Most readers are aware that I will send out a request for special prayer on occasion. I sent out a request two days ago for brother Abdelrahem. I had received a message that he had had a serious heart attack. I was told that after the attack he was loaded into a vehicle with his son Ibrahim, Abdelrahem’s doctor, and Sister Rolla and driven to a hospital in Amman which is about a 1 1⁄2 hour drive. Rolla said that they kind of lost track of time as they drove because of the emergency at hand. About halfway to the hospital, his heart stopped completely. Abdelrahem’s doctor then used defibrillator paddles and managed to get his heart beating again. As they drove toward the hospital, his heart stopped again. Unfortunately, they were still about seven minutes out. His doctor quickly confirmed that he had no pulse or signs of life as they sped toward the hospital. As soon as they arrived, the doctors began working on Abdelrahem again while his assistant Rolla, his personal doctor, and his son Ibrahim prayed for a miracle. Some minutes later, he came back to life. The doctors confirmed that his heart had stopped for a full 23 minutes and was clinically dead.
Praise God that death is not our final answer! All believers will be resurrected at the first resurrection, but God sometimes intervenes before that time as He did with Lazarus and others through the centuries. Sister Mufieda has seen the dead brought back to life more than once.
Brother Abdulrahem’s case was, however, pretty unique because he had an unusual experience and supernatural visions. The experience and the visions were not without purpose and he was able to bring back with him that he can share, although limited by what he is allowed to retell. I will retell what he has shared with me and only edit where necessary for clarity in English.
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When Abdelrahem’s died, he found himself traveling through space at a very high speed. He had no idea where he was. He could see lights far away but as he came closer to the lights, he saw strange things. He soon saw a strong, bright light. He saw a man standing behind it that was coming in his direction. Abdelrahem spoke up and asked the man:
“Who are you?”
When the man called Abdelrahem by name, he asked him:
“How do you know me?”
The man answered, “You don’t know who I am?”
“No, because of the intensity of the light, I can’t recognize you.” The man came closer and said:
“I am Rashid.”
“How are you walking? How are you? You are not weak? You look fat! (filled out and healthy).
Abdelrahem continued: “Please pinch me so I can believe!” So, the man pinched Abdelrahem and a strong energy shook his whole body.
Rashid then gave Abdelrahem some water to drink and as he drank, Rashid continued:
“You are thirsty! You have traveled a very long distance.”
“Yes, I have.”
Rashid then gave Abdelrahem a special personal message to give to one of our pastor brothers who is going through a difficult challenge.
The man then told Abdelrahem to speak and bring peace to all the brothers and sisters. He gave Abdelrahem some bread and honey and said for him to take strength and share with all your friends with what you receive. Tell them to continue as they are. Good is coming and he shared words of peace and security (for the true believers and followers of Jesus). Deliver this message and do not worry! Write down what you saw but keep secret what you have been instructed not to tell. The Lord loves you all!
A quick comment about what the doctors at the hospital said about Abelrahem’s experience with his heart, his death, and then coming back to life. They said, from all the cases they have seen, they have never seen one quite like his. And, they said his heart, after coming back, is as strong as a young man’s heart. I am sure, however, that he is still dealing with left-over pains from his heart attack and the procedures he went through. He is in our prayers.
I received another email from Abdelrahem that I am going to share with you. These words are his words (with very little editing).
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Hello, my brother Jack, this is Abdelrahem. Please convey this message to your brothers and sisters. What happened to me is an experience that I do not know will ever be repeated. The souls of the righteous go to paradise, and the souls of the wicked go to hell. Both are awaiting the great Day of Judgment, which will reward each person according to their deeds, each according to their spiritual level or the magnitude of their mistakes and sins.
We see the Bible telling us about this when the thief on the right was saved: “Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” (Luke 23:43). In the Old Testament, the souls of the righteous and the wicked were placed in the same waiting place, which was hell / sheol. (both paradise and the abode of the damned with a gulf in between). After the cross, the Lord Christ brought the souls of the righteous out of sheol / hell to a place of waiting for them, which is Paradise (now in the heavenly realm). As the Bible says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the Spirit. By this he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, who had long been disobedient…” (1 Peter 3:18-20). As we say in the Divine Liturgy: “He descended into hell by the cross.” After the end of the world, the second coming, and the judgment, the souls of the righteous will go to the Kingdom with God, and the souls of the wicked to hell. But hear me one more time, my brother Jack. I went to a strange world. Please understand me. I cannot talk about things I saw, but I can only talk about what Pastor Rashid told. Convey peace, and work as you and the brothers are doing. Continue to believe and plant love as you are continuing to do. Good is coming. Convey peace and we do not want anyone to be upset with the work of the Lord. We must advance. Christ is coming! He is coming!
After sharing with me, Rashid suddenly disappeared and went to a distant light. He had fed me bread and honey and gave me fresh water to drink. Brother Jack, again, we have to keep going to give the message. Here are ten key Bible verses for this day and hour:
- Matthew 24:36-44
- Luke 21:25-28
- John 14:1-3
- 1 Corinthians 15:51-52
- Matthew 24:26-31
- 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3
- Hebrews 9:27-28
- Revelation 1:7
- 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
- John 5:28-29
I promised Rashid to send the message to all as he asked. Again and again, I will repeat this word to all who would like to keep going with us, sharing support only when God instructs. It is God who is the Lord of the harvest. It’s His work we are privileged to take part in. The enemy will attack. Jesus said it is the devil who kills, steals, and destroys, but He, Jesus, came to give us life, and life more abundantly.
Please, Jack, deliver the message to those beloved of Jesus and Rashid. I wish I could describe what I saw when I traveled to that world, but I cannot. The House of Blessing ministry is a trust that Rashid entrusted to you. I ask forgiveness from the brothers and sisters who support us for any confusion caused by the attacks on God’s work. May the attacks endured be a lesson for us all until the return of the Lord. Once again, I really do wish I could talk about what I saw when I traveled to that world, but I am not allowed, and I will obey.
Thank You and God Bless You,
Abdelrahem’s love to all
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I am sure there will be those who wonder, Is This Real? I won’t go into a lot of commentary on the subject, but I believe it is quite real. We have examples in Scripture of after-death experiences and we also know that there is a great cloud of witnesses in the heavenly realm that must have some awareness, probably limited, but real, nonetheless. Is it possible that Abdelrahem really saw Rashid? I believe so. There have been other testimonies of folks who were allowed to see into the heavenly realm, including Paradise itself.
One of these testimonies was from a brother named Nabil, some years ago. He was a good friend of Rashid’s and visited Rashid in his tent as he was passing through where he was staying in a tent. (Nabil, incidentally for those who might not remember, is the widow of Mufieda’s martyred husband.) Rashid called me by phone that evening and put me on the phone with this wonderful brother. We spoke for about 30 minutes or so. The next day, I received a call from Rashid. He was broken-hearted and in tears. He shared with me what had happened later in the evening after we had spoken on the phone. He was given a vision of Paradise right out of the Rashid’s tent flap. He described it as the most beautiful place he had ever seen. He even had limited interaction with some of the people in Paradise. As they were laughing and enjoying themselves in that beautiful place, they were allowed a glimpse of Nabil in Rashid’s tent. They even waved to him and invited him to join them. As it turned out, Nabil was martyred the next day and, in reality, did join those in Paradise. It was apparently a premonition, but Nabil just didn’t know it.
One thing that is very clear from everything that Abdelrahem has experienced and specifics that God is sharing with true followers of Jesus Christ is that the coming of the Bridegroom in the clouds for His Bride is imminent. God has strategically put us into this slot in time and given us the task of completing the instruction found in Ephesians:
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, 16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17
One thing as I conclude. I find it necessary, although unpleasant, to let you all know that I am breaking connections with the original office of the House of Blessing, which had been overseen by Pastor Rashid until he passed into eternity. The ministry is continuing through brother Omar in Syria as it was before Pastor Rashid passed away, but has no connection with the original office, and according to brother Omar, is not being supported by the office. The ministry has been, and continues to be overseen by brother Abdulrahem. I am not able to confirm the distribution of funds sent in that direction. Something is definitely not what it once was. I will leave it to each of you to do as the Lord directs because He is the Lord of the Harvest.
The brothers are very busy as they fulfill the Great Commission. Bibles are being printed as it is possible to do so and booklets containing Bible studies and teachings are being printed by the thousands. The sisters are even putting together little visual aids for the young children so they can learn about Jesus at an early age. In order to raise more funds, Abdelrahem has sold some of his farm property and taken a loan against his home. He says he knows he cannot take it with him anyway. The harvest is huge and the Lord’s return is imminent
I have more accounts to share, describing specific ministry situations. Some of these include some very difficult things to share, but this will have to be in my next Mideast Update. This will be uploaded in a day or two, as I can get them written.
I will share this brief student update sent by Omar and received by Rolla concerning the Bible classes in Syria:
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Hello, my brother, Jack:
I would like to inform you that the old batch (group of students) has graduated and the field has been opened for the entry of more than 420 male and female students with me. As for Zalatimo, Faleh and Basem in Aleppo, classes have also been opened for 475 students. Lubeiba and her sisters continue doing their part to help the refugees as usual. As for Shaker and Mahmoud, the old class of students has graduated and 390 new students have been accepted. This is in Idlib. As for Sweida, a large number of students have been accepted with Taher, Hisham, Abu Laila, and Abu Shaker. A class has graduated and more than 670 people have been accepted for the new teaching class.
As you can see, there is much going on. Ramadan ends Saturday evening, March 29. Now, the HOB missionaries will begin to concentrate on the coming Resurrection weekend, April 20. Please continue to pray for all of the House of Blessing. The fields are white and are being harvested, but it is a huge task and very, very dangerous. The fallen Lucifer and the kingdom of hell hates seeing this harvest come in as it is.
I do have a very long list of the missionary’s names but will not include them today. This update is getting rather lengthy.
Thank you all. Once again, if you have any questions about anything including how to help, please feel free to contact me at [email protected]. or Rolla at [email protected]
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)