The Arabian Peninsula Partnership
The Gospel for every person and a church for every people in the Arabian Peninsula amongst indigenous peoples
September 9, 2009
The tea shop.
Praise
Praise God that a new family who arrived last month has a job to go to on the field. Pray for them now as they settle in, for a good transition and smooth visa process.
Prayer
The six people (a German family and an English man) who were kidnapped in early June are still missing. There seems to be no trace of them. Ask that they will be found and that they will be freed. Pray for their families during this difficult time of waiting.
One of our local Arab believers is struggling deeply with believing she is loved by God. She is so bound up by pain and lies from the evil one. Please pray for freedom, healing, and wholeness. Pray for her as she struggles to make good decisions in walking with Jesus.
It is the season of Ramadan. For us, this has been a great time to gather with our special friends. Every Thursday for the month we have enjoyed Iftar (breaking of the fast after sunset) at our friends' home. It has been a casual time to sit on the floor and eat a meal together. The rest of the evening is spent relaxing and visiting with one another. Please pray that God will communicate in deep ways to our friends.
Pray against the efforts of Satan to destroy budding fellowships of believers from Islamic backgrounds in our land. Without much example of reconciling relationships around them, the believers from an Islamic background can easily default to letting petty offenses drive them away from interacting with the other believers.
It has been months since a worker last met his friend, Rashid. The recession has reduced him to chasing menial activities. So he isolates himself, sees no use in going out. Though he has a strong interest in philosophy, recently he has developed a negative attitude regarding most things. Pray that Rashid (a committed Shia Muslim) and his wife will find meaning in life through Christ. Pray that his interest in philosophy will prompt him to study new ideas and the Christian worldview.
Pray for those who find Christian websites on the internet. Pray for God to draw men and women to Himself through this media. Pray also for those who are entering chat rooms - that they would find faith in Christ. And for those being mentored and discipled online, pray for depth of faith to develop and, in God's timing, for ways to connect them to believers in-country.
Testimony
One morning a couple of months back, I went out with an American friend to a tea shop. I felt God my Father prompting me to take a copy of an Arabic gospel with me (something I normally wouldn't do). I hesitated, but in the end I took it. My friend and I had a good time at the tea shop, talking mostly to each other.
As we got up to pay and leave the shop, my friend said "Let's give it (the gospel) to the guy behind the till, he's got a long beard." Er, what?! Anyway, we thanked the guy for his hospitality (we'd sat there for an hour and only spent very little money). Then, we offered him the slim red book (Luke). He was incredibly grateful and eagerly took it!