In our last update, I mentioned that a large number of the House of Blessing missionaries in Syria went into the Daraa area due to the unfolding human tragedy resulting from the Assad regime retaking control of the area from the rebel forces who have been entrenched there for several years. There are widespread reports of indiscriminate bombings with […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 7/3/2018
In today’s update I would like to reprint an older episode as I sometimes do so that we don’t forget the great things God has done in the past in response to the prayers of God’s people. This story involves a number of House of Blessing missionaries, one of them being a man named Omar. This Omar however is not […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 6/27/2018 “Staring Death in the Eye”
It has been nearly two weeks since the last Mideast Update was written. As we have seen over the many updates, the conditions on the ground change from one day to the next. Recently, along with the normal update information, I provided some of the details of the military siege on Eastern Ghouta and the catastrophic consequences for the […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 6/15/2018 Greater Love Has No Man
As I begin to write today’s update, I think back to House of Blessing missionaries I’ve written about so many times…people like Omar, Same, Mufiedah, Fatwa, Sarah, Fatima and so many others. Then, of course, there is Pastor R, leader and founder of H.O.B. A question that could be asked is: “What motivates a missionary to continue doing what they […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 5/21/2018
Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus made this promise to the disciples: “…you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and […]
MIDEAST UPDATE…The March of the Martyrs…5/7/2018
Throughout the centuries since Jesus commissioned the Church and empowered it on the Day of Pentecost in the first century, the fallen Lucifer has done everything possible to destroy it. Jesus warned that, just as He was hated, His true followers would be hated as well. The Apostle Paul described his own circumstances to the Corinthian Church with these words: […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 4/30/2018 The Beating of War Drums
For those who were watching the news the end of last week, you may have seen some of the reports of the unseasonable catastrophic rains that Israel experienced. Tragically, lives were lost in Israel due to the flash flooding. The same weather also affected Syria. When I spoke with Pastor R, he told me that at least 450 tents were […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 3/5/2018
I begin this update with news of Pastor R. I received two calls from him this past week. As readers know, Pastor R has struggled with a number of physical issues. Not long ago I shared ‘before and after’ photos of his feet which had become infected and progressed to gangrene. The prayers of many were answered as evidenced by […]
MIDEAST UPDATE 2/20/2018 “It’s Not Over Until God says It’s Over!”
How much does God involve Himself in the affairs of men? There are those who only understand God as a powerful Being that may have created the heavens and the earth but has long ago left the earth and its inhabitants to fate and to their own devices. The Bible tells us differently. History continues to unfold just as it […]
SPECIAL MIDEAST UPDATE Part Two “THE REST OF THE STORY”
This is Part Two of a story written four years ago that many current readers may never have read. The first part of this story reprinted a few days ago had to do with a man named Nabil who had formerly been a Muslim head-sheikh before becoming a believer in Jesus Christ. The second part of the story which you […]