It is hard to argue with cold hard facts. More and more we are seeing how our Heavenly Father is intervening in some of the most intense situations in order to reach deep into the hearts of the spiritually blind. Today’s episodes will once again show the love of God for the lost.
13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. Acts 4:13-14
The religious leaders in the days of the early church hated the Jesus followers, but they had no way to dispute the miracle right in front of them. What could they say? How do you argue against something obviously supernatural? This is what is happening on a continuing basis with the House of Blessing. The miracles might be a healing or it might be an intervention during a crisis situation. The story below is an example.
Brothers Omar and Al-Sahturi were sitting in a mosque. Sheikhs Al-Tutunji, Al-Awawi, Bayan, Al-Shudani and Akari were teaching the Scriptures to more than 200 people each. Suddenly, the leader of the Islamic Front, Abu Islam and his cohort, Sheikh Al-Halabi stormed into the mosque with a group of militants. They immediately arrested the sheikhs. Al-Sahturi told Omar to keep his mouth shut and not say anything. Abu Islam beat the sheikhs and tied them up like animals. “You are followers of Jesus. Shame on you! You sold your religion out. You are inferior, you followers of the cross, you infidels! Be warned! I will execute you! Tell me who your leader is.” When none of the sheikhs spoke up, he began whipping and assaulting them violently, hoping to force them to speak, but all he got out of them was: “Jesus is the Truth!”
About this time a fire broke out in the carpet of the mosque. After it was put out, 800 stayed to find out what was going to happen next. Abu Islam took the men downstairs in order to torture and eventually execute them. Omar and the brothers got together for a meeting to decide what they should do. They also contacted Abdelrahem for advice. Some time later, Omar, Al-Sahturi, Jaafar, and Zaltimo decided to turn themselves in to the militant leader, figuring that if the six sheikhs were going to die, they might as well all die together. As Omar headed downstairs, he told the people not to interfere with anything that might happen next. Abu Islam had actually wanted to take the men to the top of the mosque’s minaret for execution but instead took them downstairs first. Now that he had all the men together, the militants took all six sheikhs, and Omar up into the minaret, leaving Jaafar, Zalatimo, and al-Sahtouri with the crowd below. Abu Islam and Al-Halabi intended to throw each one down to the ground which was a fall of over 30 meters (over 100’).
Once at the minaret height, Abu Islam asked what the men wanted for a last request before their execution. Omar said, “We want to pray.” Abu Islam said he would give them no longer than seven minutes.
While all still tied with ropes, the men held each other’s hands as Omar began to pray. “Oh Jesus, save us. Oh Jesus, come and rescue us, come and save us. In fact, come and save this world from all of its injustice. We are about to be sacrificed, accept our sacrifice for the Gospel.” There were still people below and they could be heard shouting “Amen, Amen” in very loud voices. The sheikhs had tears running down their faces but were also repeating, “Amen, Amen.” Omar continued with his prayer, saying: “Oh Jesus, forgive us for our failures. Forgive us and forgive them. They do not know who You are. Come Jesus, Hallelujah, glory to Your Name. Save us from their evil intent. Show them your power, Jesus. Come and save us. Send one angel. If not, we will go through with this. There is no sacrifice more valuable than Your sacrifice for us. We are now willingly sacrificing ourselves to spread Your word.”
Suddenly, as they were still praying, the electricity in the mosque was shut off causing the light in the minaret to go out. It went out a second, and a third time. At the third time, a strong Light appeared and the echo of a Great Voice was heard by all. While they were praying with their bound hands to the sky, the militants were losing the ability to breathe. Abu Islam and Al-Halabi began to scream. Every time they tried to stand, they fell back to the floor. There was no way they could throw the sheikhs or Omar down to the ground. Someone was holding them down and stopping them from breathing. Omar said they nearly passed out from lack of oxygen.
It did not take long for the militants to realize they were dealing with much more than human men. God Himself was stopping them from being able to kill the men. Abu Islam, Al-Halabi and their men ended up bowing before the Jesus they were insulting earlier. They had now also become believers in Christ. This led to a great celebration with the crowd below that had heard everything that had transpired. They had been praying, crying, and praising with their hands raised. They had refused to be scared back into Islam. They were also ready to die if it turned out that way. The enemy thought he had gained control, but God was in total control of the whole ordeal. Praise God!
I received another report a couple days ago. This one was from Abdelrahem. He said that honorable sheikhs Abu Anan, Abu Khorshed, Abu Awada and Abu Tuta had changed the Friday prayer at their mosque to share their testimonies instead. Each of them had become followers of Jesus and confessed their faith before the gathered crowd. There were more than 1,000 people in the mosque that day. In the crowd were people who had stopped for Friday prayer on their way to the hajj in Saudi Arabia. After hearing the testimonies and the real story of who Jesus is and His sacrifice as the perfect Lamb of God for the sins of the world, they also decided to accept Jesus. That made the trip to Saudi Arabia of no use to them and they decided not to go.
This was a good opportunity for a celebration. Eight sheep that had been intended for sacrifice in Saudi Arabia were now slaughtered for the celebration — not to cover sins, but rather to feed the people. About 108 kg of meat was provided. The food was cooked with yogurt, a 50 kg bag of flour, and 25 kg of rice. Abdelrahem said that in total more than 1400 people were fed. The Lord blessed the food and the number of people may have been as many as 2,000. It was difficult to know. Many people asked for prayer and the Lord healed many of a variety of sicknesses or diseases. A large number had their names written in the Lamb’s Book of Life that day!
I also received a report from Omar in Iraq. This report was actually a couple days earlier than the story at the beginning of today’s update. He was located in an area where a great number of hajj pilgrims were gathering. Once again, as has been happening so often this year, hundreds heard the Gospel and decided there was only one worthy sacrifice — the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, Jesus. More than 500 people committed themselves to Christ on this day. The elders prayed a blessing on them all as they patiently waited for their turn to be baptized. So many of these folks are open to the Truth of the Gospel once they hear and understand it. Praise God!
Another report came in from northern Syria in which over 1,000 people were baptized. The problem was that they only had 10 gallons of water to start with. But, Abdelrahem said that as long as the Holy Bible runs in our veins like our white and red blood cells, miracles can happen when they are needed. How did they manage to baptize that many people with the little amount of water they had? I am not sure, but Abdelrahem and the brethren helping him said it was because of the special blessing of the Lord that it was possible.
Abdelrahem also reported that in the Sweida region in Syria, Sister Ferial and Kifaya were called on behalf of the wife of a Druze sheik named Abu Saud. She was suffering from excessive bleeding from her menstrual cycle. Her name was Faiza. Brothers Hisham and Abu Laila went with them to help Faiza. The sisters prayed earnestly that the Lord would intervene in her situation and the Lord answered! Sheikh Abu Saud, was so shaken by what he saw happen that he cried deeply and was brought to faith in the Lord Jesus. He prayed the sinner’s prayer and became a follower of Jesus. As a result, another 160 people from the Druze community also accepted Christ as their Savior. What a merciful and generous Lord we serve!
Another report told the story of another large crowd of people on their way to Mecca. This crowd included Sunnis, Shiites, Assyrian Muslims, Yazidis, and Kurds. At noon they wanted to perform their usual prayer. The leader of this crowd of pilgrims was called Sheikh Ash’aer. After they gathered and Omar had his elders positioned throughout the crowd, Al-Sahturi gave his testimony of his faith in Jesus Christ. The elders knew there were a lot of people in the crowd who were suffering from serious skin issues and they wanted to drink water from the Zamzam well in Mecca, which is rumored to cure all diseases. They also wanted to pray at the Kaaba.
The elders asked those who were suffering to come up to the front. When they came up, they asked the elders to bless them in prayer. Omar made it clear that any blessing the brothers had available came only from the Lord Himself, not from them. Al-Sahturi and Omar prayed for the first person, saying: “Oh Lord, Knower of all things, heal this person and give him bright and shiny skin in Your Name, O Lord, and replace for him that which is diseased. Also give him from your Light that will one day fill the sky and the earth when You return. With every prayer we remember You, O Lord Jesus, our Savior. Please save him!” Omar and Al-Sahturi then began to baptize him with water, once and then again. Suddenly, his skin began to peel off. Al-Sahturi prayed: “O Jesus, Oh Savior, Oh Healer of every sick person, make it easy for him. Help him to experience Your Presence. Touch us all with Your Presence.”
The outcome of this time of prayer was that 30+ people were initially healed of skin disease, and then more and more came to be prayed for. There were also at least 320 people who became believers. As in other locations, these people decided not to go to Saudi Arabia. So many miracles!!
There is one last story I would like to share in today’s update. Abdelrahem said that they were asked to come by Sister Umm Azizah to bid farewell to a brother of Al-Haddami and Al-Fishawi who entered the strange world of a coma. Abu Azizah had already been in this coma for well over a month. His wife, Umm Azizah, said that after his friends had accepted Christ as their Lord, he, Abu Azizah, knowing what condition he was in, wanted to die following Christ as well. Unfortunately, he fell into a coma before he had done so. The doctors worked on him but finally convinced his wife that there was no hope and she should take him home. A nurse would come see him through to the end. Now, here he was, and there were many people outside of the house hoping to see him off.
When Abdelrahem heard the story, he asked for a bucket of water and had the sheikh lifted into a sitting position. The only people now in his room were his wife, his sister, and the HOB elders. Although the man was still in a coma, Abdelrahem began to baptize him with a little water. The Bible was read, hymns were sung and Abdelrahem and the elders began to say, “Abu Azizah, you beloved of Christ, if you want life and to be able to share the message of Jesus with people, rise up. Jesus, give him from your light and light his path. He is a good man. Please, Jesus, touch Abu Azizah and make him one of your beloved followers. Rise up Abu Azizah, O beloved of Christ, rise up and read your Bible. Take the weapon of your warfare into your hands. In the Name of Jesus, the Lord, and in the Name of the Father, Rise Up!”
A calm fell on everyone and all became silent. It was an unusual calm silence. The sheikh then began to cry quietly, but did not speak. Someone asked him, “Who are you?” Abu Azizah answered and they knew he was back. He said he had had a lot of headaches and so the brothers offered him some water but he turned it down. He said a Man had come to him and had given him some water. The Man had said he was giving him water and he would never thirst again! Pretty soon everyone was in the house and saw what had happened. It caused quite the commotion! What a wonderful miracle!
In conclusion of today’s update, I want to thank all of you who have prayed for and supported the missionary work of the House of Blessing and all of its community of believers. As you can tell, there is a huge need for Bibles and teaching booklets. The stories I am privileged to share in these updates are only part of what is happening in the Middle East. I would not be able to record all the events if I had them all sent to me. Please pray with me that the needs can be met. These people hunger and thirst for Living Water unlike many in the West who have forgotten to seek the Living Water. Isaiah 55 urges anyone who is thirsty to come and drink free of charge! Oh, Lord, only You are big enough to meet such a huge need! We ask You for the miracles necessary!
Forever In His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)