Exloring Life Eternal

September 18, 2006

"... Daily in the temple and in every house, they didn't stop teaching about & preaching Jesus Christ." - Acts 5:42

PRAISE:
We are thrilled that ‘Alex’ an MBB+ from a neighboring country is able to go to his home country and visit with his ailing father and elderly mother. He has been allowed to leave the country for the past 3 years due to work, political and religious issues.

PETITION:
Pray for the expatriate church here. Pray for those new to the area would find spiritual homes and a place to be refreshed and envisioned for the work of the Kingdom.

Pray for local believers during Ramadhan (it starts on 24 September 2006). Pray that God would sustain them and strengthen them and protect them against the strong pull of Islam Pray for God's grace in their lives at this time as many will be facing pressure to join with family and community events and special prayers at the mosque.

Pray for Salman, a National MBB+ as he is getting his life back together after the death of his wife from a prolonged illness. He and his wife came to Christ when an Iraqi Christian couple visited them in the hospital a few days before her death. Pray that he would be comforted by his Savior and Lord.

Pray for continued growth, rebuilding, and strength for all of the local believers here in our country.

Ask that the Father will be with a Believer who is being held in a prison. Ask that this person's family, who do not believe, will come to Faith through these very hard circumstances.

TESTIMONY:
The outreach team was praising the Lord for so many open doors of opportunity they had to give away the Jesus video on DVD, Arabic New Testaments and other Christian literature. One day, one of the team members prayed boldly “I want someone to come to us and say that they have watched the video and have questions.” Later that same day, when the team came back from an outreach on the far side of the lake, a man from Saudi Arabia approached the man who prayed so boldly hours before. The man Saudi man was aggravated and spoke loudly ‘Are you the people who have been giving out this movie about Issa (Jesus)?’ The Arab Christian man calmly but meekly said that he was. The Muslim man said ‘Good! I watched it last night and I have lots of questions!’ The two men spent the next hour or so talking about the claims of Jesus and what that means for all mankind. We are excited about the high number of people from the AP* that were brought into contact with Arab Christians that live as expatriates in the same region. Pray that they would continue to seek out the truth about God and come to faith in Him.

* AP = Arabian Peninsula
+ MBB = Muslim Backround Believer

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><
Praying Thru the Arabian Peninsula
www.pray-ap.info
USA #: 800-376-5876 (Eastern Time)
Encouraging & equipping believers & churches everywhere to pray with a heart filled with the "Seed-of-Laughter" for those at the heart who know "God-Hears" so that biblical 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.org

Or write MertH.:
ptap@srginc.org

Or:
PTAP
c/o Strategic Resource Group
P.O. Box 1809
Easton, MD 21601
USA

"Disciple All Nations" - This was the command of Jesus & it includes sharing the message that Jesus is Lord to all cultures & communities within the USA, as well as at the ends of the earth & around the islands.

The Ethnic Worker's Network is a Network of People who are committed to 1 thing: the Honor of our Father as all peoples pray to Him through the First-Born from the Dead.

To Learn More
http://www.ethnic-america.net/

"The firm foundation of (laid by) God stands,
sure and unshaken, bearing this seal (inscription):
The Lord knows those who are His, and,
Let everyone who names [himself by] the name of the Lord
give up all iniquity and stand aloof from it."
2 Timothy 2:19 (Amplified)

PRAISE:
Praise the Lord with us - a new family will be coming to work in a rural area here. Thank you for your prayers PTAP! They will come in the summer. Pray for them as they prepare, say their farewells to their current life and friendships and come to serve God here. Pray for their protection and well-being. Pray for all the many arrangements this will entail.


PETITION:
Pray for the International church in our largest city. It is almost all expatriates from over 30 countries. There have been major conflicts this week and many people are hurting. Pray for God's healing and help to all concerned and for a way forward. Pray that God would comfort His
people and bring hope for the future.

Pray for movement in the heart of my friend, the religious sheikh, from curiosity about me to genuine interest in Isa al Messih – Jesus the Christ.

Pray for a Christian maternity hospital in our country that urgently needs 2 midwives or OB Doctors. This hospital has blessed thousand of local families over the past 50 years. However, older staff have had to retire and the administration is having a difficult time finding Christians to take these vital positions.

Pray for the transition of an MBB single woman moving from one host family to live with another family. The transition from her previous living situation has been hard on both the host family and her. Pray for
much grace and wisdom in this situation.


TESTIMONY:
Two friends K. and A. were part of a small group of National believers in a small town. Recently they claimed that they had left Christianity and returned to Islam. All the reasons are not known - perhaps out of fear, perhaps from a disagreement with another believer. Kim, the lady who had been instrumental in leading them to Jesus, is understandably broken up over what has happened. Please pray that in His time, K. and A. will overcome their struggles and return to the truth even stronger than before.

While this is a frequent occurrence for Muslim Background Believers to go back and forth over a period of time, it is very serious loss to both the National Christian community and those with the responsibility for discipleship. Please remember Kim as well - that she would be comforted, that she would not burden herself, yet that she would be aware of any important gaps in the discipleship process.

<>< <>< <>< <>< <><
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.org

Or write:
ptap@srginc.org

Or:
PTAP
c/o Strategic Resource Group
P.O. Box 1809
Easton, MD 21601
USA

Algeria - A new law was passed on March 20, 2006 concerning the regulation of Christian worship, the effects of which are not yet clear. Pray for national Christians to stand firm in faith and unity and that the spread of the Gospel will not be hindered.

Jordan – We pray that the government’s anti-terror crackdown will not come at the expense of civil liberties.

Libya – Pray that the general changes within the country motivated by increasing international trade will lead to greater acceptance and better treatment for Christians.

Oman - Pray for strength, courage, and hope for Christian Believers who have been excluded from families because of following Jesus Christ.

Tunisia - Pray that Tunisian society will accept more openly the existence of Tunisian Christians, thereby reducing the pressure on new Believers from their extended families.

Chad – Thank you LORD that under the current government, Christians in Chad have relative freedom to worship you. As army defectors based in Darfur and backed by northern Sudanese authorities threaten to bring chaos to the country, we pray for peace to prevail.

Somalia - Somalia has recently been ranked as the fourth worst country in the world for the persecution of Christians. LORD, protect your people, particularly as many of them face being ostracized or even attacked by their own families for their faith.

Internet Evangelism Day
http://www.internetevangelismday.org

From their Newsletter - April 2006

Statistics
* Global Internet usage by language
http://www.glreach.com/globstats/index.php3

* Overall user figures
http://www.clickz.com/stats/web%5Fworldwide/

* Countries where Internet access is monitored
http://www.rsf.org/rubrique.php3?id%5Frubrique=273&referer=&des=Enemies%20of%20the%20Internet

* CyberAtlas - country-by-country figures and projections
http://cyberatlas.internet.com/big%5Fpicture/geographics/article/0,,5911%5F151151,00.html&referer=&des=CyberAtlas%20Internet%20use%20projections

* People Groups - a worldwide database
http://www.peoplegroups.org

The net now has ways tool to reach into the hardest nations:
http://aibi.gospelcom.net/missions/cybermissions%5Ftarget%5Fnations.htm

Including those in the 10/40 Window: http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/1040.htm

See the case-study on effective web outreach in Poland:
http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/poland.php

TRENDS
* Global Change - this mega-site provides views on the world situation from Christian future-watcher Dr. Patrick Dixon.
http://www.globalchange.com/main.htm

* Research links - a detailed analyses of the effect of the Internet on the church and evangelism, plus web evangelism conference reports.
http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/research.php

* Christianity Today - culture and world events, w/ commentary.
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ctmag/

* Future Church - Tom Hohstadt's occasional newsletter on the way the church is changing.
http://www.futurechurch.net/

* Christian Futures Network
http://www.wnrf.org/cms/christian.shtml

Full story here:
http://guide.gospelcom.net/resources/world.php

Today, I again called the priest of the local Greek Ortho church:
His name is Nick & the church is called St. Nicholas. He was out blessing homes & would be busy for the remainder of the month, unable to answer a simple 5 minute question about the Greek Bible version used in by the Greek Ortho's. Ah, well. The other day a dear local "levite" who loves to share the gospel adamantly insisted that he didn't like a church policy of encouraging generosity & mutuality.

I guess I will just have to ask a "Samaritan" while the levites & the priests busy on ahead.

Ironically, my brother Mark & I have pleasant conversations about the faith at times, and he attends a Greek Orthodox Church where the kids study the Bible. Also, I have co-workers who are Greek Orthodox (one guy helps me learn a few Greek phrases). One person seems a bit frustrated by the $ orientation of church, but that is a common blight in building oriented congregations.

But Jesus never fails.
He loves us, the cross proved it. His resurrection convinced us of it.

That is after all, why we have the Bible, so we can come to know Jesus a little better.

This note was in my inbox this AM which, I thought was ironic. (Everybody needs Jesus, & the Bible is given to us so that we can understand Jesus better.)

=====
...we had been passing out Bibles by placing them at the doorsteps of apartments in the several apartment buildings that are in our neighborhood. As we were doing this in one building, a lady saw what it was and called the local priest to come check it out. The priest arrived, saw that we were handing out Bibles, and flew into a rage. The woman told the priest that she did what the church had told her to do in reporting anything that might be against the Orthodox church. The priest began asking K. why we are doing that, calling us a “sect” and generally causing an uproar. K. told him that it is not Protestant literature or anything against the Orthodox church, but just a Bible. The priest said that a Bible was not needed for salvation, that salvation is only through him and the church. K. asked the priest if he had a Bible, and the priest defensively answered, “You think I don’t have a Bible?” The interesting thing is that he never said whether he had one or not. Then he threatened K. by saying that he would call the police. K. remained calm, only continuing to press the issue of the importance of giving the people Bibles. Then the priest started to get in his car, but not before holding out his hand so that the people around could kiss it.

We went home for lunch, and while we were eating, the doorbell rang. It was three police officers, and they asked K. to go to the station so they could ask him some questions. K. drove our van, following them to the station. They took him to a room where a fourth police officer was, and asked him what was going on. The man who processes our visas came in to reassure the other officers that our visas and work permits were all in order and in good standing. He asked a few questions also, but it was determined that we had not broken any laws and were guilty of nothing. So, they just told us to give out the Bibles one on one instead of just putting them in front of doors. So K. agreed and they told him he could go. So, K. was never arrested, spent no time in jail or anything like that. K. said they were very civil and not at all antagonistic. And, the police officer asked if they could keep the Bible there, so K. told them that was fine, and that he could bring more Bibles if they wanted them – but they all said that the one was enough.

So, K. came home. ... he walked in the door, but didn’t even tell us he was home. I heard some rustling in the other room, and asked who was there (thinking it was one of the kids messing with something). He answered that he was home, and we all had a good laugh that he was such at peace about it all! We all thanked the Lord as we listened to his story of what happened.

We are now slowing down in our Bible distribution, giving out the Bibles to people we already have relationships with and spending more time talking with them. We went to our neighbor’s home last night and had a good visit with them about the Bible. We will go to several more homes today. We have over 700 more to give out.

Please continue praying for us! We’re so thankful for all that has happened, seeing God’s hand in it all – His hand of protection, His hand of guidance, His hand of mercy. We look forward to continuing to serve and get out the powerful Word of God!

Joyfully,
J.

EGYPT: NEW BIBLE SOCIETY HOTLINE
Bible Society (http://www.biblesociety.org.uk) - July 4, 2005

The Bible Society of Egypt has set up a brand new quick-dial telephone service. The special number will connect callers anywhere in Egypt directly to their nearest Bible Society bookshop.

This new initiative follows the recent success at this year’s Cairo International Bookfair, resulting in a 26 percent increase in sales of Bibles and Christian resources. This escalation in interest in Christian materials has encouraged the local Bible Society to try other creative ways of marketing its message.

The Society is already known for its enterprising foray into billboard advertisements in the country’s capital. The [ads] appeared across Cairo on huge, prominent poster sites inviting passers by to consider the Bible’s message.

Now, in an ingenious twist on an impact of globalization, the Bible Society of Egypt has set up a brand new telephone service. In Egypt, dialing 19000 anywhere in the country connects the caller to the nearest Pizza Hut. Thanks to some generous donors, the Bible Society has echoed this quick-dial service. The Society has set up its very own special phone number, 19250, which connects callers anywhere in Egypt directly to their nearest Bible Society bookshop. The easy-to-remember phone number is now being publicized across the country to make Christian resources even more accessible.

Source (http://www.biblesociety.org.uk/content/pr040705.doc).

While studying in college, I observed that Jesus never promised a "job," though He did promise provision & he does call us to Himself ... 100% commitment.

<><

Today, the Lord gave me 3 great witnessing opportunities ... because I worked with an advertising contractor holding a street sign & listening to a CD with praise music or the Bible.

The first conversation was with a guy in a red Jeep who asked what this
was all about. I indicated that the signs were for the "conversion" of
the K-Mart store to a Sears Essentials store because of a corporate
buyout, but what I was about was a different conversion: the
conversion of souls from dark to light, from sin to salvation, from
death to life, etc. He mentioned that he too had noticed that far too
many people thought that it was all about money. He had had 2 heart
attacks & hardening of the arteries. Anxiety rested upon his face. I
reminded him of Jesus' death, burial, & resurrection & we asked the
Lord for help in this man's body. I suggested a church we (my wife &
I) had attended, and he seemed interested. His name is Louie Waterbury.

The second conversation was with a co-worker who had grown up for a
time around a sectarian splinter off Christianity (The Way
International) http://www.ex-wayworld.com/ I talked with him about
the Bible, and he admitted his need for forgiveness. However, he was
interested in the Bible, but did not seem to have ever personally
studied it in depth. He has a hard time in life, but needs to see the
church in love with God (not money/power/tradition?.) He left still
searching.

The last man was a man of some authority & wealth. He seemed to have
some authority at the store (as he was the one who was there when we
learned that we (the sign-holders) would have to leave). He had seen /
watched me as I bought some things that my wife wanted, but at very
good prices!

As I was about to leave the store, he too was leaving. He was busy,
but he greeted me, "How are you doing?"

"Rejoicing!" I answered.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Because my name is written in the Lamb's book of life? Is yours?"

"Umm, I don't know."

"Would you be interested in knowing for sure that your name is in the
Lamb's book?"

"No." He muttered a little something else too, but he was in his SUV &
off down the road at that point.

<><

All that to say, it was perhaps the best day for me personally, but the
"job" is closing up ... quick! I was doing what I loved doing, but the
"money" was not all that great!! (1/2 of what was originally offerred,
though I have done the job before. Uncertain future.) God is
providing through Praying Through the Arabian Peninsula, a little more,
which has become my life passion since 3+ years ago, but as they say,
the money ain't great but the retirement benefits are out of this world.

Thanks for your encouragement & mutual prayer.

Peace,
Mert Hershberger