The Arabian Peninsula Partnership

The Gospel for every person and a church for every people in the Arabian Peninsula amongst indigenous peoples

March 24, 2009

Fruitful Discussions.

Praise

Give thanks for the boldness of Paul as he pursues his one desire to see a local church birthed in his country. Ask God for his continued protection.

Prayer

"Abu", a local follower of Jesus from an islamic background, was hospitalized briefly this past week, with severe chest pains and trouble breathing. He's gone through a lot in the past year, including being imprisoned, financial burdens, and the death of his mother. Pray for a heavenly perspective, and a continued commitment to seeing a body of believers raised up among his countrymen.

There were two bombings this week that caused death. Four Korean tourists and their translator were killed when some men left a bag near them, that had a bomb in it. Later in the week a suicide bomber killed himself in front of the convoy of Koreans who came to investigate the crime. Ask that the Lord will give comfort to the families of those killed. Ask that those who are seeking to create unrest and violence will be stopped.

A family in preparation for a 72-hour "prayer drive" into one of the most unreached countries in the area. Pray that God will reveal what is on His heart to pray, and thereby provide accuracy in their prayers as they travel, stay the night or pass through the different areas of this 'Holy Land' of Islam. Pray for safety, strength (they will travel with their little children), discernment (so His purposes can be accomplished) and a healthy car engine!

Pray for Allison as she takes on increased responsibilities in her work. At the same time she grows weary working in a broken system. Please pray for patience as she trusts God in trying to make an impact in the lives of her colleagues and associates.

Testimony

Again this year, we hosted the annual Muslim-Christian dialogue and the evening was amazing as we had close to 300 people attend. As I stood by the door and watched people file into the auditorium, a Muslim friend introduced me to a senior adviser to the department of Islamic Affairs. I sweated a little knowing he was there but after it was over he congratulated us on the event and asked why we couldn't have it more often!

As the dialogue drew to a close, the Muslim speaker stood and urged everyone to read the Koran, let it "...change your life, and worship the true God who is not Trinity but only One.". Then the Christian team leader stood and responded to God's urging by saying, "I have read the Koran. I was a Muslim for 7 years. It improved my life morally for some time. But I could not escape the fact that I was a sinner deep down despite my good deeds. I urge you to come to God through Jesus his Son who died on the cross to offer forgiveness of sins for all who look on him in faith." What a thrilling moment!

Praise God for this ongoing event. Pray that it will lead to ongoing fruitful discussions and that some will put their faith in Christ as a result of what they heard and ask God for greater religious freedom in this land. Ask for God’s favour on the effective use of the video recording which will become available soon.

Note: For security reasons names have been changed.