The Arabian Peninsula Partnership
The Gospel for every person and a church for every people in the Arabian Peninsula amongst indigenous peoples
January 10, 2009
A powerful God.
Praise
Recently we have heard news of a number of small expat BMB fellowships meeting together and that they are active in evangelising and discipling others. Praise the Lord! God is at work drawing people in this land to Himself.
Prayer
Following Christmas, pray for the workers who decided to use Christmas to reach out to their Arab friends. Ask for wisdom in following up on the testimony of celebrating Christ's birth. Pray that all this will bring honor to Jesus and fruit that will last in eternity.
Pray for those who heard about the true Christmas in our land - that God would challenge their own faith and that they would put their faith in the Incarnate One.
"Al", one of our national Believers in Christ from a muslim background, brought a muslim friend, "Midge", to our small group of national believers this week. After a time of Bible study, Midge continued to interact, one-on-one, about the unmatched mercy of Jesus. Pray for his salvation.
There have been several demonstrations here concerning problems in Palestine. Do ask that the demonstrations here will remain peaceful and that the problems in the Middle East will be solved through dialogue and not violence.
As more come to faith here, there is the need that they move from "milk to meat" (Heb 5:12-14). In this New Year, ask that they will search the Word more diligently and that those more mature in the faith will be available to give them council.
Testimony
It had been a draining day for Elton, filled with conflict between instructors and students and the burden of keeping the paper monster of the central office fed. The last thing he wanted was an interruption with another unrealistic deadline looming in just a few hours. The mobile phone rang – Elton answered it reluctantly – afraid it would be another taker of that precious commodity - time.
'Hi, Mr Elton, it's me, Arif, from the class of 2006' said the mature sounding voice on the other side of the phone. 'I really need to see you, it's about Abdulla, my brother in year 1. Can I come now, it's important'. Having been involved in Arif's life for several years and praying for one of his other brothers, so Elton prayed again: 'Lord grant me wisdom and grace in your perfect timing'.
Arif arrived quicker than he should have (he had obviously been way over the speed limit all the way from his office to the college). He stepped inside Elton's office and closed the door behind him. In the short while between his call and his visit, Elton had dug out his brother’s schedule and attendance record – high absences, but good grades. 'High absence runs in the family' he thought to himself!
Arif started out by saying that his brother was diagnosed with a psychological disorder – just like his other younger brother, Raed. It only took a few minutes to be on the topic of modern medicine vs traditional Quranic healings. Then Elton took the opportunity to share that the Bible teaches that Jesus is the great Physician and healed during his time on earth. He also mentioned that God is about healing people for His glory even today – not because of bargains or extra acts of spiritual works or zakat (benevolent giving). Arif left that office knowing that Mr. Elton is a caring man of faith who was praying for his troubled borther to a powerful God. Pray that this relationship will continue to grow as God provides more opportunities to live the life of Christ in the midst of the Muslim Nationals of the Arabian Peninsula.