How is it that hundreds of Muslims are reported to turn to Christ after just one miracle or one exhortation from newly saved former Muslim clerics? We hear of a spontaneous sermon based on deep belief in the power of the Spirit. We hear of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to all those who accept the message. We are told of signs and wonders that prepare hearts for the ultimate work of God’s Word… “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Does this foreshadow the ministry success of the 144,000? Does it reflect the power of Peter’s first message in Acts “when the people heard this, they were cut to the heart.” Why should this surprise us? His gift given and received! –Anne
40 And with many other words he testified and exhorted them, saying, “be saved from this perverse generation.” 41 Then those who gladly received his word were baptized; and that day about three thousand souls were added to them. 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship in the breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 Then fear came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles. Acts 2:40-43
As we watch what God has been doing through His faithful servants, we are witnessing the spread of the Gospel at breakneck speed — just as it was in the 1st century church.
In order to facilitate the work of the ministry as efficiently as possible, Abdelrahem has appointed brothers Al-Hanini, Zalatimo, and Jaafar to carry the bulk of the leadership responsibilities in Iraq. This frees Omar up to work with Dhurgham, Shahbandar, Murtada, Al-Manfaluti, Al-Sakari and Dargham in western Iran. Each of these brothers need our prayer support as they continue to put their lives on the line for the sake of the Gospel.
I received a message from Al-Hanini a couple days ago which I would like to share (as close as possible to the original).
“Hello my brother Jack, this is Al-Hanini. I received an unsettling message from Omar that I would like you to read and pass on…
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“We are going to a very difficult and dangerous area due to religious extremists. We ask for your prayers so we can be successful in our mission. It is a journey, a tough one. We do not know if we will make it back or not. Pray for us’, says Omar. ‘Also for Dhurgham, Al-Sakari and all those with him. It is a great test. If we pass it, we will reach our goal to spread the Gospel. This could cost us our lives, but it does not matter. Our lives are not more precious than the blood of Christ.
Dhurgham, Al-Manfalouti and Al-Sakari say, “no, and a thousand times, no! No one will be wronged by our spreading the love of Jesus and His words among the people. We are ready to share the redeeming power of Jesus’ blood that He sacrificed for us. We will work day and night, hour by hour, even minute by minute, to read the Gospel and teach people when we receive the copies. We are ready and we have memorized the gospel in our hearts and it is on our tongues. It has become our daily speech and we will deliver it to the people with the blessing and enthusiasm of the brothers with us, and we will encourage the sisters to study the Gospel word by word, sentence by sentence, so that it reaches the minds and hearts of the people. We hope to deliver it before the coming of Christ. He is coming, coming! We see Him every night, His light is evident in the sky as if He is watching us from among the clouds. Pray for us, our brother Jack, and we ask for prayers and the provision of the gospel.
Omar
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I also received a message from Abdelrahem a couple days ago to share with you.
Hello my brother Jack. One of the things that is heavy on our hearts is the loved ones who have left this life and given all of their energy and possessions and lost their lives to support the word of Jesus and the word of the Gospel. In this journey of mine with the sheikhs, the sheikhs learned life lessons which proved to them that the Lord is with us wherever we are, although we can’t see Him. We feel Him in our daily actions.
Just to let you know, the teachings are effective and continuous. We thank all of the brothers and sisters for support in providing Bibles to spread the word of the Lord. We have lost brothers and sisters from the relatives of Hael and Arshid. Most of their relatives, in fact, most of them, went to meet the Lord in sacrifice for the word of Chist and its continuation. Their last word on this side of eternity was, “It does not matter, Christ gave us more. This is nothing. May His name be sanctified and His glory be exalted.”
There is a great demand for the teachings of Christ and the miracles of the Gospel. You have heard this. Also, in Iraq, teaching is very effective and good without the Gospel. We will provide them with the appropriate amount. I would like to let you know that I heard from Al-Hanini that Omar, Shahbandar, Murtada, Dhurgham, and al-Manfaluti are in Mahabad, Iran sharing the Gospel. It is spreading at an unimaginable speed and there are important sheikhs being born to believe in Jesus and take Him as Lord and there are miracles that happen that the sheikhs forget their book and keep the Bible as their name, isn’t this a miracle?
After a very deep and intense study by me, Hanini, the sheikhs, Omar and the brothers with him, we know the Lord is coming very soon. No one knows exactly when. He knows the time and will signal His servants that it is imminent. There are, however, great challenges ahead for us as believers in Him as we continue in our calling, but we defy the difficulties, the insults and humiliation as we spread His word and deliver the message. All is a sacrifice for Jesus and the sake of the Gospel. I want to make it clear to all that we slept on the dirt and in the streets but the Lord was with us everywhere, protecting us from all evil from the enemies of the Lord, even the brothers Omar and Al-Hanini and those with them. They sometimes slept out in the open so that the message could be delivered.
Just pray for us please. Also pray for Al-Saftawi and the sheikhs who are with him. Their sons are being tortured in prisons. It is bitter torment for them after becoming believers in Jesus but they continue in their faith and worship the One who died for them. Pray for us to be able to provide the word of the Lord.
May the Lord bless you,
Your brother Abdelrahem, Servant of the Lord forever.
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One last story I have to share in today’s update. It was sent from Omar through brother Hanini. I will share Omar’s report below and then add some additional details I have been provided since receiving his email.
Hello my brother Jack. Peace be upon you and upon all those who follow Christ. The brothers made it past the city of Mahabad, Iran to the village of Bonab (which is located in eastern Azerbaijan province in Iran). Before going into the mosque to share the Gospel about Christ with the people, they found an old sheikh who kept saying: “Wake up, people, wake up! He will come soon, but before He comes, you will slaughter each other, O sheikhs and clerics!”
I (Omar), Dhurgham, Omar, Shahbandar, Murtada and those with us were quite surprised by his words. The man had a hunchback and weak eyesight. We asked him to come into the mosque and found that the people did not care about him because they said he was crazy. We found out his name was Ailut-Aban. We were told he was nearly 90 years old. The name of the sheikh who oversaw the mosque was Tahjan. We asked the sheikh if we could come into the mosque and make room for us inside. Once we were inside, we prayed for the old sheikh. (The words of the prayer are the approximate translation as I (Jack) received it. The original prayer in Farsi would obviously have been much longer and more eloquently worded): “Oh Jesus, restore his sight; restore his health; restore his well-being.”
The people watching were amazed at what we were saying and Who it was we were calling upon. They were also surprised at the Book we had with us. After about 20 minutes of prayer, we spoke to the man, saying: “Get up, old man! You are in the prime of youth now!”
After he was told to get up, he did so and had no signs of illness of any kind. The people were shocked at what they saw and then as they watched, his sight began to return. We touched his eyes with anointing oil and washed his face. At that point, Ailut-Aban began to cry. The people watching asked themselves, is it possible that the power of God’s Word does this? There were more than 500 people present when all this happened. All 500 of them believed and submitted to the Lord Jesus. The old sheikh made a comment (which I will explain below Omar’s letter), saying: “I knew that Christ was coming and His followers would heal me. For 20 years I have not been able to see clearly.”
Omar
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There is a little more to the story and it goes back a number of years. Ailut-Aban had been a sheikh in the mosque when he was befriended by a Christian man from Iraq. This man gave him a copy of the Bible which he still has today. Omar says that he had memorized the Bible, knows every single word of it, and has a good understanding of it. When the brothers approached him, he did not know that they were believers. What he was saying to them when they approached was a warning that the coming of Jesus was very near, but before He arrived, the Muslim sects would slaughter each other, leading to Armageddon itself. What he was describing was the coming Great Tribulation (the Apocalypse), after which Messiah Jesus would return physically to earth and set up His Millennial Kingdom.
He continued as sheikh in the mosque but remained secret about his faith in Jesus for about 7 years. He never slept at home but rather in the mosque. He spent his nights in prayer. From that time on he refused to pray in front of the mosque’s imam. He prayed while sitting on a chair in the back and did not take part in the activities that other sheikhs did.
Ailut-Aban began praying for people and as He did, the Lord healed them. He made a special cover for his Bible so that it would not be recognizable. He believed in Jesus with all his heart. When he confessed his faith to his wife and children, they rejected his message. She and the children expelled him. He had been living in northern Tabriz at the time. He believes that he was blinded because he became so angry with his wife and children. He also became diabetic.
As he explained all these things to the brothers, he said that he thoroughly enjoyed his times of prayer during the nights. He said the Holy Spirit would descend upon him as he prayed and the room would fill with light. He felt a great change come over him and instead of being angry with his wife, he wished for her to come to the Lord as well. The Lord told him that day would come.
Ailut-Aban said he had no fear of anyone, and his needs were met. He said his sustenance showed up on its own and he didn’t know how it was that women brought him food to eat. He said he prayed for many of them. Some of them could not conceive but after prayer they would become pregnant. Other women had various diseases and he would also pray for them. Men, however, thought he was crazy and would not allow him to pray for them. They thought he spoke nothing but nonsense.
In conclusion, I want to thank each and every one of you who pray for and support the House of Blessing. As I have said many times in the past, we will never know all that God has done through the faithfulness of His people as they respond to His prompting until we are all gathered to that great assembly in the presence of Jesus. That day is coming sooner than most think. The signs are everywhere. Jesus said: “When you see all of these things coming to pass (all at the same time), look up, for your redemption is at the door.” We are on the threshold!
In the meantime, Bibles and teaching booklets are being printed as quickly as possible as finances allow. The sheikhs have now memorized the New Testament. There are also quite a number of them who have memorized the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments. Absolutely amazing. The teachers are memorizing the teaching materials as they receive their personal copies. After booklets are made available for the students, they are divided up according to the number of students. Many times there may be only one or two booklets per classroom. But, the hunger and thirst to be taught the Scriptures is so great, the teachers do the best they can with what has been provided. The photos provided are of a heavily loaded pallet containing teaching booklets containing teachings that have been provided — all color coded according to the subject to be taught. Because of the dangers involved and associated security concerns, the materials will be transported with extreme care to their designated classroom locations all across the Mideast. God is good!!
For those who have questions about the ministry of the House of Blessing, please feel free to make contact through either of the email addresses below.
Forever in His Service,
Jake (aka Jack)
[email protected] [email protected]
Jake Geier
3206 SW 45th Street
Redmond, Oregon 97756
USA