A few of the lyrics of one of my favorite worship songs read like this:
Every valley will be lifted high and the weak will be the strong
When You come like lightning in the sky. How long, O Lord, how long?
Kings on earth will scatter when they hear thundering sounds of angel songs
Hearts will tremble, filled with holy fear. How long O Lord, how long?
You will conquer every evil thing; every sorrow, pain, and wrong
They will cease with your return, our King. How long O Lord, how long?
All our hopes are fixed on You. That Your promises are true
And one day You will return. All our treasures here will fade
So we long to see Your face. Until then our hearts will burn.
How long O Lord?
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The first story I have to share in today’s update came to me in several installments. One of the contributions is from Sheikh Bayoumi and his assistant Hajj Kazem. I have printed his message to me below with as little editing as possible.
“Hello my brother Jack. I am Sheikh Bayoumi and my assistant’s name is Hajj Kazem. I am telling you nothing but the truth. Sheikh Al-Saftawi and the sheikhs with him, men whom I have known from the past, went to my mosque along with their women. They were attacked in my mosque and we do not know the reason why. I said in my mind, ‘Muslims are attacking sheikhs?! This is something unacceptable!’ Women were attacked and raped in front of the people in the mosque and the sheikhs were severely beaten with rods and batons. Not only that, they did not respect the sanctity of the mosque and got quite drunk with alcohol. When they finished, they broke the alcohol bottles and forced the sheikhs to walk on the broken glass barefoot. The faith of the sheikhs was, however, strong and the broken glass did no damage or pain. All of this was because they refused to turn away from their belief in Christ. Believe me, Jack, you do not know me, but I am telling you while I am crying over the time that was wasted in vain when we did not believe in Jesus and the sacrifice He made for us. Look at the sincerity of the sheikhs to Him, and I am with them, as is Hajj Kazim. All of my followers in the mosque have now believed in Him. I do not want to go on too long. The enemies left after their ugly deed. The people here rose up against them after what they did. Pray for us, our brother, and may the Lord bless you.”
Bayoumi
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I also received a short email from Abdulrahem explaining that he, Al-Saftawi and the group of sheikhs (all believers in Jesus) were being pursued from Tartarus. After they got near Homs, the Lord spoke to Abdelrahem to separate and go another way. Al-Saftawi and the brothers with him wanted to stop and check on a couple of friends, Sheikh Al-Bayoumi and Hajj Kazem. Sheikhs Al-Kilani, Hael, Arshid, Al-Fishawi, Al-Hidmi, Hab Ruman, and Shaker arrived in Salamiyah, east of Hama, before they separated. When they reached Salamiyah they went to a local mosque. The mosque sheikhs’ names were Safwat and Hajj Jaber. There was already a crowd gathering and so they began conversing with the sheikhs. The mosque sheikhs did not know them, nor did they know the brothers. As they were talking, someone brought the news of what had happened to Al-Saftawi and all those with him. After hearing the story of the horrendous treatment they had received and then the miracle involving the broken glass, both sheikhs, Safwatr and Hajj Jaber wanted to hear more about Jesus. After hearing the Gospel, both sheikhs accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord. They were so impacted that they, afterwards, went up into the local minaret and Al-Safwat began shouting at the top of his voice:
“We are guilty, we are guilty, O people. Look at what Islam did to sheikh Al-Saftawi and my honorable fellow sheikhs. Does this Islam not respect anyone? Not just the sheikhs. Not only beating and cursing, but…raping women and even drinking alcohol and making the sheikhs walk on broken glass! But by the miracle of the Lord, they walked on glass and not a drop of blood fell from them. It is truly a tragedy what they did to them! Believe in Jesus!”
There were already over 400 people there when all this was happening and it had such an effect on them that they all swore to follow Christ from that day onward. Once again we have a story of how an entire crowd of people was reached because of the faithfulness of God as He worked in and through His ministers. I am told that teaching will begin with the help of Sheikhs Al-Hidmi, Al-Fishawi, and Balout. They will be assisted by Abu Ghalib, Abbas, Al-Kilani, and Abu Laila.
The story has spread beyond the original mosque full of attendees. News has come through that Sheikh Safwat, Abdelrahem, Bayoumi, Al-Saftawi were visited at the mosque by more than 1,000 people to confirm the miracle of the sheikh’s feet not having been cut by the broken glass. At first they did not believe that a healing had happened and thought they must have walked on cotton, but after hearing the testimony of all the people who had seen what happened, these people also wanted to accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord and be baptized. It was fitting to have a great celebration and so people brought food. Every household brought something to contribute. Some brought cheese, some watermelon, others fruits, orange juice, lemons or bread. The Lord blessed the food and no one went away hungry.
I received another report from our brother Abdelrahem. It was a story concerning a woman by the name of Hanaa. I will share the basics of the story as Abdelrahem tells it. I have printed it as close to the original as I could with as little editing as possible.
“Hello my brother Jack, this is Abdelrahem. I was on the way through Palmyra with sheikhs that were traveling with me as well as some of the brothers, and sisters, Ferial, Hafiza, and Sarah. As we were going through the countryside, a woman started screaming and hitting herself and tearing off her clothes. The people in the area said she was crazy but this was not someone crazy. There was a mosque near the place run by Sheikh Haftar and Sheikh Bilal. I instructed the sisters to dress her in a way that she was more controllable. Her actions were shameful, forbidden, and not permissible. We asked permission to enter the mosque and to inquire what her story was. We were told that she is a doctor who suffered under the former Syrian regime. She lost her husband, they killed her children and accused her of adultery and shame. I brought her to myself and the sisters in front of the sheikhs of the mosque. I then asked Hafiza, Ferial, and Sarah to put their hands on her and say after me what I say. I said,
“Lord Jesus, oh Lord, oh Jesus, heal her and restore her mind and give her the wisdom that the elders had. Give her her mind and control her in this world if she is righteous. Give her what it takes to guide the people around her.”
The woman suddenly looked at the ceiling and said, “They are them, oh my God!” She laughs, then cries, then laughs and shakes her head. She then mumbled strange words as her face lit up. “Yes, yes, I will do it.” People around her were pretty confused about who she was talking to. She finished after the prayer was finished and said, “I saw my sons behind a man of bright light and He said, ‘I am coming, coming very soon. I am close but for you, I may seem far away. Tell people about your sons and where they are. I will come from the east soon, soon! There are sheikhs who have believed in Me and loved Me, and I love them and I love everyone who loves doing good for the people. Tell them to continue communicating the message and not be entangled with other things. Time may run out…!’”
Abdelrahem
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The stories above were all from Syria. I also received information from the brothers in Iraq and Iran. Word had come through that the brothers were going into a very difficult region and they didn’t know what was going to happen. They were not even sure if they would make it back. This is why prayers for our brethren are so important. God answers prayer.
One of the reports came from brother Hanini:
“Hello brother Jack. I was talking with Omar at 5:00 in the morning. He and sheikhs Dhargham, Al-Sakri, Farhad, Darwish and Babak were determined; in fact, insisted on preaching the Gospel to the people, no matter what the cost even if it cost them their lives. The message must be presented and the Gospel must be shown to the people. Of course, Shahbandar, Omar and Murtada started preaching to the people as the people sat and listened. These are some of the words spoken to the people:
“The Gospel is the truth and you should not waste your time on anything else. Jesus is the key to heaven and He is the One who sacrificed Himself for humanity. He is the truth and He is compassionate and giving. Believe in Him and you will be safe and the devil will be far away from you. Jesus protects you. Do not waste time on anything else once you know Jesus. Everything else in this world will perish. Believe us, pray to Him to forgive you and your life will change. It is all truth and miracles.
It was at that point, Hanini says, that some men, named Darab, Sheikh Esfandiyar and Javed suddenly started shouting: ‘What is this you accursed ones, may God curse you and Christ, you infidels.’ They then began beating them with their shoes and suddenly they were attacking them with stones. It was not revealed where the stones came from. About that time, the line between myself (Hanini} and the brothers was cut off.”
Hanini
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I received some additional information from our brother Abdelrahem:
“Hello brother Jack. I received Omar’s explanation. I am telling you that the Lord is able to protect His servants. He cut off communication with them because the phone fell into hot water. What happened was that religious men attacked them and rejected the religion of Jesus. However, the Lord responded to Omar, Murtada, Shahbandar and the brothers who would have lost their lives. The power of the Lord intervened. Hot water came out of the mosque’s carpet and burned the legs of the people who attacked them. Everyone who cursed Jesus did not surrender to the Lord’s ability to perform miracles. Mockery of Jesus or the Bible ultimately does not bring good results — especially in the last moments of the Age of Grace. Those who cursed Jesus did not surrender to the Gospel. The sheikhs and the praying people went out of the building. There were more than 500 people attending the dawn prayer. They all went out for the miracle of the Lord in preventing harm to His righteous servants. They all believed and were baptized in the mosque with the same water because of their acceptance of the Lord.”
Abdelrahem
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I received a few more details from sister Rolla. She said that after the severe beating the brothers took at the hands of their attackers, they prayed with loud voices saying,
“Where are you, Jesus? Where are You? We came here to spread Your word. Save us from destruction, Jesus. Mend our hearts. Save us from them with Your miracles. They do not know who You are.”
Rolla added that there was a gas heater in the process of heating water. The water (or heater, I am not sure) exploded and the floor of the mosque was filled with very hot water, causing a strong smoke. Then the heat got much worse. This caused the people to be affected by the extreme heat and caused them to sweat. They soon recognized that the Lord was dealing with those who attacked the brothers. This caused them to also recognize their own spiritual bankruptcy. They called out to the Lord, asking Him to forgive them and asked Him to become their Lord and Savior. Praise God!!
I conclude this update with the last story. There is more to share, including an important message from Abdelrahem. I will send out an additional update in a couple days. Thank you all for your prayers and support. The needs are great, as you can tell just by the reports of the multitudes of people being reached. We serve a big God! Please make any of your inquiries using either of the two emails below. Remember, these are the only official contact emails. Thank You!
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)
[email protected] [email protected]
Jake Geier
3206 SW 45th Street, Redmond Oregon 97756