We find these words in Acts 5:
14 And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women,15 so that they brought the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and couches, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them.16 Also a multitude gathered from the surrounding cities to Jerusalem, bringing sick people and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all healed. Acts 5:14-16
As regular readers will have noted, there have been quite a number of stunning miracles reported in the past weeks. I have a few more to share in today’s update, reported by Sheikhs Hael, Arshid, and Abu Saud. These men, who have been believers for only a short time, were sharing the Gospel when they were approached about the daughter of a Muslim Sheikh by the name of Attila. His daughter Asaliyah, was gravely ill with cancer. She had been told by her doctors that her diagnosis was terminal, but sisters Sarah, Ferial, and Fatina were called to pray for her. In the presence of her father, Attila, and her uncle Sheikh Badr, the women began to pray for Asaliyah. Their prayer vigil went on for several days, while they gave her apples with ground cinnamon, melon, and a treatment with aloe vera. They prayed over her for several days, even into the late hours of the night. Her father and uncle watched every move the sisters made and listened in on their prayers. They saw the women had a book with them but they had no idea what it was, nor did they ask. After more than a week had passed, Asaliyah began to show significant improvement. Her condition became so good that she went for an examination by her doctor. He had no answer for what he found. After tests that he took, he found no evidence of cancer. And this was after his previous diagnosis and recommendation for a double mastectomy, hoping just to slow the disease and give her a little more time to live even though the cancer had progressed well beyond her breasts and was widespread throughout her body. Now here she was, totally healed! This of course caused her father and uncle, respected Druze sheikhs, to realize who Jesus really is. The end result was that both men submitted to the Lordship of Jesus Christ, as well as an additional 270 Druze people. This all happened in the Sweida governorate in Syria. Praise God!
I received another report from Sheikhs Hab Ruman and Azmi. These men have been so excited about the things God is doing that they say they will never get tired of testifying of God’s greatness and mercy. Their hope is that the world — which for the most part seems oblivious, will awaken soon to recognize this truth! Their report involved Hajj Abu Rahyal and his third wife, who had had her uterus removed some time ago due to excessive bleeding. Her name is Badi’a. She had secretly been a believer for some time but for fear of her husband, who would probably kill her if he knew, she never told him. She admitted later in the story that she had been baptized at the hands of Hab Ruman and Azmi, with sisters Labiba, Soumia, Jamila, and Kifaya there to celebrate with her.
Badi’a admitted that she had longed to have a child but pregnancy is obviously not possible after hysterectomy. She prayed anyway. Then the miracle happened. After she noticed changes in her body that seemed to indicate that the impossible had happened, she went to Dr. Muhammad Khalawi for an examination. He was the oncologist who confirmed her cancer, and now confirmed that she was in fact pregnant. He was so stunned that this 54-year-old woman without a uterus could be pregnant that he called on two other doctors, Dr. Siyam and Dr. Zakaria, who had witnessed the hysterectomy surgery. Just to make sure, they ran two additional tests to confirm that she really was pregnant. The results were the same each time. Badi’a had been blessed with an impossible pregnancy — and at 54 years old! The doctors shook their heads and still could not believe what they had just confirmed. “How in the world did Badi’a get pregnant?? This is not possible! Lord Jesus, with such an impossible miracle, who could possibly not believe in You?!”
They asked if her husband knew and she said, no! When he was informed of what had transpired, he looked at the doctors and then at his wife and said, “Are you all CRAZY?” After a lot of discussion and when things had calmed down a bit, a Bible was brought in and the doctors began to read from it aloud. After a little while, they reluctantly put it down, deciding it was time for them also to ask Jesus to become their Lord and Savior, as did the wife’s husband, Sheikh Hajj Abu Rahyal. He made a request that the news be kept quiet until she delivered, because of his position in society. He confirmed once again to all present, however, that his acceptance of Jesus as his Lord was genuine.
I received an additional report, this time from brother Abdulrahem. These were his words, “Hello brother Jack, I am not afraid (or ashamed) of what I have (I believe he was referring to what he has in Jesus). We have very strong men because of the Gospel that is planted inside of them. They do not escape (run from or fear) anything.” And then he shared the details of this next story:
Omar and Sheikhs Zalatimo and Jaafar had been requested by Sheikh Sandoqa to come to his mosque. Sandoqa was the main sheikh of this mosque, but had recently become a believer in Jesus but was now nervous about confessing before the crowd that would be gathered, of his new-found faith in Jesus — and that of his assistant, Salah. This happened to be the last possible day for Hajj pilgrims to leave for Saudi Arabia and when it was time for Friday prayers to start, over 1,500 people had gathered. Roughly half of this crowd was planning to go on their pilgrimage after the service was over.
Omar, Zalatimo, and Jaafar were asked to come up to the front and were subsequently asked about their faith. “You have followed Christ? We would like evidence of your faith and see a miracle by this Jesus in whom you believe.” Omar and the brothers asked for a few moments so they could pray for God’s direction in the matter. “We will do whatever God instructs us to do.” Everyone seemed satisfied with their request, including the crowd, who was listening intently. After prayer, Omar asked Sandoqa what he would like as evidence? Sandoqa put two men in front of the brothers, whose names were Ghalib and Sharif. “These men had been exposed to an explosion which destroyed their hearing. “Heal them.” Omar turned to the deaf men and prayed, “O Jesus, O Healer, O Lord, heal them with your power. Send angels with your blessing and cleanse their ears.” Anointing oil was then put in their ears and Omar read the Bible to them. One person after another in the crowd began to weep as they heard the words of the Bible being read. Sandoqa’s assistant Salah then began to speak into the microphone, “Hallelujah! O Lord Jesus, have mercy on us and heal them! Give them of Your goodness.” Suddenly, both men fainted and fell to the floor. The brothers attended to them and gave them some water to drink, but they complained about having a terrible headache. Then, right before everyone there, their ability to hear was restored! Because of the miracle the people in the crowd witnessed, the entire crowd turned to Christ and over 700 who were planning to leave for Mecca changed their minds and decided not to go. They took instead what they had for the trip and gave it to the work of the Lord and to help feed the poor!
For those of us in the West, amazing miracles like this are sometimes hard to take in — as are the large number of new believers resulting from the move of God – because we don’t see such miracles very often. This, however, is an indication of how deep the hunger and thirst the people in the Middle East have for the Truth of God’s Word, once they have heard it. There is testimony after testimony by former Muslims, of how the Bible makes absolute sense and answers long unanswered questions — especially to the minds of a people who have had no exposure to the pure Word of God. This is why there is such an enormous need for Bibles. While many of us in the West leave our Bibles on a shelf for days or weeks at a time, these people devour the Word of God as the spiritual sustenance God intended it to be.
Abdelrahem, with the help of Omar, has completed a major inventory and found that at the present time, in some regions there are between 25 – 50 students for each available Bible. The need varies from location to location, and the lack is even greater in some areas. Due to the enormous need, Abdulrahem has decided to sell his house, although arranging to keep a room available for himself and a second room for Sister Rolla, his assistant. This will cover the $37,000 debt for Bibles and booklets already printed and will provide for the printing of an additional 2,000 Bibles and 1,500 booklets. Abdelrahem asked me to thank all of you who have so generously donated. The Lord continues to fulfill His promise to bring much fruit from each Bible that is provided. We are witnessing a continuing miracle. Time is swiftly running out and the Lord of the Harvest is drawing souls to Himself by the multitudes. God is not willing that ANY perish! Thank you all for your prayers and your support.
Note: A short explanation of why so many of the Muslim sheikhs keep the title sheikh, even after they have become followers of Jesus. As I understand it, it is a title of respect for their position in their community, not necessarily connected to the Muslim faith. It is a way of recognizing someone as an elder known for his wisdom.
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)
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