Partnershaft Arabische Halbinsel
Das Evangelium für jeden Menschen und eine Gemeinde für jede der einheimischen Volksgruppen der Arabischen Halbinsel.
04 January 2017
PRAY FOR THOSE WHO ARE SEEKING THE TRUTH
Please pray for a local friend whom a worker has been sharing with over the years. The worker's colleague is now meeting with him while the worker is back home, and amazing things have been happening. First, this local friend has recently attended an expat church in the country a couple of times and even brought his cousin. He witnessed a man who had been paralyzed for two years get out of his wheelchair and walk for the first time. After that, he asked for a Bible and has already read Genesis to Daniel and James to Revelation. He is humbly asking all the important questions right now and continues to read the remaining books of the Bible. This is a real answer to prayer since he has been so resistant until now! Please pray that he would be saved through the power of the Word of God and the love of believers. Pray against all spiritual forces of evil that would prevent him from recognizing the truth and freedom we have in Christ. Pray that God would grant him repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth and free him from the snare of the devil (2 Timothy 2:25,26).
Please pray for a seemingly "perfect" Arab couple who has kept only 1 wife, treated their children fairly, and worked hard and used earnings to build a better life for family. There are caring relationships between most of the family members, genuine goodwill, and a bright sense of humor. Islam seems to have worked for them, and many in the neighborhood look up to them as being a testimony to the Islamic faith. Yet their greatest needs- forgiveness, peace with God, and assurance of salvation- elude them. Please pray for this family, and for all those whose lives are touched by them.
Prayer Requests from Middle East Concern (MEC)
• Christians in the Arabian Peninsula request continued prayer for Father Tom
• Uzhunnalil, a Salesian Priest from India who was abducted in Yemen on 4th March 2016. Father Tom was abducted during a raid by a group of gunmen on a care home near Aden in which sixteen were killed. There has been uncertainty about his whereabouts and condition since the abduction.
• On 24th December 2016, a video was posted on YouTube purporting to be of Father Tom making an appeal for action to secure his release. In a statement dated 27th December, the Apostolic Vicariate of Southern Arabia noted that the source, date and authenticity of the recent video remain unconfirmed. However, the Vicariate noted that the person in the video bears a 'close likeness' to Father Tom, referred to other indications that he is still alive, and emphasised that various efforts to secure his release are ongoing. Bishop Paul Hinder, Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia, has led calls for continued prayer for Father Tom's safe release.
• The care home in Aden, raided by the gunmen, was operated by the Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity. The sixteen killed in the attack included four missionary sisters (two from Rwanda, one from India and one from Kenya) and several of their helpers (including some from Ethiopia and some Yemeni Muslim staff). Father Tom, who has served in Yemen for more than four years, was staying at the care home at the time of the raid.
•
PLEASE PRAY THAT:
• a. Father Tom will know the Lord's presence, peace and protection, and that efforts to establish his whereabouts and to secure his release will soon be successful
• b. all bereaved and traumatized by the murders at the care home will know the Lord's comfort and healing
• c. the perpetrators of the murders and abduction will know the Spirit's conviction of their sin, and seek the Father's forgiveness and new life through the Son
• d. Christians in Yemen will know the Lord's protection and guidance in every aspect of their life and witness
• e. peace and justice will be restored in Yemen, and humanitarian aid will reach all who are in need.