In today’s Mideast Update, I have another astonishing story of God’s grace and forgiveness to share and also a very special prayer need to bring to your attention. I will share the prayer need first.
In the previous update, I shared how fifty of the House of Blessing missionaries have taken on some temporary work to take care of a debt. Three of these fifty missionaries are in great need of prayer. Brother Omar and sisters Mufiedah and Sarah were sharing the good news of the power of Jesus’ Blood to forgive sin with some folks. The son of a Syrian policeman overheard some of what was being shared and exposed them to his father. Syrian policemen then arrested the three missionaries and confined them in a jail. This apparently happened two or three days ago and they have not been heard of since the time of their arrest. This has of course caused serious concern among the other missionaries and they are laying low for a bit until they see what develops next. Please pray especially for those who have been working with these three. It is a not an easy thing for them to deal with. Thank you.
For regular readers, you will know the names of all three of these wonderful HOB missionaries. I have written about each of them many times over the past several years. As I learned about their situation, I thought of several accounts in the early days of the Church where Christians were thrown into Roman jails. This is what Luke, the writer of the Book of Acts had to say about one of these events:
17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, 18 and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. 21 And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, 23 saying, “Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!: 24 Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. 25 So one came and told them, saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people! Acts 5:17-25
We don’t know what God has in mind, but we know that nothing ever catches Him by surprise. Does God intend to free them miraculously? Does He intend for them to reach someone in the prison where they are incarcerated? We know that God is always in control. He however does lay the burden on us to pray for them. Let’s pray that they are able to accomplish the purposes God has in mind. Let’s also pray that the eyes of Satan’s followers will be blinded as to what God is really doing. Let’s also pray for the protection of these three brave missionaries. Let’s ask our Lord for an astounding outcome from what has happened. It is the Lord who has promised that “all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28
The second main purpose for today’s update has to do with a continuing miracle involving the group of ISIS militants and their families who were brought to a recognition of the miracle of God’s forgiveness through the Blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary. This just happened a few days ago. The story continues…
As the reader will remember, the 35 ISIS militants and 105 family members were reached with the Good News of the power of Jesus’ Blood to forgive all sin. All of the 140 have joined the HOB community of believers and are now receiving teachings from the Word of God. Yesterday, three of these former militants approached brothers Nader and Obed, asking them if they would be willing to share the same Good News of the Gospel with some of their former militant friends who were in hiding. They said they knew where the cave was where they were hiding with their families. After thinking it over and taking it to the Lord in prayer, the men agreed.
The cave was about a half day’s walk from the HOB community of believers in the Deir Ezzor province in eastern Syria. After the hours-long walk, they found the cave and the former ISIS militant guides cleared the way for the missionaries to enter. What they found was a group of soldiers and their families that were without any food or water, and no way to sustain themselves any longer. They quickly learned that this group of 15 militants and 40 family members had come to realize that the war was over for them and it was only a matter of time until they all starved to death or were found and executed. They made the decision to get poison that they had access to and, as a group, commit suicide! The missionaries had reached the cave less than an hour before these families would have been dead.
The two HOB missionaries and their guides had brought a little food and water with them but not nearly enough for 55 starving and very thirsty people. But, as they distributed what they had, the Lord began to multiply the food and the water until everyone had received and consumed enough to be strengthened and very much encouraged. This then opened the door wide, with the help of the fresh testimonies of the three guides, to hear of the wonderful gift of eternal life and forgiveness of sin provided through the sacrifice of the Messiah, Jesus Christ.
After hearing the story, this additional group of 55 people all prayed the sinner’s prayer. They, like the others, got rid of all their weapons and, as part of asking the Messiah to be Lord of their lives, asked how they should go about living now. They were told they also needed to forgive all they felt had wronged them, repent of all sin, and promise God to put their former lives behind them and live according to the ways taught by Jesus, their newfound Messiah! The people listened to all that was told to them, cried for a time, and were helped with their prayer of committal to their new supernatural Friend and Messiah. PRAISE GOD!!
In other news from behind the scenes with the House of Blessing in the last few days, they were able to purchase a half truckload of wheat sacks. This made it possible to feed over 400 needy families under the care of HOB missionaries. We thank our Heavenly Father for making this possible.
Pastor Farid continues in the special calling the Lord commissioned him to in several cities in Iraq. He has been praying for 130, 150, sometimes 180 or more. The power of the Lord has been very evident and reports continue coming in describing hundreds of supernatural healings. Many others are brought to a recognition of who God really is. In a region of the world that teaches that Allah is God and Muhammad is his prophet, the display of raw power in the lives of needy people is very effective!
Pastor R also continues ministering somewhere in the metropolitan area of greater Damascus to 400-500 people lined up for prayer every day. God continues healing people of all types of sicknesses and diseases. As the day comes to an end, Pastor R is weak and finds himself affected by some of the symptoms of the diseases represented in the long healing lines, but the Lord has been restoring him day by day.
Pastor R also shared that the former shiekhs–now “Disciples of the Messiah” are continuing to teach the large number of sheikhs that have come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ in the past months. These men have completed the House of Blessing School of Ministry but are taking extra studies, learning as much as they can from the Bible. These men, most of them formerly community leaders and having responsibilities over their own mosques, are very influential among their people and large numbers of people are willing to listen to what they have to say. God is using this as a means to bring in many in these last moments of the Age of Grace. These men very much desire the earnest prayers of all those who have been given a heart for the ministry of HOB.
The situation the House of Blessing community is in within Iran continues to be very difficult. At this point, I am told that they are preparing food only every other day. Please pray that the Lord multiplies their food and other supplies for which they are in such great need.
One other task that many of the HOB missionaries have is the burial of many dead. These are not just from the HOB community but also civilians around them. Unfortunately, many of these are the most vulnerable; children and the elderly. Disease is a great concern and the dead need to be buried promptly.
On a happier note, Sisters Fatima, Mariam, Hafezeh, Ferial and many others continue having intimate communion services for many hundreds of the underground House of Blessing believers all across the Middle East nations–at least, as they are able to do so.
In closing, please PRAY, PRAY, and PRAY some more. The situations are difficult, to one degree or another, in all the HOB communities of believers. Let’s ask the Lord to multiply their food, clean water, medicines, clothing, bedding, and so much more. And, if the Lord lays it on your heart, please find the convenient PayPal button on this website, to help them with their financial needs. It is only the House of Blessing that is supported by this site. HOB has no paid staff and so all monies are used to fund the work God has called them to. There is not a one of us that can meet all of the needs HOB has, but, as we are all faithful, the needs can be met. It was Billy Graham who said, “Little is much when God is in it.” So true.
Just as a reminder, HOB is already making plans for the work of evangelism during the Muslim month of Ramadan May 5–June 4, 2019. HOB has seen a great harvest brought into the Kingdom of God every single year during Ramadan. One of the things the missionaries make a point of doing is contrasting the teachings in the Bible with what is taught in the Quran. For this reason, HOB has a need for many more Bibles. They need to place the order soon with their underground printer. Thank you.
Forever in His Service,
Jake Geier