In John 6:35 we read these words of Jesus: “I am the bread of life, He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.” In Matthew 5:6, He said: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” How is this supposed to happen? He tells us how. We will be filled with Him. He is the righteousness, He is the object of everything for which we truly hunger and thirst. He is the Manna the Father sent, the Bread that satisfies our souls.
Why is it that many believers today seem hungry and thirsty? Jesus even seems absent from their lives! Could it be that we hunger for the wrong kind of bread? After all, Jesus said: “He who comes to me will never go hungry.” Do we possibly appeal to Jesus for the goods of this world, the fulfillments of our own agendas, or the circumstances we would like to have? Is Jesus a means to another end — one that fulfills our own goals? If so, Jesus will never be satisfying!
Who does He satisfy? Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness and who come to Him without reservation, trusting in Him as the source of all righteousness and strength. It is those whose life is oriented around HIM and whose desire is for nothing else who will never want for anything. He is not our means to get bread. HE IS THE BREAD!! When we finally realize this, we truly are filled.
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Received from Dr. Nibras on April 2, 2026:
Peace be upon you, brother Jack. There is a very important point that needs to be clarified: although miracles are rare in the Western Church, they do occur today. They seem to be happening at a greater pace in other parts of the world, especially in the developing world. This is clearly evident in our region, and here is another example of what God is doing through His faithful missionaries.
The HOB missionaries have faced the horrors of civil war, attacks from those who hate Christianity and the Christ it represents, famine, disease, plagues, and much more. As we read in Hebrews 11, which recounts how God’s people throughout the ages have been beaten, starved, tortured, and killed in the most horrific ways that their captors could imagine, so too have the missionaries of the House of Blessing and their faithful community faced in recent years. Yet, amidst all these circumstances, God continues to intervene, performing miracles just as Jesus did on earth, and as true believers have experienced in the 28 chapters of Acts, and throughout two thousand years of church history.
And now, to the story I just received:
While sisters Ratiba and Zainab, along with their companions, were preaching and spreading the love of God among a large crowd, waiting for Abdelrahem and his group to receive the priest’s blessing, a 51 year old woman approached Zainab and told her she had seen her in a dream. She then asked her why she dedicated every moment of her life to this cause and why she prayed for people in this way. Knowing that she wasn’t asking these questions for no reason, Zainab explained that God’s love is real and that God had called her to share this truth with as many people as possible. She explained that the reason she prayed for people was because God is a God she could freely turn to, and a God who answers prayers. She said she had left Syria because the Lord had instructed her, her husband Saftawi, and the other sheikhs with them to come and serve the Lord here. After a short conversation with her, she asked if Zainab would like her to come to her house and pray for her family. After speaking with some of the women who were with her, Zainab, Ratiba, and three other women went with the woman to her home.
When the woman arrived home, she explained more of her story. She said she had been pregnant eight years earlier, but had suffered greatly from fear due to her lack of faith. Her husband, an elderly sheikh, had angered God by having disgusting unnatural sex with her. Her pregnancy had been extremely difficult, and when her delivery was imminent, she faced severe complications that nearly cost her her life. Despite this, she gave birth to twins, but they suffered from severe disabilities. The boys were never able to walk and were too underdeveloped to speak. Neither of them uttered a single word for eight years. It was as if the boys were both present and yet absent.
Zainab asked the mother why she wanted her to pray for her — given that she was Muslim. She explained that she hadn’t prayed regularly but secretly prayed to Jesus and believed in Him. Zainab also asked the woman’s husband if he wanted her to pray for them. He replied that he wished for the boys’ recovery. Zainab then asked him how this would affect his view of God, whom she represented, especially since she was considered an unbeliever in Islam. He replied that if God healed his sons and touched his wife, he would want to know everything he could about Him! Abdelrahem and his companions were informed and summoned to the house immediately.
Upon their arrival, Abdelrahem spoke to the father, making sure he understood that he had no power to heal anyone. If there was healing of any kind, it would come from God alone. He then asked the father to take the boys to a room at the back of the house and bring a large bowl of water. Once the room was prepared, he began to gently pour water over the boys and pray for them, asking God to take care of them and glorify His name through them. As he prayed for them, slowly moving his hand back and forth over them, his hand was drawn to one of them. He could only describe what he felt as if electricity were coursing through their bodies, and their nerves began to connect and respond to his touch.
While the women continued praying outside, a faint light, like a candlelight began to illuminate the room, filling it with the clear presence of the Holy Spirit, who began to heal the twins. As they began to move, joy filled everyone, and they began praising God for the miracle they had witnessed. Then … voices began to emerge from the twins’ mouths, and although they had never learned to speak, they began to talk, albeit slowly!
How could anyone explain this? Or rather, how could anyone deny what had happened in that back room? It was an astonishing miracle, one that could only be explained by God’s power! How could the boys speak when they had never learned to, and hadn’t uttered a single word since birth? Perhaps their minds were active all along, and they could hear what was going on around them. Could it be that the connections to the speech centers in their brains had been damaged at birth and then restored upon their healing? Only God knows what had to be done for them to be healed. And most importantly, God intervened, and He was honored for it.
When the boys’ father saw what had happened, he fell to the ground, begging to be told everything about the God who had done this and about His Messiah. As he was helped to recite the prayer of repentance, the family of 87, who had gathered at the house, did the same. Soon, their number swelled from 87 to at least 590 people, including the family and close friends.
Zainab and her ministry team, along with Abdelrahem and his companions, were invited to a private dinner, giving them a chance to spend quality time with family and friends. In the hours that followed, they discussed what it means to be a child of God. Incidentally, the name of the healed twins’ father is Sheikh Al-Junaidi.
The harvest of souls resulting from this miraculous healing has just begun.
In other news, HOB missionaries are busy everywhere spreading the good news of God’s love and His kingdom. At one location, Omar, Musa, and Sami, along with a large group of missionaries, brought at least 650 souls into the family of God.
During a time when Abdelrahem was spending time with Sheikh Al-Junaidi, Sisters Zainab and Ratiba preached the Gospel to a large crowd. The report coming from that meeting states that more than 700 people surrendered their lives to Jesus. And they keep coming…!
Your brother,
Dr. Nibras, servant of the Lord
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The second report was also from Dr. Nibras and was received the morning of April 4, 2026.
My brother Jack, peace be upon you and all the beloved of Jesus. I wanted to share with you what happened to me, Pastor Abdelrahem, the elders with him, and the rabbis. I just wanted to let you know that there is ongoing prayer and the new birth of new souls, and we thank the Lord for this blessing. There are baptisms of large numbers in Azerbaijan. As for Omar and his companions, they have also been working on this, and preparations are underway to graduate 450 male teachers to carry out the missions, and 130 female teachers for women in northern Iran. When Abdelrahem returns, we will open the schools, God willing. Before going on with my report, I would like to direct attention to a passage in Hebrews.
13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them. Hebrews 11:13-16
Many of us have traveled outside our homelands. It was necessary to exchange some of our currency into the currency of the country we were traveling to. Just look at Pastor Abdelrahem and those with him to see that he travels without passports, and that the Lord has made the way easy for him. How, I don’t know, and none of us know. He is a blessed man, and those with him have passports and their weapon is the Gospel, which opens every heart and every closed door. Do you agree? The thought that comes to mind is that we, the believers and followers of Jesus, will soon leave the “homeland” we came from and travel to another. Although we don’t know exactly when we will leave on this journey, we know that it is not a temporary trip, but a permanent transition that will last forever!
What if you knew that you would leave one day very soon, traveling to a place from which you would never return? That you would be unable to take any of your possessions with you, and that you would not need your bank account or any other source of income? If you truly knew all this, you would begin to prepare yourself. You would gradually let go of everything connected to the “old place.” Looking at it from an eternal perspective, you would begin to lose interest in things that seem important or even necessary in the present moment.
This is us! We are about to enter eternity! We are all embarking on a journey from our earthly home to another world. The money we carry and the possessions we own here will have no value there, and we will leave them behind, no matter how precious they are to us. Everything we own or cherish here will be relinquished because it will have no value there.
If we are wise, we will begin by balancing earthly currencies like time, talents, and money with heavenly currency. You may wonder how this is done. It is done by using the blessings God has bestowed upon us in this world to serve His kingdom, according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Some believe there is a great and multiplied earthly reward for our blessings and possessions in this world, but this is not always true. The motivation for giving, whatever its nature, should not be personal gain, but rather serving God ‘s kingdom and fulfilling the greater mission.
Since we do not know when our time will come, we should make the best use of what God has given us and strive to transform as much of it as possible into a precious treasure. Ultimately, any one of us could be called to God’s presence at any moment! So who is wise? It is he who exchanges what he does not possess to gain what he cannot lose!
Your brother,
Dr. Nibras, servant of the Lord
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This last report for today’s Mideast Update was received from Omar a few minutes after I received the one from Dr. Nibras above.
My brother Jack, peace be upon you. This is Omar. It’s been a while since we last spoke, but I wanted to let you know that the situation is becoming increasingly difficult throughout the Middle East. There are serious threats of widespread violence in several areas, such as Iran, Iraq, and Syria. We are working day and night to bring souls to Christ and guide them to accept Him as their Lord. There is a great response, thank God, and we pray that this violence, which will begin with the Shiite and other diabolical interpretations of Islam that spread hatred and animosity among people, will not come to pass. This is in stark contrast to the followers of Jesus, who spread the love of Jesus and sacrifice their lives to spread His faith. But this is our reality. War is inevitable. Jesus warned us that the pains of childbirth will intensify as we draw closer to Christ’s return for those who believe in Him.
Jesus left us many encouraging words. He said, “When you see these things happening, look to heaven, because your redemption is at the door!” Praise be to God!
Thank you so much to everyone who has prayed for the House of Blessing and to everyone who contributes to supporting the Lord’s ministry to which God called them. We cannot replace those that have been lost, but as God provides, the work can continue. Let us pray that the harvest of souls will continue to be great! God is merciful. I believe we are now at the end of the age, and we will return home very soon! Prepare yourselves for the eternal transition from this world to the next! Please don’t forget us in your prayers. May the Lord bless you.
Your brother Omar and the brothers.
Servants of the Lord and the work of the Lord.
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In the days ahead, I am sure there will be multiple reports of what God has done on Resurrection weekend. I will share these reports as I receive them. May the Lord bless you all abundantly. Thank you for your prayers and financial support.
Forever in His Service,Jake (aka Jack)