As I gathered my thoughts this week after hearing the latest news from the House of Blessing, I remembered something I had read in a devotional not long ago. A question was asked: “How does God accomplish salvation? Does He do it by removing all evil from the world?” No. Salvation came through His presence, by His coming into the world, by becoming God with us, Immanuel. Instead of removing all evil and everything it encompasses, He gave us something infinitely better — the solution!
God’s “Solution” was poured into the world. Salvation is not the absence of sin. It’s the presence of God. Salvation is also not the removal of the world’s darkness. It’s the shining of God’s light directly into the darkness. The light shining in the darkness, drives the darkness away. Salvation is the incarnation of God. It’s His presence. The Solution is Yeshua; Immanuel!
The application of this principle is not difficult to see. As believers, we don’t overcome darkness by focusing on the darkness. We overcome darkness by focusing on the Light. We also don’t overcome sin by focusing on sin, but rather by dwelling on God. We overcome emptiness by dwelling on His presence. We solve our problems, not by focusing on the problem, but by dwelling on the Answer — by being filled with the Answer. Sorrow is overcome by the presence of joy, and hate by the presence of love, and evil by the presence of good. Applying this principle will change the effectiveness of our lives, and our Christian testimony.
Whether the missionaries realize it or not, this is the principle being applied by the House of Blessing missionaries as they minister to the lost. As they move from place to place preaching, teaching, and praying for people, they find themselves surrounded by much evil. They are confronted with hatred, brutality, rage, abuse, and murder. Sickness and disease are also everywhere. They encounter diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi or parasites. Others are suffering due to broken bones, blindness, deafness, and withered or missing limbs. Added to all these things, are those who are afflicted with mental issues; others, the harassment or even possession by demon spirits. The list goes on…
How is all this “darkness” handled? By bringing the Solution, Immanuel, the Light of the world directly into the darkness. It doesn’t matter how inky black the darkness is, the Light pushes it aside.
Sister Mufida and the women with her, Labiba, Hafiza, Ferial, and many others, continue as they have been, going from tent to tent, preaching and teaching about Christ, praying for the sick, asking the Holy Spirit to heal them. Mufida says that she prays for many who complain of various diseases, as well as those who are in great pain with broken bones — like broken hands, backs, and much more. Mufida is also handling the medical situation with 15 pregnant women who are suffering with what they term heart disease. At this time, Mufida is warning women, under the harsh circumstances right now, to not get pregnant.
Mufida passed on a story about a pregnant woman named Suhaila. Suhaila was found in labor and because of her heart condition, help was brought in from some sisters who had previous nursing experience and had worked in nursing and emergency departments. These sisters received professional training from Doctors Without Borders. They also had access to medical supplies and critical medications. This was helpful in dealing with Suhaila’s critical heart condition in this life / death situation, especially while attempting to deliver. The women were gathered around her as she got closer and closer to the time. Suhaila’s heart gave out and the nurses had to revive her. At that point, the nurses didn’t wait any longer and manually pulled the baby out to try to keep Suhaila alive. They did manage to deliver a little baby boy successfully. He weighed 3.5 kilograms (7 ¾ lbs). As the amniotic sac presented, Suhaila’s heart stopped again and, miraculously, they again brought her back by giving her CPR. According to Mufida, Suhaila died twice while giving birth. The baby started screaming as soon as he was born, but Suhaila couldn’t hear him until she had been fully revived. Once she realized that her little one was delivered and he was healthy, she was overjoyed. She named her son Tawfiq and the sisters recorded the birth date, weight, name, mother’s name, father’s name and also the grandfather’s name so that they could register him in the population statistics department. The nurses thanked the sisters who not only helped but also believed in prayer.
Mufida has asked us all to pray for the other 14 pregnant women because they all have heart conditions as well. She mentioned also that with the weather turning colder, the people in the tent encampments are needing some things. HOB is hoping to be able to buy two truckloads of flour, as well as other food supplies, including hopefully some beef. Many tents are also torn, and are beyond repairs. Blankets will also be needed and winter clothes. This is a yearly need and the UN is pretty much absent.
Omar and his friends were happy to report that due to generous gifts that came in from a number of folks, 230 Bibles were able to be purchased and are gradually being distributed. Some of these are going to new believers who are located on the borders of Syria and Turkey. Omar and his friends are still preaching and teaching. As they do, more and more of the listeners accept Jesus as their Savior and Lord. Reports are that there is quite a number of new believers who now have their names listed so that when more Bibles become available, they can receive theirs.
Most of us that pay even a little attention to the news know that the war against Hamas is still going on in the Gaza Strip. This is also the case up north as the Israeli Defense Forces are trying to totally eradicate the terrorist organization, Hezbollah. The IDF has also been reaching into Syria in order to try to eliminate, not only the Hezbollah infrastructure located in many locations of Syria, but also Iranian facilities, weapons depots, etc. These forces have one main goal and that is to totally annihilate every last Jew in Israel. This is why this war will not stop until Israel’s enemies have been defeated.
This of course, leaves a great many people living under the threat of attacks. Because terrorist factions do not care whom they harm, they are well known to use innocent civilians as human shields. Terrorists, such as Hamas and Hezbollah also regularly confiscate supplies that are sent in by trucks. Israel, however, has been able to eliminate and destroy the greatest percentage of the Hamas terror machine. The more Hamas that is defeated, the safer the innocent civilians will become. This is not necessarily the news that the mainstream media will report to the world, but it is a fact. But, as I already stated, the status of a great many civilians is very poor. Let’s pray for them and for the missionaries that are embedded within Gaza. They are facing great difficulties. There are a great many dead and wounded. I am told that no one has heard from Sarah for quite some time. We pray that she has been able to survive.
Much more could be said concerning the Middle East and its immediate future, but this is enough for today. Please, pray. All of HOB wants to thank those who have contributed to their financial needs. God bless you all abundantly!
Forever in His Service,
Jake