During my weekly conversation with Pastor R**** this morning, I was struck by how his voice relayed his fatigue and growing weakness in the face of serious physical health challenges. On the one hand, he is convinced that his time on earth is drawing to a close, and yet there is an urgency in his voice for the things that are yet to be done.
It seems that God had timed an email that I received from a good friend just days before so that I could share it with R**** and, by His grace, lift his spirits and encourage him. With tears, R**** asked that I share the message from my friend with all our readers. I do so here and pray that you are encouraged as well. Know that the work that is being done by HOB through the help of all who have been lead to send Bibles to our Arab-speaking brothers and sisters, is bearing fruit; much more than anyone could ever have imagined.
My friend is an author and has been under a lot of pressure to complete his current book. He writes:
I’m under a full-court press to get my book done by tomorrow – but I must tell you something which has never happened to me before – I kept it to myself for days now but it is a reoccurring dream I keep having – I shared it with my son today at breakfast (he’s getting married in several weeks and this was sort of our “last supper” 🙂
But this is very serious – “your old men will dream, dreams” – well here goes:
I awoke from the dream the first time – in tears of joy. It was in vivid color – now, mind you, I NEVER have dreams like this, I can assure you. So, the first time it happened I just laid it before the Lord and felt it was just a wonderful dream – then it kept happening. After sharing with my son he and I felt we should share it with you.
What I saw were scores of people dressed in white robes like we normally see Jesus wearing. They were in rows of three abreast, and there were scores of them as far as the eye could see. It was daylight. There were older cars parked along a common street parked parallel and separated with just enough room for the rows of three to walk through with a little room left over and they were streaming through several of these openings in the cars (which looked like older vehicles/sedans or vintage appearance) were evenly spaced for the people to walk through and they kept coming not minding the small curb but they clearly knew they were walking upon the street.
There were two people in the middle of the street – one was R**** in a wheelchair dressed in the same white and the other to his left standing was you! They streamed in front of you brothers – you were both to their immediate left. Both of you were watching the people streaming through the vehicles onto the street – R**** in a wheelchair and you to his left standing and watching them stream through – all the surrounding area was barren – there were no trees or bushes.
The people kept coming but they all carried in their left hand a Bible which had a white cover gilded in gold – you’ve seen many of these kinds of Bibles but they are normally black – these were medium in size and all the covers were white and the pages were gilded in gold color and their left hands were all raised holding a Bible like this and their right hands were over their hearts – so one hand in the air with the Bible (left) and the other on their heart – but they were shouting continuously and as they did they would lift up the Bible higher and then they would raise up their right hands to the sky in this manner:
Their left hand raised they would cry out: FOR THE WORD OF GOD (in unison as a great shout of a huge crowd) and then they would say with their hand upon their heart (right hand) immediately following with their right hand quickly raised high: FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS and then they would place their right hand upon their hearts again and they kept repeating this again and again as they literally marched on past you two who kept smiling.
Where were they coming from? – I was not told but they were going to this huge altar that was so high and large to hold beneath it all of them and the altar had horns on all its four corners and it was enormous and they were all under it but they kept coming and streaming across the street. The street became clear to me – it was the “Street of the Great City” – they had to cross the street in order to get to this humongous altar that was sort of down in a large valley where you could see all the people gathered there from the street view. You two never moved from the street – the rows of people kept coming and they were in close rank following the one after another and all in rows of three – the “three” became clear to me as totally complete as the Triune God – they were one and completely for THE WORD OF GOD and FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.
It was absolutely wondrous – they didn’t “traffic” on the street like the cars but just kept walking straight across the street, never stopping and kept crying out – in a very real sense they just walked right through the parked cars – but there was only enough room without crowding for three in a row.
Each time the dream is the same – I am quite confident this dream is for you and for our brethren in Syria and the new believers – may they fulfill this dream as the Day approaches – each with a Bible and a heart for the TESTIMONY OF JESUS!
God’s abundant blessing –
Bro. D***
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Conclusion of update:
Pastor R**** also shared with me that Bro. Omar, the man who has taken on the job of overseeing the entire work in western Iraq was very excited to receive twenty volunteer missionaries from those trained in Syria by R****, along with the 500 Bibles provided specifically for Iraq about a week ago or so. The 20 missionaries transferred to Iraq were part of over 100 going from city to city and village to village in Syria, sharing the Gospel of love offered by the only God of love they have heard of! We all know that verse of Scripture: “For God so loved the world…”
These 20 missionaries are now with Omar and busy spreading the Good News of the Gospel. We can expect to hear of the numbers of souls reached in Iraq to grow even faster than they already have.
Nabil’s widow who was the subject of last week’s update has become a powerhouse with her testimony of God’s intervention in her situation. For those that have not read the story, please read the Middle East Update on February 25th first, and then the “rest of the story” on February 28th. You will read an account on both dates like none you’ve likely read before.
Because of the events on these two dates, Nabil’s widow has been able to reach hundreds of people and introduce them to Jesus, the real Messiah. She has also been able to do much in helping other widows cope with their losses. Three more of the trained missionaries were murdered for their belief in Jesus this last week. Two of them had wives and children. Please pray for these folks. They are walking a walk that we are not familiar with here in the western world. The Bible instructs us to pray and support the brothers and sisters that are being persecuted for the faith.
Pastor R**** also said that he is now having many head sheiks coming to him, asking him about the event that happened with Nabil’s wife and the destruction of the mosque. It has really had an effect and caused many to question who the God of the “People of the Book” really is!
The need for more Bibles is of course crucial. 5,000 copies are in the process of being printed right now. The printer has promised to work day and night to get them completed. They will of course need to be paid for as they are picked up. They are then distributed among the hundreds of thousands of new believers that H.O.B has reached. They are now scattered clear across the Middle East and working feverishly to reach as many as they possibly can before the door of the ark closes. I know of no better eternal investment than to provide these folks with Bibles to study and share what they learn with so many others.
Thanks for your prayers and support! God Bless You All, and Keep Looking Up!
Just a reminder: A new blog-site is in process of being crafted and will be available soon. It will have much greater capacity and “bells and whistles” than is available now.
For donations to HOB:
H.O.B., City Of Jesus Ministries; 3206 SW 45th Street;Redmond, OR 97756
Thank You!!
Jake Geier