Exloring Life Eternal

"Behold, I HAVE PREPARED my dinner: my oxen, my fattened livestock are butchered, and everything is ready, come ..." - Matthew 22:4

PRAISE:
There were literally thousands of Christians involved in Night of Power prayer meetings during the last days of Ramadan. These Christians spent many hours praying late into the night as their Muslim neighbors were seeking blessings as Ramadan came to a close.

PETITION:
Pray for a long-term single tentmaker who is looking for a more permanent housing situation in his country of service by ownership of a residence. Pray that the details would work according to God’s plan and provision.

Pray for the MBB young man who recently left the AP country that he lived in all of his life. He has been in a difficult situation for several months and was forced to leave. He is between 2 other countries going through bureaucratic circles to make his situation more stable. Pray for much grace and that other believers will be able to support him in all ways.

Please pray for N the wife of a local baptized believer who has big doubts about Islam, that God will continue to answer her questions and that N will trust in Jesus as her Lord and Master.

Please pray for those who have boldly taken hold of the window of opportunity that the Asian Games brings to this region. Pray that Christians will become bold in sharing the Love of Jesus with the many athletes and officials coming at the end of 2006.

Please pray for the many secret believers here to be renewed in the spirit of their minds, freed from all bondages physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually, and to become beacons of light to those in darkness all around them.

TESTIMONY:
It was a typical Iftar meal. The Muslim host had a wonderful meal catered for his Arab Muslim friends and some western businessmen at his ‘farm’ on the outskirts of a large city in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. The western businessmen happened to all be Christians, part of the same tentmaking team. The conversations between the Arab men and the western business men varied and were all over the map: family, sports, fireworks, sex, price of property, the changed Bible, jobs, good bosses and bad bosses, the prosperity of the nation, the issue of the Trinity, the weather being too hot still (it was 34 C at 9pm), getting married, raising children, hope of eternal life in paradise, and more. Some seeds were planted; some parts of the Good News went out. Many phone numbers were exchanged and the hopes of getting together during or soon after the Eid (celebration after the end of Ramadan).

Please pray with us for fruit!

* AP = Arabian Peninsula
+ MBB = Muslim Backround Believer
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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 heirs of the woman who met the "God-Sees-and-Hears-Me" so that biblical church planting movements will spread throughout the Arabian Peninsula and beyond for the Lord's glory.

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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

"The Spirit told Philip, 'Go to that chariot and stay near it.'" - Acts 8:29

PRAISE:
We are thankful that our Muslim Background Believing friend was able to contact us this past week – previously she had been cut-off from all communication with us. She had gone home at the request of her family. They want to force her to marry a man they have arranged, but she is now a Christian and doesn’t want to marry a Muslim man. We are thankful she is in communication and that she has been able to connect with a key church leader in her country.


PETITION:
Please pray for our Muslim Background believing friends during this month of Ramadan. It is a time where they face a lot of pressure from family and oppression from the evil one. Pray especially for “Samantha” as she has been under a lot of spiritual attack. Please pray for her protection.

Please pray for a local believer who is falling away from his faith. Worries of daily life are creeping in, and there seems to be very little joy for him.

Please pray for wisdom for the workers here when dealing with so many family problems of new believers. They need our Father's wisdom to know how to handle, advise and when to stay out of the situation.

Pray for K & A, 2 Qatari’s who are disillusioned with Islam and do not know how or where to find the truth. Pray for the tentmaker who is their work colleague, that during this month he will be able to speak into their lives dropping seeds that will grow under the watering of the Holy Spirit.

During Ramadan, many of our neighbors read the Qu’ran more faithfully and strive to be more religious. Pray that the Lord will speak to them through passages about Jesus in the Qu’ran, that He will speak to them through visions and dreams, through radio programs and contact with our tentmaking team.

TESTIMONY: A Chance Encounter
We had a missionary friend who left the field when his son entered college. I purchased his car. The car was rather distinctive in color, easily recognizable.

Because of this, one day, a local Muslim man flagged me down on the road. Not knowing what he might want, I stopped. He recognized the car, but not me. We got to talking, and soon our conversation turned to spiritual things that he and our colleague had previously discussed. He had questions from what he had read in the Bible he had received.

I have spent quite a bit of time with this man, and he has become acquainted with native Arabic speaking believers who are instructing him in his language. We still talk, weekly, and he is growing, but has yet to take the final step. Pray for Ahmed that he may come to know Jesus as his Lord and Savior.


* 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

A few weeks ago during Ramadan a conversation took place between a student and her teacher. "I wish I were a Christian then I wouldn't have to fast!" "Well, maybe you'd like to think about more seriously about that." "Oh no, I was born a Muslim that can never change."

For many people, the road to faith begins with the removal of obstacles like this. It can be a long journey but pray for believers to be alert for the chance to help people take even a small step towards a New Life.

Please visit the '30 Days of Prayer Website' to download a copy of their guide, or subscribe to their e-mail guide:

http://www.30-days.net

1. Ramadan begins October 5th through November 3rd. Please keep in mind the peoples of Tajikistan who will fast during the daylight hours and pray special prayers hoping to earn God's favor and hoping to find salvation from their sins. Ask that God would reveal himself in dreams, visions, and powerful displays of His Spirit through His people during this religiously oppressive time. Much spiritual warfare occurs during these 30 days, so pray specifically that the stronghold of deception and false religion will fall in Tajikistan during this time, and Truth will be raised up!

2. Remember that October is also a chance to take a week and fast and pray for Tajikistan together with thousands of other Christians around the world. We are encouraging all those involved in interceding for Tajikistan to pick one week in October to pray and fast for more spiritual breakthroughs in the lives of the people. This is the 4th and final installment. We had such a week in January, one in April, one in July, and now the final one in October. It is no accident that this final fast lies during Ramadan. We want to take on the Enemy head-on.

3. We received a request from local believers to pray for those among them who have opportunities to excel at what they do and to give God the glory in it. Some use sports, others business, others use their academic abilities. Pray that all believers would use their God-given gifts for His Glory more and more in this small, but beautiful country.

4. Pray for those who have been rejected by their large family networks for the sake of Christ. Ask God to put them in "families" so they can survive and will be able to give Glory to Him as a result.

5. Pray for new believers and new churches to be raised up that will use culturally appropriate training models. This is vitally important to the emerging church. Lift for several efforts coming up that will address this issue.

PRAY FOR MUSLIMS DURING THE THIRTY DAYS OF RAMADAN (October 5-November 3)

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Since 1993 there has been a special emphasis to pray for Muslims during their annual fasting month of Ramadan. Millions of Christians from around the world have united during this time to pray that Muslim people will become open to God’s gift of salvation through Jesus. To facilitate this prayer focus, a special Muslim Guide has been prepared for each day of Ramadan. This year Ramadan will begin on Wednesday, October 5, 2005. This prayer guide is available in 42 languages. You can obtain information about this prayer focus each day by going to http://www.30-days.net. A hard copy book is also available through the following address: Thirty Day Prayer Focus For Muslims, PO Box 9208, Colorado Springs, CO 80932, USA

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Brief Review of What Most Muslims Believe:

Five Pillars of Islam:
1. Reciting their Creed (“shahada”) — “There is no God but Allah and Mohammed is his prophet”.
2. Prayer (“salat”) — at five set times a day.
3. Almsgiving (“zakat”) — both obligatory and voluntary giving to the poor.
4. Fasting (“saum”) — especially during the “holy” month of Ramadan.
5. Pilgrimage (“hajj”) — at least once in a lifetime to Mecca.

Even if a Muslim observes all of these pillars, there is still no guarantee of salvation. Muslims often think about the Day of Judgment, when they believe Allah (or an angel) will take a balance and weigh each person’s deeds. The only sure way to Paradise is to die as a martyr during an Islamic Holy War (“jihad”). Muslims lack assurance of forgiveness.

Mohammed is Islam’s highest prophet, but the Qur’an (the Islamic holy book) also speaks often of Jesus, who is also known as Isa. Muslims believe that Jesus was born by a miracle of God through the Virgin Mary. However, Muslims do not believe that Christ died on the cross, His resurrection or His deity. Although Jesus is the second highest prophet in Islam, He is only one prophet among 124,000.

Muslims believe angels and evil spirits (jinn) exist and teach that “all good and evil comes from Allah”, introducing a very fatalistic concept at the heart of Muslim faith and experience. The Hadiths (a collection of Islamic traditions containing sayings of Mohammed) contain instruction for almost every detail of a Muslim’s daily life. Please pray specifically for Muslims during this time.

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Please print & distribute the above news in a format suitable for your church bulletin.
Peace,
Mert Hershberger

Monday, October 3, 2005

PRAISE:
God that a local believer who resurfaced recently is again in touch with other believers. May his family also come to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

PETITION:
Pray for the couple working in a remote area in the east of our country. Their car was recently fire bombed by some Islamic extremists. The couple, with their small children has moved from the area temporarily. They have had a significant impact for the Gospel in this rural, isolated, poor area.

Pray for divine opportunities for the tentmakers in the Arabian Peninsula during the month of Ramadan which should start on 04/05 October.

Pray for the fellowships of expatriate Arab and local believers. May the Lord give grace to the leaders to share their leadership with others and may the believers learn mutual submission, compromise and working together. May families and fellowships be filled with mutual caring, love and self-sacrifice.

Pray for a local family to make a fresh start in serving God together.

In the past few years, sharing of the Good News has greatly increased in this country. Pray for God to confirm His Word, which has been sown in so many hearts here, and to give the Muslim nationals the gift of faith. Pray that the evil one will not be allowed to snatch away the seed, but that it will bear a great harvest!

TESTIMONY:
Praise God for the impact a tentmaker has had in the lives of twin girls from a local family in our rural town. They had been under the influence of the "evil eye" which they believed someone cast on them. The teen-aged girls were listless for days, sometimes only able to sit in their home in a trance-like state. They didn’t have an appetite for food and didn’t relate to anyone – even those in their family.

The tentmaker noticed the girls on one of her regular visits to the home. The bigger sister said they were cursed by a jealous neighbor. The sister said they tried everything – reading the Qu’ran out loud continuously, having the mullah at the mosque pray for them and protecting the girls with charms. None of it worked. The tentmaker seized the opportunity to interject the hope of answered prayer in the name of Jesus. The big sister was skeptical and scoffed at her Christian friend’s pretentious or ignorant belief that the Christian prayer would be more effective than the Muslim prayers of their mullah. After much discussion, the big sister agreed to let the tentmaker and her Arab Christian friend pray for the girls – outside the home, without the girls being present. The tentmakers prayed aloud for all the family to see. It wasn’t until several days later that they learned that the girls were better. Pray that there would continue to be opportunities among this influential body.