The Arabian Peninsula Partnership
The Gospel for every person and a church for every people in the Arabian Peninsula amongst indigenous peoples
9 March, 2011
Disappointments
Praise
We are confident that the political shaking of the Middle East is part of God's spiritual plan for the region. Come, Lord Jesus, and show your power!
With all of the hardships in the Arabian Peninsula right now, sometimes it is good to step back and worship God. As you watch this video and see the images, please worship the Lord and also seek the revival of all peoples in the Arabian Peninsula, Revive Us. Revive Us.
Prayer
It has been just over 3 weeks since the crisis has begun and we are not seeing any signs of it ending. There continue to be protests every day. The protests have remained relatively peaceful, but there have been some smaller scale conflicts. In all, there is a growing sense of frustration and weariness of the situation from both sides. As far any type of dialogue, there has been no movement towards talks. As time goes on, fear and mistrust are increasing. Some radicals on both sides (pro-government and anti-government) are exploiting this and attempting to escalate the conflict. There have also been increased racist remarks from both Shi'a and Sunni. Please pray that God will break through the anger and hate, and people will work towards a peaceful resolution to the differing of opinions.When thinking of women in this country, I see women drawing water from wells, I see women cooking, and I see women nurturing and caring for their families. And I hear women defending their faith and their prophet, observing the law and teaching their daughters the ways of their faith. I also recognize in many of them a sincere hunger and thirst for the Living God whom they have not yet encountered. Pray for women to have life-changing encounters with God, like the woman at the well.
During this time of uncertainty and anxiety in our country, Jesus is definitely doing something powerful in "Amy's" heart. We prayed for her a few times last year. Please now pray for wisdom as I speak to her about Jesus, and an open heart to receive the Truth.
Thank you so much for praying for the local believer who was tempted to marry another woman as his second wife. He has firmly decided not to marry her. He disclosed to a friend what had led him to seriously consider it. They prayed over him and he was willing to take full responsibility for his behaviour. Please pray for trust to be rebuilt between him and his wife, to the glory of God.
A year ago I met a lady who was trying to convert me to Islam. I met her again this week, and was invited to her house. She had invited many other ladies and the wife of the Imam, so I was a bit nervous that I would be attacked by a whole pack of ladies. But nothing happened, nothing was said about religion and it was just a good time to meet new ladies. Pray that I can continue to meet them and will get opportunities to share about my faith.
Testimony
Yesterday a friend told us he does not want to continue a Bible study. My wife and I acknowledged to each other that it is so "normal" that a person interested in Christ moves away after a little bit of engagement in the Bible. We almost don't have the hope for more lasting interest and genuine opening of hearts. It makes it a challenge to pray, expecting God to answer. Have too many disappointments hardened our hearts?
So now we go (again) through the process of evaluating how attractive we are for people to interact with, keeping in mind that Christ Himself was more rejected than accepted by the people he lived amongst. Pray for loving, persisting, hoping hearts for those workers who are not yet a part of harvesting.