I find it interesting that, in almost every report I receive from the House of Blessing, there is at least one reminder that we are at the end of the age of grace. It is a reminder that many in the West are weary of hearing. Jesus, however, had much to say about the end times, specifically in Matthew 24 and 25. The disciples hung onto every single word. They were anxious to know what signs would precede His return to set up His kingdom.
Many people today also are equally eager for His return and want to know the signs to watch for. Much of what Jesus said, however, focused on a very important point: BE READY! That is the theme of much of chapter 24 and continued in chapter 25. His parables of the ten virgins and the talents were warnings about end-times judgment. He was saying: Be on high alert for My arrival. There are consequences for not being ready.
Every believer should be ready for Christ’s return. This means we need to have at least some understanding of what the Bible teaches of end time events. If we are aware and alert, we’ll naturally be motivated to readiness. There is even a Scriptural promise of a special reward for these folks. What is this reward? It is a “crown of righteousness … to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:8. Soon and very soon!
Now to the House of Blessing…
In today’s Mideast Update, I have put the last report first. I received this report on 2/24/2026. You will find quite a number of names listed for prayer. This was requested by the teachers because they know there are readers in many places around the world that will pray for them specifically by name. The Lord does not require us to be able to pronounce the names correctly in order to answer! After Abdelrahem’s update below, you will find updated information on the abduction of Dr. Nibras and others.
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Peace be upon you, brother Jack. You know that we pay special attention each year to most religious occasions, which the HOB missionaries consider a special opportunity for evangelism. This, of course, includes the month of Ramadan. As everyone knows, it is a special month in which Muslims spend their time fasting, praying, and practicing Islamic religious rituals.
As in every year, the House of Blessing began planning for Ramadan weeks in advance. The association has witnessed a large turnout of people every year, until this last year when the oppressive mullah regime was brutally killing new believers. The Iranian regime continues to claim many lives in Iran, in addition to the numerous other attacks carried out by its followers in Iraq and Syria.
One of the phenomena that astonishes us year after year is how God, the Creator of the entire universe, interrupted the prayers of countless thousands who were praying to the false god, Allah, and they instead heard the voice of the true Christ, Jesus! Many have had dreams and visions in which Jesus appeared to them. And thousands more, who may not have experienced such dreams or visions, heard the missionaries from the House of Blessing preaching, teaching, and sharing with their families in their homes. It is truly astonishing how open these people are to a truth they had never heard before!
I receive further reports from some of our regular members who follow up regularly. I will summarize it below:
“Elders Bazlamit, Hidmi, Fishawi, Taher, Shaker, Abu Shaher, and Musa, along with their volunteer missionaries, shared the Gospel with families in 1,250 tents, leading them to the Kingdom of God. Mufida, Sarah, Sharifa, and their volunteers reached entire families with the Gospel of Jesus in approximately 491 tents. Hafiza, Feriel, and their colleagues shared the Gospel and offered prayers of repentance with 175 families. Fatima, Mariam, and their colleagues led another 25 families to Jesus. Jafaar, Zalatimo, and their fellow missionaries did the same for an additional 156 families. In western Iran, Shahbandar and Mortada were able to bring another 2,000 families into the Kingdom of God. Zargham and Pastor Aylout Eban’s personal assistants continue to pray daily for 200 – 300 people. They have witnessed the healing of countless people from every imaginable ailment. The God of the Book of Acts in the New Testament is alive and powerfully sustains His shepherds!
These are just a few examples of what has been happening since the beginning of Ramadan. Missionary work has continued into the early morning hours, often until dawn, and God has blessed us with a bountiful harvest. During these times of sharing and praying with families, numerous reports have come in of healings from various illnesses, including viruses, influenza, and others. The HOB missionaries have always done their utmost to help in the field.
I want to share the story of Sheikh Dari and his three sons, who were part of the Iranian regime. They prostrated themselves before Jesus and asked Him to be their Lord and Savior. Soon, all their family members, relatives, and friends were converted to the faith. Dar, the sheikh of a mosque where the men had been attending for years, after having believed, invited Abdelrahem, Ma’touq, Arshid, Hayel, and others to his mosque to speak with them about the truth of Jesus Christ. As a result, 750 more from his congregation prostrated themselves and joined the Kingdom of God. Soon, more than 400 others joined them.
This prompted Sheikh Dari to ask HOB if they could arrange for teachers to be sent to instruct and train these men in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Dari asked me to provide a sufficient number of Bibles and teaching booklets, and so it was done.
Arrangements were made to send an additional experienced missionary teacher from the House of Blessing organization. The 1,250 students would be divided into five classes of 250 students each, with five teachers for each class. Since these classes take up a full day and usually extend for many hours, the material needs to be taught by 10 teachers daily, in both morning and afternoon sessions.
The necessary arrangements have been made again, and a shipment of workbooks and 500 copies of the Bible has been ordered. These classes will begin next Sunday morning, March 1st, which is the twelfth day of Ramadan.
I am providing you with the names of the 24 additional teachers so that you can pray for them by name. This is the request by the teachers themselves.
Group 1: Naeem, Adnan, Azmi, Majeed, and Sbeiter
Group 2: Fahmi, Bayan, Rafiz, Bahaa, and Daher
Group 3: Bahaa, Siraj, Bahloul, Hafez, and Hassan
Group 4: Walid, Khalil, Hussein, Khaldoun, and Munir
Group 5: Nouri, Talaat, Fawzi, Abbas, and Kadhim
Thank you all for your prayers and financial support. It is crucial that we continue to pray for the rest of the nations to join God’s kingdom. I firmly believe that we are in the end times, and the Lord may call His people to Him at any moment. The imminent return of Jesus and his call for the true church to return home is foretold in the New Testament, but it has never been so clear to us that we are the last generation. Watch Israel. Israel has always been the focus of God’s attention in His foreign affairs! Everything revolves around it, according to the prophecies. Just by looking at the news today, we see that a great conflict is looming. It has been brewing for some time, but it is about to erupt. Everything we are witnessing today was foretold in great detail by the Old Testament prophets thousands of years ago. It is our duty to pay attention. We must read and study God’s Word to understand the times we live in today. Jesus clearly instructed us to look forward to his return, to pray every day for our loved ones, and to live each day as if it were the last before God blows His great trumpet! The day is near, and this will happen! I will conclude with one of my favorite passages from the Bible.
13 But I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, then God will also bring those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For we tell you this by the word of the Lord: those who live, who remain until the Lord comes, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who live, who remain with them, will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18
His servant forever,
Abdelrahem
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The following information was received on 2/21 and 2/23/2026. As most of you are aware, a request for special prayer was sent out a few days ago after we received confirmation of the abduction of Dr. Nibras, Dr. Khalawi, and Sheikh Zakaria. I received information in bits and pieces and in the last couple days, received two reports from Abdelrahem. I will do my utmost to combine the basic information into a quick explanation of the limited facts I have received so far.
Initially, Dr. Nibras was made aware of a special need, and as has always been his custom, he immediately went to the location, taking Dr. Khalawi and Sheikh Zakaria with him. Much of the detail of what actually happened was provided by Al-Kilani because he was not only an eye-witness, but also as a victim. After arriving, the doctors and Sheikh Zakaria, while in their tent, noticed a large band of Islamic militants rushing in on a group of HOB sheikhs and students. The sheikhs, which I have named below, had left their tents and as they were walking, were assaulted by about 15 militants.
Kilani explained that this all started on the first day of Ramadan. Three sheikhs, Al-Tutunji of Damascus, Sheikh Makram of Latakia, and Sheikh Al-Tafouri of Idlib, and their students had been dividing their time between working on their Bible study materials and serving at the long prayer lines. This is something they had been doing for quite some time — well before the start of Ramadan. The sheikhs were now ready to take the journey back to their respective homes, leaving with some of their students. Their intention was to go back to their home mosques and share all they had learned with their followers.
This is when the trouble started — and as it turned out, a trap had been set to summon and abduct Dr. Nibras, Dr. Khalawi, and Sheikh Zakaria. When they arrived, the militants immediately began to shout at Dr. Nibras, demanding that he stop speaking to people about Jesus. They said that a very large number of people were hearing and responding to the message, and they would not allow it. While they shouted at him, Dr. Nibras and his companions remained calm and tried to respond, but to no avail. The men demanded that he repent of his heresy and accept Muhammad as the one and only prophet. Dr. Nibras and his companions replied that they could not do so because Jesus Christ is the awaited Messiah promised by God, and there is no other!
When the militants realized that they could not convince him, they turned back on the three sheikhs (named below) and students and began beating and insulting them. At this point, Sheikh Zakaria, Dr. Nibras, and Dr. Khalawi intervened, trying to stop them. They told the militants that they shouldn’t mistreat these men in this way because they were men of God who had found the right path. This only worsened the situation and the gunmen began to severely beat the three sheikhs and their students.They then carved crosses into their bodies with knives, telling them it was just a warning. They confiscated their teaching booklets and demanded that they not mention the name of Jesus again, or worse would happen to them. The sheikhs were then dragged into a cave and confined there.
The Islamists then shot Zakaria, Dr. Nibras, and Dr. Khalawi in the legs. The three men were dragged to a separate cave and hogtied together to where they could hardly move, much less escape — if that were even possible with their legs having been shot up. Al-Kilani said that help was requested of some of the ministering sisters, including Feriel. Feriel prepared some medical supplies and the sisters did what they could for the men. The bullets could not be removed at this time. Although much ‘surgery’ had been performed by the trained sisters, the scope of these injuries would not allow it. They did their best to soothe the wounds they had dressed, but nothing was enough.
As a result of their condition, the men began to experience extreme temperatures, and their condition was not improving. On top of the beatings Zakaria had suffered all over his body, including his neck, head, face, hands, arms, and torso, he suffered from chronic diabetes. It was yet to be determined if his leg was going to require surgery. It was time for some intervention by the House of Blessing community.
Al-Kalani said that after the sisters returned to their tent, HOB arranged for one of the sisters to go to their location to provide food and whatever else they could provide for them. It wasn’t long until they called for additional help from the House of Blessing. This is about when they saw a large group of men quickly approaching. They were angry and shouting at the HOB elders, saying that they had been warned but had chosen the wrong path. Once again, the demand was made for the elders, this time Al-Kilani and those with him included, to repent of their heresy, deny Jesus and their profession of faith in Him, and return to the teachings of the prophet Muhammad.
The elders said there was no way they could do this. Jesus had freed them from their sins through the blood of Jesus, and they knew that their destiny was in the Kingdom of God. They also testified that they had truly seen God perform great miracles, miracles that no one in the Muslim world had ever witnessed! How could they turn their backs on the One who sacrificed His life for the sins of the world? He alone is able to forgive sins, and He alone is able to fulfill the promise of life in God’s heavenly kingdom! Al-Kalani and the sheikhs told the militants, “You can do whatever you want to us, but we will not deny Jesus!”
The brave and unwavering testimony of these brave men, who faced the unrelenting attacks of that large group of angry jihadists, only increased their rage. There was a crowd of around 5,000 witnessing this whole event who then began to intervene and protect, not only the elders that were being attacked but also the injured men.
I am sure there will be more news about this entire event, hopefully including news about the men who had crosses carved into their faces and chests. There is no additional news concerning them as of yet.
Abdelrahem continued to say that the ministry is working at full capacity in other areas. Bible studies that began for 300 former fighters from the Qassad organization are continuing, with students attending 12 full hours of in-person classes daily.
It is estimated that at least 9,780 people have come to believe and follow Jesus Christ during the beginning of Ramadan (as of 2/23). All these cases are being followed up while the missionaries continue going from tent to tent. Reports indicate that Bayumi Kazem, Tawfiq, Sami, and the sisters Bahira and Faten, along with their team, have reached another 800 families in Rastan (third largest city in the Homs governorate in Syria). Mufida, Sarah, Fadwa, and the sisters in their team have reached another 136 families. Hafiza and Weverell have resumed offering Holy Communion to 65 people at a time, doing this five times a day. They also offer it to groups of 45 people at a time, also five times a day. There are, of course, many other people doing something themselves in the integrated communities of believers, of the House of Blessing throughout Aleppo. In Deir ez-Zor (eastern Syria), Tubji and Abu Ghaleb, along with their team of missionaries have reached 100 families in the past two weeks. In Hama, Habib and Bahaa, along with their assistants, have brought another 83 families to Christ. Shaker, Bandar, and Jawad have reached an additional 157 families in Idlib.
In conclusion to the two reports, Abdelrahem added this:
“…I want to emphasize the need to continue praying for the House of Blessing. The enemy of our souls knows his time is running out, and his hatred for true followers of Jesus Christ is beyond our comprehension. These missionaries live in constant danger.
The needs remain. There is an urgent need for at least four more trucks loaded with sacks of wheat and a thousand copies of the Bible, along with the teaching booklets. HOB is doing its utmost to distribute these copies to the thousands of new believers in the coming days.”
Servant of the Lord forever,
Abdelrahem
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Abdelrahem actually ended his report with a scripture he has used off and on. It is applicable to the situation in the Mideast as it is in the West. Due to the length of this update, I did not print out Romans 8:35-39 (“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”. Most of you are familiar with this great passage by the Apostle Paul.
As always, the House of Blessing thanks each one of you who support their work and especially for your prayers. God answers prayer! Feel free to contact either of the email addresses below with any questions or comments. Thank you!
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)