I have taken one of the e-mail letters that I have received and copied it onto the site without correcting the English or doing any editing at all, for that matter. Sometimes a dose of reality is good for us. I didn’t change anything, but rather left it just as I received it two weeks or so ago.
I am not sure as to the exact date of this event, and it probably doesn’t really even matter. I know that it is not the only one like it in this man’s life, or for those that volunteer to help him. Jesus was quite clear about the fact that if the world hated him, that it would be sure to hate His followers as well.
I’ll have to admit that just reading this story had no small impact on my life. I would hope that it will impact you, the reader, as well. If not, something in our spiritual walk with God needs an overhaul.
At this point, please read the short rendition of what happened not long ago. This is told in the pastor’s own words. Keep in mind that his English is a bit difficult for him.
April 19, 2012
“Dear Jake, Anne, and all that happen to read this blog:
Shalom…
Life goes on & many thanks to your vital support. As spring arrives and we celebrate its feasts and the world celebrates Easter and the flowers grow and flourish and cover the earth. We act here to convey your kindness and love to the needy people on earth and the lost souls looking for Holy bible guidance, to the people whom they still live in darkness. We offer them the light of the Gospel and show them the way to His promised Kingdom. We write to thank you for your love and continuous support and prayers.
The hearts of the Volunteers of our Co-Workers keep on praying for you all at every second, those scared eyes turn to GOD asking him to bless and multiply your offerings and gifts, and to bless you and your work and to save you and keep you in good health and save you from all illnesses or sickness so that they may keep receiving your continuous gifts that keep on coming as the nights follow the days, the summers follow the springs, the fall follows the winter with water and the first colors of life.
Today as we mentioned the colors of life I like to share with you the color I lived with lately. It was a black color and it continued for a period of time. This happened as I was passing Bibles and support to the hungry people, when a group of armed men arrived at our distribution center and started their inquiries and wanted fast answers, then they blind folded me and moved me into a darker place where all I heard was the scrams of agony and pain from the prisoners who arrived before me.
I have no doubt that the people in this place were prepared to torture, beat and even in some cases kill those who prove to be a member of Fattah or those that cooperate with Israel. But this time our situation was different as I am in contact only with those who need Bibles, food, and water and in some cases medications. We even took a quick loan to help the needy people and we didn’t repay the debt yet although we promised we will pay them back as soon as possible.
After they descended with me into the ground I heard the noises of a steel door open and I was thrown into the cage, they locked me in and left me there as after they removed my blind fold, time passed so slowly, my heart kept beating so fast, all what I could and tried to do is to go around in the cage trying to feel it’s sides and trying to know it’s size and shape. At the end, my legs gave up on me and I sat on the floor waiting and praying asking GOD to help me and free me from my imprisonment.
No one came for my inquisition, I didn’t hear any footsteps, and I prayed more asking for GOD’s protection and security. I stayed there for few days, then one day I heard a noise and some strong athletic persons carried me by my hands and threw me to a wider place crowded with young men, there were a lot of prisoners in this place. As I entered the place they started asking me questions… How are you here? Why are you here? What is your crime? And such questions, my answer was simply I didn’t do anything to harm any human being, I am not against any political party at all, I am just there to do my charity work and to alleviate the sufferings and pain of the injured and homeless fulfilling the teaching & the instruction I learned from the Holy Bible.
My days of imprisonment lasted for few days, I got to know my fellow prisoners better, and spent all the time telling them about the Holy Land and why it was called by that name, I also told them about Abraham and his sons, and that they were blessed by this connection as they are all the sons of Ishmael the son of Abraham, attached is the material which describes in detail this relationship and I extracted to you to read if you would like to do so…
The number of prisoners kept decreasing day after day, when I tried to know why this decrease happen they told me that they either have been transferred into another prison or they may execute them. When I heard this I wept because I enjoyed talking to them and because some of them welcomed and accepted my stories about the prophets and the Holy Land.
After I knew the destiny of whom they took away from the prison, I felt afraid and scared every time they call a name, I was afraid my name may be in this list, whenever they call the names I closed my eyes and prayed to GOD that my name is not in this list. I kept surviving this horrible experience for a few days then one day they called my name, my legs couldn’t carry me. I raised my hand and then fell into a coma.
Few hours later I waked up to find myself unharmed in front of our distribution center. They took me back to my friends and the charity work I volunteered to do. God is so Good, GOD answered my prayers.
In the prison I left 6 prisoners who accepted and believed in Jesus and in what I told them, they promised they will visit me if they were saved. Please pray for their release into freedom so my heart can be happy when I meet them again and the name of our Lord continued to be glorified. I also ask you to pray for us to pay our debts, the money we borrowed to cover the basic needs of those needy people.
Pray for our safety and our upcoming mission to Jordan
From me and all the team members here, many thousands thanks.”
Love & Blessings
******
Now that I have shared with you what R______ wrote about two weeks ago, I would like to tell you the rest of the story. I have been mentioning that a trip is planned into Jordan with about 1,800 Bibles or so printed into Arabic. This was a big project for this small ministry. Several vehicles were needed to accomplish this, and of course a group of 12-16 or so people. The destination was about 8-9 hours away by vehicle.
I get calls several times a week from R_____ and at these times we pray together–about 10,000 miles apart or however far it is. God has been hearing these prayers and good has come about because of this agreement. The Bible promises this. Last night I got a call–twice, but I missed them due to my phone being on vibrate.
When I checked my calls this morning, I found that our friend was grieving due to the fact that four of the men had been killed. I don’t have details yet, and won’t until tomorrow or the next day, but I can guess. Jewish people and Christians are in the greatest danger when going into extremist Islamic locations. Yet, these people need to learn about Jesus, the true Messiah, as much as anyone else in the world.
When I got the call, it was a request for agreement in prayer for safety and also powerful words to share with these brand new Christians who are now experiencing tremendous grief. All of the rest of the folks are now in great danger as well, so PLEASE pray for them! We here in America really have no idea what it is like to have your life on the line every day; every hour of the day. There is not a safe moment. Without intending to be critical, our description of “persecution” for the faith, is getting ridiculed or maybe laughed at in public. We don’t have a clue!
I beg as many of you as the LORD reminds of this, please pray for these soldiers of the faith! They are having to walk the road most of us fear to the point of panic. I am going to save some more comments along this line for another post.
Please pray! Please support, if God is nudging you!! That’s the very least we can do. I really don’t want to get into an area of condemnation, but just maybe this is the time in history that a less expensive speed boat might be in order. Think of the souls that might just get turned around! Some get in the fray and put their lives on the line, others are blessed with the finances to help them get what they need so that they can get it to the people that really need it. People in these areas share ONE BIBLE between well over a dozen people! How many do you have?? How many do I have???? It present a pretty rude awakening, believe me!
Enough for this post…Please, let’s turn our attention on things above!! Nothing else really matters anymore.
By the way, the details are still quite sketchy on who it was that lost their lives. It might be of the crew that delivered the Bibles, or it could also be of the new Christians that had just found their Messiah as a result of the trip to Jordan. It may also be of the existing contacts already in place in Jordan. When all the details are clear, I will pass the information on. Many of you are interested in this ministry in Jerusalem.
Keep Looking Up!!
Jake