The death toll in Syria is now nearing 600,000 according to some estimates. I have not been able to find any statistics for Aleppo and its surrounding area. The reports coming out of this region of Syria, however, are horrific. Clarissa Ward, a CNN correspondent who has reported on wars for more than a decade, provided a testimony to the […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 8/6/2016
One of the things I’ve noticed while writing these Mideast Updates for the last 53 months, is that if I am not careful, the updates become “routine” reports. This is a grave mistake because these are not “numbers” being reported, but rather a written record of events and the people who are the subjects of these same events. These people […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 7/24/2016
For the House of Blessing missionaries, as well as Pastor R, the founder, it has been both a trying, yet miraculous past two weeks. Anyone having read recent update articles will know that, not only have many of the HOB missionaries and new believers lost their lives, but the founder of House of Blessing, Pastor R, was nearly himself if […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 6/14/2016
I suspect I have read the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, known as the Faith Chapter with 15 verses beginning “by faith,” more times in the last four years than I had during my entire life before becoming involved with the House of Blessing. This “faith chapter”, provided a long list of many of the heroes of the faith and why […]
“And Once Again”, MIDEAST UPDATE, 6/12/2016
As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. Proverbs 25:25 Stories travel fast in the Middle East when fueled by hope and a hunger for evidence of goodness, or mercy, or, ultimately, loving kindness. When Jesus walked in village or countryside, desert or shoreline, people walked great distances to hear, to see, and […]
“Sarah’s Story”, MIDEAST UPDATE, 5/31/2016
Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. Psalm 115:1 The lines of people coming to Pastor R’s tent, asking for prayer, continue day by day. People who have so little, living only moment by moment, asking for prayer, seeking the comfort of a God they have […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 4/12/2016
I have found myself again reminiscing this last week on all the things that have transpired these last four years since a divine appointment connected me and my wife, Anne, to House of Blessing. God has done such amazing things…awesome interruptions from the spiritual realm that have permanently changed things here in the physical realm. But, this is what God […]
IT IS HARVEST TIME
Matthew 9:36-38: “When he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest” Jesus […]
MIDEAST UPDATE: 1/19/2016
Watching the news further confirming a call from Syria in the wee hours of the morning, it is obvious that circumstances continue to deteriorate in the Middle East. Many of you may have heard of the horrors happening in the Syrian city of “Deior-ez-Zor” (one of several spellings). It is located in the northeastern portion of Syria and was brutally […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 10/13/2015
I think one of the things that has astounded me the most from the reports I receive from the Mideast, is the phenomenal response to the gospel of God’s love for the human race. As the chaos continues to escalate, the Christian missionaries are sought out even more for any help they can give, whether food, medicine, or a spiritual […]