Due to tragic events which have unfolded in the past three days, I am sending out a short urgent request for prayer. As you know, there have been a number of Mideast Updates in the past month. There has also been a considerable amount of new information since the last update on March 5, 2025.
As many are aware, there has been an eruption of violence in northwest Syria. In an earlier update, I shared a story of how a number of Shiite Alawites were reached with the Good News of the Gospel. The Lord granted some extraordinary miracles, and through the miracles the people witnessed, and through the power of the witness of the HOB missionaries in spite of great duress they were under, hundreds of Alawites found Jesus as their Savior. They were then baptized and began to take Bible classes.
What was the tragedy? Forces from the new Syrian regime were dispatched from Damascus to put down a rebellion by some leftovers of the Assad regime. The militants, however, also attacked thousands of innocent civilians, including men, women, and children, and as of today, over 4,000 have been slaughtered. The Sunni militants also made a point of going after Christians. As of yesterday, they had tortured and killed somewhere between 250-300 Christians. The Christians belonged to the group of Alawites mentioned above who had just found the Lord within the last couple weeks. They were brutally tortured to get them to deny their newfound faith in Jesus, but they refused and were eventually executed. The militants then confiscated all of the teaching materials and burned them. A new clinic that had been set up was also totally destroyed.
This has been a terrible blow and brother Abdelrahem has asked me to send out this urgent request for prayer. The HOB missionaries intend to continue with their plans for evangelism during Ramadan, but they are obviously facing extreme dangers. Please pray for a special anointing for today and also for protection. The harvest is enormous. The people are so very hungry for the true message of God’s love through Jesus, but Bibles are in short supply.
The House of Blessing asked us to please pray, pray, pray. More information will be shared as I receive it.
Forever in His Service,
Jake