Today’s Mideast Update includes three separate messages which I received from our brother Abdelrahem. Please take the time to read the entire report. It is quite comprehensive and includes details we, as fellow servants of the Lord, need to be aware of as supporters of the House of Blessing. They very much need our prayer support and any financial support goes to the spreading of the Good News of the Gospel of Christ. Thank You from everyone who is part of the House of Blessing.
I would like to share one of my favorite passages of Scripture in introduction. There is a very SOON coming when this dispensation of time will have been completed. We’re almost there! Praise God!
1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. 2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. 4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. 5 Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new…” Revelation 21:1-5a
Now to brother Abdelraham and the House of Blessing…
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Peace be with you, my brother Jack, in the name of Jesus Christ. I will begin with this passage, and you will understand what is on my soul:
8 Come, behold the works of the LORD, who has made desolations in the earth. 9 He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two; He burns the chariot in the fire. 10 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! Psalm 46:8-10
This psalm contains many references to other passages in the Bible. But the most obvious point is this: The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge. In other words, He is in complete control, no matter how it may seem to us.
Last week HOB was filled with great blessings, but many difficulties were witnessed as well. Thousands were baptized, and more than 42,000 people believed in Iran alone, and 8,000 in Iraq and Syria. Thousands of people listened to the story of Jesus and His love for humanity, which was manifested in His death on the cross 2,000 years ago. They were told and taught about the blood of Jesus and the sacrifice He offered to the world. Thousands not only listened to the story, but thousands also prayed a prayer of repentance, asking Jesus to be their Lord and Master. This prompted the enemy to attack us. Sisters Fatima, Hafiza, Fariel, Sarah, and those who helped them, continued to administer Holy Communion as best they could. This led hundreds to decide to surrender their lives to Jesus. Many miracles were witnessed and experienced as people were immersed in the worship of the coming King. Almost everyone was baptized by the Holy Spirit and given the power to bear witness! The events of Acts 2 continue to unfold in this last generation.
While missionaries spread the Gospel to all who would listen, an organization affiliated with the oppressive Iranian government kidnapped 125 people, including 3 sheikhs, and later 50 others, including brothers Mortada and Shahbandar. These men were repeatedly and brutally beaten, the aim of course, to force them to deny Christ and return to the worship of Allah and his prophet Muhammad. As the beatings and torture continued, it became clear that these men would not deny Christ, and this enraged their captors. Forty-seven missionaries from the House of Blessing were martyred, but what truly infuriated the killers even more was that their smiles never left their faces — even after being stripped naked and tortured mercilessly. This is what happened, but I pray that God will keep these wicked murderers from sleeping at night until they surrender to Christ! Even the murderers of their evil government can be forgiven if they sincerely repent and ask Christ to be their Lord and Master!
The situation in the Raqqa, Aleppo, and Latakia regions (Syria) remains catastrophic. Despite the ceasefire, attacks continue. Many innocent people are being harmed, including more HOB missionaries who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. As most readers of this website already know, numerous armies are operating in Syria, and the government wields extraordinary power. The HOB missionaries don’t know when their last day on this earth will be.
Sister Mufida continues to provide healing services to dozens of people, each of whom is guided to a relationship with Jesus Christ. Among the things Mufida has recently encountered is the use of chemical weapons by some armies, especially the deposed Assad’s forces. Hundreds of people are suffering from painful red spots all over their bodies, and many are dying as a result. Mufida has been able to heal some of them from scabies. Food is extremely scarce, and whatever is found, even just grass leaves, is contaminated. Imported wheat is also dangerous for the same reason. This exacerbates the famine, with many dying of starvation. The government is putting pressure on them, even in many government-controlled areas. As for those in Homs, thank God they are now safe, but I have instructed them to take careful precautions. I ask for your prayers and for you to provide them with Bibles.
Your brother,
Abdelrahem, servant of the Lord
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Peace be upon you, brother Jack. Just to add a little information, the generation Jesus spoke of who would see Israel return as a nation, is the generation that will witness His return. It is the generation of the heroes of the Gospel who sold everything and left it all behind. It is a past that will not be repeated, a past that will not be repeated by the ignorance they were in before knowing the truth about the Lord Jesus. And as we draw closer to His promised return, events on this planet become increasingly harsh. The war between good and evil intensifies. The enemy of our souls, the fallen Lucifer, knows his time is running out, and he is showing his wrath upon humanity. Jesus warned us that the world events that point to the end times will be like the pains of childbirth that women experience as their due date approaches. And we are witnessing these pains drawing ever closer.
Most people in the West live in isolation from reality, not caring to know more than what directly affects their personal lives. This is shortsighted. The warning of the Lord Jesus was clear and evident when He said:
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. 43 But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. 44 Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. 45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? 46 Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Matthew 24:42-46
I believe the four horsemen of the apocalypse have been on the run for some time, but the time has come for them to complete their final rounds of the world, fulfilling the biblical prophecy before the return of Christ. The martyrs of Christianity, mentioned in the fifth seal of Revelation 6:9-11, have long been gathered under that great altar in the presence of the Lord. We are very close to the time when the “brake” will be lifted from this earth, unleashing the catastrophic flood of evil that Satan has prepared for this world.
This planet faces an imminent world war, as well as famine, plagues, economic collapse and spiritual deception like never before. Jesus warned us of signs in the sky, warnings from God that the end times are near. We are now witnessing an increase in these signs in the sky. I believe our world is about to open the sixth seal of Revelation 6, which marks the actual beginning of the “Great and dreadful Day of the LORD.” I find it remarkable that with the opening of the sixth seal, which includes a massive global earthquake and a meteor storm from the sky, the inhabitants of Earth say, “…for the great day of His wrath has come, and who can stand?”
This morning, the elders and Mullah Ma’touk, the community, and I read several passages in the Old Testament that refer to the same time period. I have included two short passages below:
Alas for the day! For the day of the LORD is at hand; It shall come as destruction from the Almighty. Joel 1:15
For the Day of the LORD is great and very terrible; who can endure it? Joel 2:11b
The reason we, brother Jack, are sharing some of our thoughts with you — I don’t know if we agree on this — is that many in our world are oblivious to the present time!
Your brothers, the servants of the Lord, the elders of HOB
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My brother Jack, peace be upon you and upon all who follow Jesus. I and the elders have been discussing current events and reflecting on all that God is doing through the elders and followers of the House of Blessing in the Middle East. I recalled several Bible verses, one from Ephesians 4:
11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, 13 till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; 14 that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, 15 but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head — Christ — 16 from whom the whole body joined together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:11-16
We have the honor of being led by many wonderful elders, and just two weeks ago, three prominent Shiite sheikhs attended a lesson taught by two teachers from the House of Blessing: Sheikh Habibullah and Sheikh Malih. These two men had learned the Gospel from the brothers Omar, Shahbandar, Mortada, and Aylout. (Incidentally, we ask for your earnest prayers that the Lord may release Shahbandar and Mortada from captivity in Iran). This lesson was one of several held after the great event in which the elders delivered a sermon in every local mosque in the area between Zahedan and Kerman (far eastern Iran near the borders of Pakistan and Afghanistan). All 620 men from the Yazd region (central Iran) who attended believed in Jesus Christ upon their return from performing Umrah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. After listening to the lesson for several hours and absorbing the material, these three sheikhs approached the teachers, Sheikh Malih and Sheikh Habibullah, and asked if they would help them pray for God to forgive their sins and admit them into His kingdom. Then each of them confessed their sins to God, accepted Him as Lord and Savior, and were baptized. Afterward, they asked if they were allowed to continue the service until its conclusion.
These three sheikhs who are now new converts, presently lead their own mosques and congregations, where they regularly preach. Their combined congregations number around 5,830 men (plus women) who attend their services weekly. Having dedicated themselves to Jesus Christ, none of them wish to return to preaching in their mosques. However, as sheikhs, having spent between forty to fifty years teaching people, they still desire to influence lives. So they decided to enroll in a full course at the HOB School of Ministry and then make every effort to connect with their families, friends, and the congregants who had attended their mosques over the years.
What a great miracle again, brother Jack! I enjoy hearing about these extraordinary miracles happening today, but there is no greater miracle than the salvation of the soul and the transformation it brings to one’s eternal path — all thanks to the power of the blood of Jesus.
These three new brothers in Christ have asked me to share only their names, requesting that believers around the world pray for them. I ask you to join me in fulfilling this request from our new brothers. Their names are: Sheikh Burqan, Sheikh Abdul Salam, and Sheikh Karim.
As for the news from the other missionaries, all the other Bible classes being taught in the Fallujah, Mosul, Kirkuk, Basra, and Najaf areas, led by Al-Hanini and Sheikhs Al-Sudani, Al-Awiwi, Jaafar; and Zaltimo, and with sisters Sarah and Yara and the other sisters working with them to heal the wounded, are progressing well. The new classes being taught in the Kurdistan and Azerbaijan regions, led by al-Saftawi, Shabo, Rabbi Sabazi, and sister Ratiba and Zainab, are also continuing.
The news coming from Syria carries both tragedy and joy. Sister Mufida says she has witnessed the healing of 175 more people from the wounds of the attack and has been able to guide them to the Lord. Hafiza and Feriel continue to offer their tent to those who wish to receive Holy Communion. 540 souls have consecrated themselves to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, received communion, and were all baptized in the Holy Spirit! The number of those reached in this way is increasing day by day! I thank the brothers for their work and devotion to Jesus: abu Layla, Hisham, Al-Hadmi, Al-Fishawi, abu Al-Azz, Azazmeh, Al-Bakawti, and Sheikh Metwally, as well as for enduring the hardships they face in these hateful times. We are patient in all things.
Along with the good news of new believers who have experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, another tragedy continues. In addition to the suffering, many are dying of hunger. Food is scarce in many areas. In Syria, the regime has imposed a suffocating siege that prevents anything from entering or leaving. People are resorting to eating grass, and many are unable to move around due to the barbed wire fence. Anyone who dares to cross the wire in search of food is shot dead by government forces. In (location omitted), 32 new believers died of starvation. In other towns, also under siege, 53 more died of starvation. Many other areas are also under siege, such as Latakia and Idlib. Wherever believers in Jesus are trapped, they face the wrath of the government.
I, along with the elders Mullah Ma’touq, still move from place to place frequently, sometimes twice a day, for our safety. We live in caves. We often suffer from various health problems, but we never complain. I trust that many of you will remember me, all the missionaries of the House of Blessing organization, and the new believers in your prayers. We rely on your prayers, brother Jack. Let the people wait and see, they will hear of the spiritual birth of thousands of people.
I would like to conclude with another verse from the Bible, spoken by Paul at the beginning, but now firmly rooted in the hearts and minds of many HOB missionaries throughout the Middle East.
18 …praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints — 19 and for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak. Ephesians 6:18-20
Your brother, Abdelrahem, servant of the Lord
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Remember the prisoners as if chained with them — those who are mistreated — since you yourselves are in the body also. Hebrews 13:3
I hardly need to add anything to what brother Abdelrahem has shared today. Please take these things to the Lord in prayer. Let’s take the names mentioned and make them personal in our prayers. Every single member of the House of Blessing community depends on our prayer and support but these three sheikhs mentioned above have specifically requested your prayers: Sheikh Burqan, Sheikh Abdul Salam, and Sheikh Karim. Thank you also for helping us get Bibles and teaching booklets printed. The elders and teachers are doing their best to memorize the entire Bible, at least the New Testament. They are also memorizing the teaching booklets to get the message out to the people. As you can see, the need is huge. But, every Bible, every Bible teaching that is printed and shared is bearing fruit….MUCH Fruit!
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)