Words written by the Apostle Paul have come to mind often lately, words found in Ephesians 5. This is how it reads in the Living Bible:
14 This is what God says in the Scriptures: “Awake O sleeper, and rise up from the dead; and Christ shall give you light. 15 16 So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don’t be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good. 17 Don’t act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to.” Ephesians 5: 14-17
I received reports through brother Hanini from Omar and the brethren who crossed the border into Iran. The reports came from both Kurdistan and Sanadaj provinces where the brothers had ministered.
One of the reports from Omar, Sakuri and Manfaluti, concerned a sheikh by the name of Dhurgham and his assistant Suhail, who were located in Baneh (Kurdistan province), Iran. These sheikhs had been led to Jesus by Shahbandar and Mortada and were given Bibles. The more they read from the Scriptures the more they recognized it as the genuine source of spiritual Truth. While they were sharing with the two sheikhs, Sakuri added his own story of how the Lord had healed his mother. She had had a stroke and after she reached out and touched a Bible which happened to be next to her, she was healed. She now keeps it close to her chest.
Sakuri testifies to her healing and the Good News of the Gospel every chance he gets. Sakri, in his part of the email message said,
“Brother Jack, if I had known Abdelrahem or Rashid earlier in life, I would have brought thousands of people to believe in Jesus! Jesus sacrificed, and so will we! Pray for our success. Manfaluti and I have now been taught how to pray by the brothers and we have memorized the New Testament. We hope to be able to do the same with the Old Testament.”
I began the story about Dhurgham earlier and his interaction with Omar, Sakuri, and Manfaluti. Now for the rest of his story sent by Hanini:
Omar says that Dhurgham is a man in his sixties and suffers from warts on his skin. After he and his assistant Suhail became believers in Jesus, they decided it was time for them to make a public proclamation of their faith before their local mosque where hundreds of people had also accepted Jesus as their Savior. Dhurgham and Suhail decided to make their proclamation on the day that a great baptism had been planned. Dhurgham, however, was troubled all night about how he was going to handle appearing before all the people because he was so ashamed about the condition of his skin. But, he went ahead anyway.
In short, what happened is that as he was baptized and came out of the water, he found he was healed and the warts fell from his skin. He was so shocked that he began to weep. The emotion of the situation was so powerful that many in the crowd were brought to tears as well. As a side note, Omar said that even though it was about 45 c (113 F) on the day of the baptism, a gentle coolness was in the mosque and the square where people were gathered. It was a day of great blessing and several hundred men and women were baptized and the Word of God was taught to all. Praise God!
Our new brother Dhurgham sent this message (in his words) and I am sharing it at his request.
“Hello brother Jack, this is Dhurgham. I would like to tell you honestly and nothing but all honesty. I am a man who has spent more than 30 years teaching the Qur’an and Islamic law with Sheikh Suhail. I know Al-Sakuri and Al-Manfaluti. Please believe what I tell you and please share what happened to me. I believed and read the Bible all night and asked Omar, Shahbander and Mortada to baptize me as I had accepted Christ as Lord. Believe me, when Omar and the brothers came and started baptizing me, I was ashamed of myself because of the skin disease that I suffered from, but with prayer and baptism, the warts began to come off, like peeling a corn kernel. I did not feel any pain at all. What a merciful Lord! Now the trust is our responsibility to deliver the message about Jesus and sacrifice everything we own for Him, money, children, and even our own souls. Pray for us for success. May God bless you, our brother Al-Hanini, and all who pray for us and support us within the Gospel.”
Dhurgham
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I also received a report from Abdelrahem. He said they were at a powerfully anointed prayer service in Latakia. He said the teachings by Sheikhs Balout, Abu Lafi, and Qaoud were very good. After the prayers and teachings he said they went to another location and met with al-Kilani who had gone to retrieve the wives and daughters of the sheikhs who had recently been the victims of a brutal assault by government militant extremists. The names of the husbands are Sheikhs Metwalli, Hajj Nazim, and Hajj Muhtadi. Their wives are Sa Bilah, Noha, and Tabarak. The women were badly injured. They had burns on their hands and feet, their hair had been cut off, and they had been badly beaten and sexually assaulted. Sisters Hafiza, Ferial, and Sarah prayed for the women and their daughters whose names I do not have, and some of the burns were healed as they prayed. They had a special prayer for them before people came to the mosque for prayer. More than 400 people came to pray at the mosque that morning. Abdelrahem commented that these people are besieged by famine in their area and are very poor.
What happened next with Abdelrahem and the brothers is another story altogether. Abdelrahem spoke to the people about the Word of God and that there is not another book like it. It is the true Book of Truth. So sheikhs Metwalli, Hajj Nazim, and Muhtadi began to read the Scriptures to the people and taught them about Jesus. People then began to flock to the front for prayer and Abdelrahem and the brothers prayed with them, leading them to a true faith in Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. After everyone had been prayed for, the women prepared a meal for everyone. By that time there were over 560 people gathered together. All they had was 10 kilos (22 lbs.) of flour, prepared thyme discs and egg discs. They also had some lemon juice, mint, and some ice. Abdelrahem said the only way this many people had enough to eat and drink was because the Lord blessed it all and multiplied it. How great is our God!
One last update I received from Omar was sent through Hanini. Omar and the brothers arrived in Sanadaj province in Iran and entered a mosque with about 350 people who had gathered for the evening prayer. During the service, Dhargham was both giving testimony to his faith and the healing he had experienced at his baptism, and translating for Omar into Farsi. Omar and Dhargham were accompanied by Al-Sakri, Al-Manfaluti, Shahbandar, and Mortada.
As Dhargham was speaking he was challenged by a couple sheikhs named Farhad Daryoush and Babak Bijan, sheikhs that are very educated and considered religious giants in the area. They were not convinced of what they were hearing from Dhargham about Christ’s divinity and became so violent they tried to start a fistfight. At this point Omar approached them and asked everyone to sit down. He had some bread and white cheese brought up along with some tomatoes and cucumbers. He also had some water brought up along with a few glasses. He asked Farhad Daryoush and Babak Bijan, along with a few others to come up front. Omar poured water into each of their glasses and gave them a little bread, cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Then he asked that he be allowed to thank God for the blessing of what was before them, and they agreed. Shahbandar and Mortada, speaking to them in Farsi, asked them before the prayer for God’s blessing to think what it would be that they would wish to eat? Would it be beef, lamb, or fish? What would you wish to drink? Orange juice, grape juice, apple juice, or carrot juice? After giving them a minute to think, the Sakari prayed, saying: “O Lord, this is the Book. Please feed them whatever they are wishing for. Allow them to see your kindness, your goodness, and your generosity. They do not understand who You really are. They are poor and needy before You, Lord. We are all Yours. We do not really own anything of our own. It is You that is rich, O Lord.”
Each of the men began to eat of the food that was before them and drink from the water. Each of the men admitted that they could taste exactly what they had wished for, asking each other, “What did you eat? Was it what you had wished for?” Yet, all present saw that it was nothing more than a little bread, cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes. Then there was the water. One of the men exclaimed, “This is just water. Where does the taste of orange juice come from?” Others asked the same type of questions: “How is it that I am tasting carrots?” Another said that his water tasted exactly like apple juice and another that his tasted like grape juice — yet, all the glasses only had water in them!
The reaction was the same with all of them. “What just happened? What is this?!”
Many of the people in the crowd had a very hard time believing what they were seeing and thought the sheikhs were crazy. But, quite a number of them actually came up to the front and tasted the food for themselves. The proof was right there and it was obvious. How could such a thing happen? Only by the miraculous intervention by a loving God, and the people now knew it. No one could argue with what they tasted for themselves. As usual, this caused a great turning to the Lord Jesus by a great many people, who asked to be prayed for and asked Jesus to forgive them for not believing. They also asked Jesus to forgive them of their sins and declared their faith before all present. Praise God.
As I was finishing up this update, I received a bit of information to include. Hanini reports that there are now 4 teachers instructing 73 new Bible students in Baneh. In Saqqez, HOB has 7 teachers for 150 new students, and in Sandaj there are 13 teachers beginning to teach 600 students. These are all in western Iran. At this point, all classes are only oral until Bibles and teaching booklets can be provided. Thank you all for your prayers. The brothers went into the lion’s den and look at what God has already done — within just a few days! I am sure we will hear even more very soon. God is moving quickly by His Spirit and multitudes are being reached in these last moments of the Age of Grace.
Thank you all for your prayers and support. The need for Bibles is critical, not only in Arabic, but also in Farsi. Thank you for your help in making this happen. Feel free to contact either of the two email addresses below if you have any questions.
Special Note: Regretfully, I need to include a caution with today’s update. Someone has been taking the official Mideast Updates that I have been writing for the House of Blessing and reformatting parts of it, r and removing my personal name and website from it. The email addresses you see at the bottom of this update are also being removed and another one put in its place in order to collect funds. Please be careful. There is only one official update being written for the House of Blessing. I am continuing to write the updates as I have for well over 13 years as Pastor Rashid and I had agreed I would, as long as I am able. There is no connection with anyone else or anyone else’s ministry. God knows all…
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)