about 400 Christians. They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslims of Meulaboh. They were told if they wanted to celebrate Christmas, they needed to go outside the city of Meulaboh on a high hill and there celebrate Christmas.
"Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas, the 400 believers left the city on December 25th, and after they celebrated Christmas they stayed overnight on the hill. As we all know, the morning of December 26 there was the earthquake followed by the Tsunami waves destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and thousands were killed. The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction."
Now the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished us for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims died while NOT EVEN ONE of the Christians died there. Had the Christians insisted on their rights to celebrate Christmas in the city, they would have all died. But because they humbled themselves and followed the advice of the Muslims they, all were spared destruction and can now testify of God's marvelous protection.
This is a testimony of the grace of God and the fact that, as believers, we have no rights in the world. Our rights are to come before God and commit our lives to Him. Our right is kneeling down before the Lord Almighty and commit our ways to Him. He is our Father and is very capable of caring for His children. Praise the Name of the Lord.
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To contact Mack: calmack at bellsouth.net
One day several years ago while we were praying, we read something that gripped us. The prayer request had to do with Christians living in Ache on the northern coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. The report told of the unique opportunities Christian Achnese had living where they lived, for they were uniquely situated to be missionaries to the millions of Muslim Asians flowing through their area every time Muslim made their treks to Mecca for their “hajj.”
Carolyn and I saw what a tremendous opportunity this was for Christians living right in the middle of a “tidal wave” of lost Muslim flowing like a mighty wave through their area. Convicted by the Lord, we began praying daily for the Achenese Christians to grab each and every opportunity to witness to as many Muslim as possible. We continued this daily prayer for more than two (2) years, until we were impressed by the Lord that we had petitioned heaven sufficiently. We have no way of knowing when the praying ceased, but I would say at least a year or more before the tsunami struck. It was as if the Lord said, “Enough!” We felt like we had done what the scriptures admonished us to do, to “pray without ceasing.”
The specific area we had been agonizing over was the area of Banda Ache. We were astounded when we learned that the earthquake that caused the great Asian tidal wave (tsunami) on December 26, 2004 had occurred just 155 miles SSE of Banda Ache, Sumatra, Indonesia, 3 and ½ miles deep in the ocean, the very area we had agonized over for more than two years. It was the fourth most devastating earthquake since 1900 and the most deadly in terms of deaths in earthquake history—220,000 killed and another 25,000 missing and presumed dead.
The question we would love to have answered more than anything else is the question: How many Muslim were brought to Christ during those more than two years of our concerted praying. I guess we will never know the answer in this life!
===
From Indonesia:
We know that 80% of the town of Meulaboh in Aceh was destroyed by the Tsunami waves and 80% of the people also died. This is one of the towns that was hit the hardest.
But there is a fantastic testimony from Meulaboh. In that town are about 400 Christians. They wanted to celebrate Christmas on December 25th but were not allowed to do so by the Muslims of Meulaboh. They were told if they wanted to celebrate Christmas, they needed to go outside the city of Meulaboh on a high hill and there celebrate Christmas.
"Because the Christians desired to celebrate Christmas, the 400 believers left the city on December 25th, and after they celebrated Christmas they stayed overnight on the hill. As we all know, the morning of December 26 there was the earthquake followed by the Tsunami waves destroying most of the city of Meulaboh and thousands were killed. The 400 believers were on the mountain and were all saved from destruction."
Now the Muslims of Meulaboh are saying that the God of the Christians punished us for forbidding the Christians from celebrating Christmas in the city. Others are questioning why so many Muslims died while NOT EVEN ONE of the Christians died there. Had the Christians insisted on their rights to celebrate Christmas in the city, they would have all died. But because they humbled themselves and followed the advice of the Muslims they, all were spared destruction and can now testify of God's marvelous protection.
This is a testimony of the grace of God and the fact that, as believers, we have no rights in the world. Our rights are to come before God and commit our lives to Him. Our right is kneeling down before the Lord Almighty and commit our ways to Him. He is our Father and is very capable of caring for His children. Praise the Name of the Lord.
====
To contact Mack: calmack at bellsouth.net