As we come to the end of February 2017, I received news for this update through a phone call as I was traveling south along the Dead Sea. As is usually the case, I have received both good news and also tragic news. Before I get to the actual House of Blessing update, it will be helpful to give a […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 1/21/2017
I have used Ephesians 5:14-17 as a passage of Scripture lately in Bible studies and even mentioned it on occasion while writing these Mideast Updates. The passage reads like this: Therefore He says: “Awake you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 12/13/2016
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, 11/9/2016
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, 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, 8/6/2016
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, 6/26/2016
As I began to write this Mideast Update, the Iraqi military was involved in an all-out effort to free the city of Fallujah from ISIS. As I look at the news reports I have on my desk, officials estimate that approximately 84,000 people had been forced to flee their homes since the start of the government offensive in May against […]
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 […]
MIDEAST UPDATE, 5/2/2016
I have always thought that one of the fascinating privileges we will have as we begin an unending eternity in the presence of our glorious LORD and God, will be access to the millions upon millions of individual stories, recorded with intricate, accurate detail, of the lives of God’s faithful people as they navigated life on this fallen planet. I […]