Many of you know that the mideast has been hit with one brutal winter storm after another. It is hard enough for a person under normal circumstances, but for those who are caught in the chaos of what has been going on in the Middle East, it has been insufferable.
Last year was difficult as well. Many of you saw photos I sent out of the flooding in one of the large refugee camps that ruined much of the little that the people had. A day later, a snowstorm hit with clothes still hung out to dry. This year has proven to be very trying as well, especially with the strong winds accompanying the snow. Hundreds of tents were blown down again and again. When I spoke with Pastor R***** this last time, he said that people all over the refugee camp were walking around, just to stay warm because there was so much trouble keeping the tents up. The missionaries however had quite a bit of experience already in helping people with their tents and did so again.
The missionaries also ran across many who had fallen down in the snow and just could not get up. Many were found and prayed for, and helped up so that they could keep moving. Others were found too late but were prayed with before passing away. It is very hard watching so much misery, but yet through it all, a great many found the Lord as their Messiah. The reports this last week have been the same from other areas in the Middle East where House Of Blessing has missionaries located. The enemies of Jesus have attacked hard but they have not stopped the work, nor will they be able to, even though seven more of the volunteer missionaries were lost in Syria this last week. Jesus said that the gates of hell would never prevail against the true Church.
Most readers have heard the news of the latest group of people abducted by ISIS in northeastern Syria. Most of these are Christians, and many of them are women, children, and elderly people. I saw the report first on a FOX News report and had a concern that some of HOB’s missionaries may have been caught up with this group. I received an e-mail from Jerusalem this morning confirming that very thing. The latest news report I saw this afternoon from the Associated Press said that there are more than 200 confirmed to having been abducted. We need to pray earnestly for these people! What if it were us?
It is so important that we help carry the burden that the suffering church is carrying. None of us can carry the needs of the whole world’s Christians, but all of us can pray, and we must do so.
We received a gift for HOB recently that came with a short letter which I would like to share with you because the message was so well said:
As I write this letter, the battle continues in the heavenlies with evidences of its magnitude here below. Even today, Franklin Graham has warned that “the storm is coming…indeed, is here.” No longer are just a few alert to the times; now many are aware. ISIS is the handiwork of darkness. “50 Shades of Grey” (a new morally despicable Hollywood movie), is another.
Send my love abroad to our brothers and sisters in the Middle East–my prayers are often with them and for them. May the blood of our Coptic brothers consecrate the land upon which it falls to the God of Heaven.
May we too run to the battle–”You come at me with sword and spear and javelin, but I (we) come against you in the Name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.” (I Samuel 17:45)
In Christ and for His glory,
P****
I was blessed by this letter and I hope and pray many of you are as well. Stay encouraged in the Lord and the power of His might. He is in total control, no matter how it sometimes looks. The immediate weeks and months ahead will prove trying to the entire world. God is going to sovereignly allow events designed to wake up as many as possible. The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord will be upon the world very soon now. For most, it will catch them as a thief in the night. We must make sure that we, the true remnant, are living repentant, holy, and submissive lives as we serve our Master these last moments of this age before He pulls us out of the way of His judgments on a rebellious planet.
Blessings,
Jake Geier
***********************************************
Mailing Address:
House Of Blessing (or HOB); P.O.Box 2093; Redmond, OR 97756