"The Lord's servant must not quarrel; instead, he must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful." - 2 Timothy 2:24
PRAISE:
We are so thrilled! This past week 4 National Muslims came to faith! A husband and wife and another set – a mother and her adult daughter. We are thankful for the Holy Spirit’s work in their lives.
PETITION:
Pray for the husband of the family that evacuated their house after it was fire bombed by Muslim extremists in their area. He has just gone back into the region to begin discussions with authorities to re-start their critical health care ministry.
Pray for the health of a key National worker who underwent surgery recently. Pray that he recovers quickly and will make time to allow the healing process.
Pray for the outreach plans of the Filipinos in our medium sized city. Pray for boldness and wisdom as they step out in faith.
Pray that God would bring more workers to Saudi Arabia – the no. 2 country on the most persecuted countries list.
Pray for an MBB in our country. He has struggled with lack of job and visa for the past several months. He has a tentative offer in a different city that would remove him from his current ministry. Pray that he would have wisdom in making this decision.
TESTIMONY:
A worker in our country received another invitation by a local friend to attend another Muslim evangelistic event. The first one several months previous, was quite interesting because several western women had shared their personal conversion experiences—they had told why they became Muslims. These events were designed to draw in expatriate ladies from non-Muslim backgrounds, give them an Islamic indoctrination, and introduce them to a friendly community of Muslim women who would be happy to help them in the conversion process. No doubt many a lonely foreigner would be attracted by such attention and concern.
However, going to this Islamic indoctrination session would mean that she could be turning down a good opportunity to share with one of her neighbors – a common occurance at this time. This time the invitation was to a palace of the royal family. The husband felt that his wife should go, he felt that God would use her even in this Islamic evangelism session.
The friend who invited our worker friend ushered her into the sitting room of the princess. Unbelievably, of the thirty-or-so Muslim ladies present only two had managed to bring guests – this gal and one other westerner who was a fellow missionary that she knew! They silently signaled to each other that they would pray for one another. After being introduced to their hostess, they were served coffee and invited to sit down. In a moment the princess’s cell phone buzzed and she excused herself to answer it. She never came back. For the next two hours a female fundamentalist leader took the floor and lambasted Christianity, interspersing her monologue of accusations with the “testimonies” of former Christians, Hindus, and atheists who had come to share their stories.
The leader was a harsh-looking older woman who appeared to relish her job. There was no comforting “come join our happy group” air about her, and even some of the converts seemed to eye her with fear. Her faced contorted with pleasure as she maligned Christians, slandered the Bible, and blasphemed the Lord Jesus Christ. This certainly wasn’t friendship evangelism!
Our co-worker was getting furious over the blatant lies the Muslim evangelist was making. The lady was twisting scripture way out of context and defaming the name of Jesus. Our friend had a hard time not blowing up at this woman. Immediately a verse came into her mind, “The wrath of man accomplishes not the righteousness of God.” And then another verse, “The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be patient unto all men, apt to teach...”. Apt to teach! Suddenly, every shred of anger melted away and was immediately replaced by the thrill of anticipation. Her prayer the rest of the evening was, “Oh God, don’t let me leave this place without giving them the chance to hear the Gospel. There is an answer to every single thing Fatima has said. Let these people hear Your Truth as it really is-unchanged and uninterrupted—and stop the mouths of the gainsayers!”
Two hours later, all the testimonies had been shared and Fatima was in her closing argument. Her face was red from the effort she was exerting to drive her point home. Pointing that bony finger at our friend, she posed her well-planned question our friend was ready. “That’s a very good question, “ she answered cheerfully, “but before I answer it I’d just like to say ‘Thank you’ to all of you for allowing us to be here tonight. I have learned so much from listening to you share. I’ve also learned alot about what you think we believe, and I have to say there seems to be a basic misconception as to what a Christian actually is, and how you become one. Would you mind if I just sort of cleared that up first?” Silence filled the room. Some of the women in the audience looked at each other. Finally someone said, “Sure, go ahead.” So she did. She explained the Gospel and how to become a Christian to that whole group of Muslims, at their own evangelistic meeting! When she finished, one of the listeners raised her hand to ask a question, “Where in the Bible does it say that Jesus is God?” A Muslim girl handed Rhema the Bible, which they had been holding up for criticism a moment ago, and she read to them from Genesis 1 and John 1. The Word of God made everything, the Word of God is God, the Word of God became flesh and walked among us, Jesus. Hands shot up around the room and women slid to the edge of their seats, leaning forward. It was clear that the women had been thinking about these things for some time and that Fatima’s arguments hadn’t satisfied them. The fundamentalist leader was trying to stand up, finger outstretched, mouth open—but no words were coming out. A lady sitting next to Fatima was swatting her leg, saying, “Shhh! We want to hear the Christian!” Another woman chimed in, “Yes, we’ve been doing this for years and this is the first time we’ve heard what Christians believe from a real Christian!” This scene continued on for forty minutes until dinner was served and the discussion had to be broken up. God had answered Paul’s prayer far beyond what either of them had asked or thought. Truly, nothing is impossible for Him.
<>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Praying Thru the Arabian Peninsula
www.pray-ap.info
USA #: 800-376-5876 (Eastern Time)
Encouraging & equipping believers & churches everywhere to pray through the heart of the Muslim world so that church planting movements will spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula and beyond for the Lord's glory.
====
To learn how you can support this & other work in the Middle East, visit:
http://www.srginc.orgOr write:
ptap@srginc.org
Or:
PTAP
c/o Strategic Resource Group
P.O. Box 1809
Easton, MD 21601
USA