In one of the calls I received from Pastor R this past week, I had the amazing opportunity to speak with three of the new graduates from HOB’s School of Ministry. These three men, whose names were Mahmud, Abdullah, and Gaze, knew very little English but were able to greet me on the phone. They felt it a blessing to […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 11/15/2016
In the Mideast Update dated 11/9/2016, the story was told of a young 28-year-old graduate of the House of Blessing’s School of Ministry named Same (pronounced Sammy). Same felt it was God’s task for him to go to his elderly father’s mosque and share what God had done for him. The story of Same reaching out to the 82-year-old head-sheik, […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 11/9/2016
The Psalmist wrote these powerful words in Psalm 91: Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. Psalm 91:14-15 […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 10/27/2016
See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil; therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is. Ephesians 5:15-17: I think many of us, as professing Christians, do not think enough about what the will of the Lord may be. We have very […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 9/22/2016
I had the opportunity to speak and pray with Pastor R four times this past week. It never ceases to amaze me, as I hear of the miraculous things that are continuing to take place, even under the most horrific circumstances. At a time when all of the efforts of the world’s most powerful and influential people, who are having […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 9/13/2016
As I begin writing the current Mideast Update, I think of the confluence of events in the Middle East today. I have stacks of papers scattered on my desk covering the so-called “Arab Spring”, the Syrian civil war, the escalating military involvement of numerous world powers in the Mideast, the resulting ever-deteriorating refugee crisis, and then of course the fearless […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 8/22/2016
As I look over my notes from my last conversation with Pastor R, I once again encourage you not to see the numbers of the newly killed missionaries, as well as the many reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ, as just that…numbers. I pray that these Mideast Updates never become routine reports, just giving an accounting of gains and […]
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, 7/17/2016, Pastor R
Over the past few days, I have had a number of people ask about how Pastor R is doing. As most know, he had endured a brutal attack in which two missionary companions were beaten to death in front of him. Pastor R was also savagely beaten, cut, and left to die a slow and painful death. I do not […]
HARVEST STORIES: Overcomers, 6/25/2016
We share here another story from the harvest fields in the Middle East. We believe that Father has a purpose in our hearing how some of our brothers and sisters in the Lord experience His love and His presence. Perhaps we will have a deeper grasp of that love and presence. Perhaps we will come to see how we too […]