The situation in the Middle East continues to change from day to day. The House of Blessing missionaries adjust as best they can so that they can survive the circumstances as well as continue the work of the ministry they have been called to.
Although there is a partial ceasefire of sorts in place, fighting continues involving assorted jihadist groups, rebel fighters, and government military forces. In the north, the weather is very difficult on the people. For those of us that live in normal homes, it is hard to comprehend what it is really like for those who are living in tents. We westerners enjoy tent-camping during the summers as a recreation, but the refugees are not in their tents for the enjoyment of it. They have lost everything and are trying to survive bitter circumstances. Pastor R told me that over 300 tents have blown down in the last few days. Because of the missionaries’ experience with this, they always do their best to help the people out. This also gives them an opportunity to share the real story about Jesus with them. The refugees are very open to the Gospel.
Mufidah, Fatwa, and the rest of the Widow Sisterhood continue treating the more severely injured of the people. They had the opportunity to see 32 of these healed this last week. More importantly, these also became believers in Jesus Christ the Messiah. The believers lost another eight of their own in the area. Between the lack of food and proper supplies, many fall to starvation and to exposure to the elements.
Between the different missionaries ministering In northern Syria there were another 300 folks reached this last week. Hafezah was able to serve communion to over 900 of the believers in her area this last week as well. I do hope that those that read these reports never get to seeing some of the facts detailed these updates as repetitious. Every time a report comes in about people being healed, people having become believers in Jesus, and every time we hear about the many hundreds that have managed to gather to celebrate communion and a time of worship and prayer in the middle of such chaos, it is another astounding miracle!
One story that was passed on to me this past week involved two of the most recent School of Ministry graduates. We have shared stories about these men before, but this story is brand new. Same and Omar went to a mosque and asked the head sheikh if they would be allowed to speak to the 250 men that had gathered for a sermon. The old sheikh would not give them permission to speak inside the mosque but he did allow them to invite as many as wanted to, to come outside and listen to them. To make a long story short, as it turned out, 180 of the 250 men came outside to listen. Same and Omar gave their testimony of how they found Jesus Christ to be the real Messiah and then they preached a strong sermon. As they spoke, the Spirit of God took over and when they had finished, every single one of these 180 men accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour and Lord! And, as we know, once the men are reached, their entire families and friends soon follow in their footsteps.
In Damascus, the fighting also continues between the different rebel factions and government forces. There is a major effort being made to gain control over the rebel forces that are embedded in the Wadi Barada. The Wadi Barada is a large river valley not far from metropolitan Damascus. The Syrian army has shelled Wadi Barada in spite of a ceasefire in place since last week (according to Associated Press). Sabotaging water supplies is a war crime according to the United Nations but it has happened nonetheless. The water supplies have been cut from the Wadi Barada since December 22, 2016. Both the rebel forces and the government forces blame each other for the action. The government has accused the rebel forces of polluting the springs with diesel, while the opposition says government bombing destroyed the village’s water plant. And, the blame game continues…but, the consequence is that at least 5.5 million are lacking the water needed to survive. Government forces are pushing hard to gain control over the area.According to Reuters new agency, residents and rebels are telling them that scores of fighter jets are pounding the area around the ain al-Fija springs and the villages of Baseimah, Kafr Azyt, and al-Husseineh, which form part of a cluster of ten villages controlled by rebels in the Wadi Barada region. I do want to mention while I’m on the subject of Damascus, Pastor R is STILL in the hospital as the doctor’s see him as too weak yet to be released. Let’s pray for an intervention from heaven! The power of the Blood of Jesus is more than enough!
As in other areas, HOB missionaries are scattered around the area ministering to people as the Lord gives them opportunities. Sarah, which we mention almost every week, continues as strong as ever. She has been given a real gift of ministering to those that have lost children and other loved ones in this brutal 6 year long civil war in Syria. It is amazing to hear of the wonderful people God has raised up and continues bringing to the forefront for His purposes!
In the Fallujah, Iraq area there is a great hunger for truth, and truth is exactly what the crowds are being given by the HOB missionaries. This last week, the Lord made it possible for HOB to have to mass gatherings. One of these was in the Fallujah area. Several of the men preached to the large crowd and the harvest of souls was great. Thousands were gathered to listen and many hundreds professed their newfound belief in Messiah Jesus and asked Him to become the Lord of their lives.
Fatima was able to hold her communion services again this last week, and she served communion to over 800 believers! What a wonderful, joyous time these folks experienced as they prayed, cried, worshipped, and danced before the Lord! I must admit, I envy the simplicity of such worship and devotion. These people have almost nothing, yet, they have everything!
The 56 widows that have been rescued from their captivity with ISIS in the Mosul area are all together again as I reported last week. They however really need our prayers and if the Lord were to make it possible, they need a bit longer in a home where they can complete their recuperation from the horrors of their two year captivity. Let’s pray for these women. The Lord loves them deeply!
In Fallujah, well over a dozen believers lost their lives this last week. In Mosul, it was another 64! As soon as it is possible, the HOB missionaries will get them all buried. But, in the midst of the tragic news, Mosul was the site of the second mass meeting. Here also thousands gathered to hear the men of God preach the Word of God! As in Fallujah, many hundreds became brand new believers in the Master, Yeshua! What awesome news this is! And…those of you who pray for HOB; Pastor R, the founder of HOB, the leadership, the graduates of the School of Ministry, and all the missionaries have part in this! And, every dollar that comes in helps buy another sack of wheat, another coat, or blanket, or Bible. The Lord promised us from the very beginning that He would see to it that every single Bible bears much fruit! He has kept His promise, and He will continue doing so! God does not fail!
For almost five years nowI have had the privilege to write up these Mideast Updates covering the missionary work of the House of Blessing. The details of God’s amazing interventions in the lives of a people that have almost lost all hope are no different than what most of us have read in the book of Acts. Most of the Old Testament is centered on God’s dealings with the nation of Israel. After the Messiah came the first time and as the perfect Lamb of God died for the sins of the entire world, He went back to the Father and not long afterward the Holy Spirit fell on the believers on the day of Pentecost, and the Church was born. What astounded the apostles was the fact that God began to bring Gentiles into the Kingdom of God,and they began to come in by the multitudes. In Acts 10:44-48 we have one of the passages describing this very thing.
While Peter was still speaking these words the holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.
One of the things that many of the nominally “churched” folks in the West fail to see is that Islam and Christianity really do not worship the same God. Many of us have heard the comments from, even top political and religious leaders–including previous US presidents and even Pope Francis, urging people to come together in religious unity because Allah and God are really one and the same Deity. They are not…and, it is this fact that is revolutionizing the spiritual lives of millions of people in the Middle East today.
I just heard the story of a little eleven year old girl, through an article written by Geoffrey Grider of the “Now Is The End” website, who was listening to a sermon being delivered by an Islamic scholar. After he finished, she asked him this question: “Show me where in the Koran that Allah loves me as the sinner that I am, and I will become a Muslim.” The man stood there thinking for some time and the slowly walked away because he had no answer to give her. There are those who would say that one religion is no better than another. I will have to respectfully disagree. Of all the so-called religions in the world, it is only Christianity that tells us about God’s love for the human race…in fact, so much that He came and took on the form of a man so that He could become the perfect sacrifice necessary to pay for the sins of the entire world. All He asks of us is that we believe in Him, accepting His free gift, and allow Him, by His Spirit, to guide us to an eternity in His heaven. It is a deal no one, or any religion can offer. 1 John 4:10 tells us:
In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
The Muslim people in the Middle East already know that the Allah of the Koran does not love the sinner, or the unrighteous, or the lost, or the struggling, or the backslider. The Allah of the Koran displays only a highly-qualified, conditional type of “love”, and it is for Muslims only…and then, only if you happen to belong to the same sect of Islam as the person that is interpreting what Allah has said. This is why so many Muslims are being murdered by other Muslims.
Below are three passages of Scripture speaking of God’s great love for the human race
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The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17
For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:6-8
For God so loved the world that He gave His own begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Fo god did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. John 3:16-17
The Bible teaches us that God is not interested in “making you a Christian,” He desires to save you from the penalty of our sins which is an eternity in hell. God’s salvation is a free gift that only needs to be received to become active. It is the great trade–our sins in exchange for His righteousness and a full and free eternal pardon. John 8:36, Jesus said: “Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.”
This is the message that multitudes of people in the Middle East are responding to today. This message gives the assurance of real forgiveness, real freedom, a real eternal inheritance from the one and only GOD who really loves them. Even death at the hands of an extremist will not turn these folks from their relationship with this loving God! And, they have been proving it day after bloody day.
This, folks, is the work that we all have partnered in. We have the easy part. We are not on the front lines. But, it was God’s will for it to be this way. Our part is to be faithful, as the diligent servants in the parables Jesus told. We take of what God has blessed us with, and put it to work. If we ignore, we lose…and so do those that we should have been coupled with. Let’s be faithful to whatever it is that the Master has called us to in this very late hour. We are taught to “redeem the time, for the days are evil.” Let’s remember what it says in Isaiah 60:1-2:
Arise, shine: For your light has come! And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you. For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will rise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you…
Forever in His Service,
Jake Geier ([email protected]) {PayPal donations for HOB}
House of Blessing; 3206 SW 45th Street; Redmond, Oregon USA 97756