‘It never rains but it pours’: Ministry leaders need your prayers

Truth really can be stranger than fiction; so be forewarned dear reader/supporter, as we also put the old expression, ‘It never rains but it pours’ to the test.

Shortly after my own release from hospital (second stay this year, second of four surgeries) our dear Pastor Paul, Director of Bibles for Mideast, sent me a casual WhatsApp message regarding the recent death of his 98-year-old aunt. He was, he said, considering travelling to her funeral—a 200-mile bus trip along rough roads—and asked for prayer for guidance.

Two days later I got another message saying he had returned, and that he had also presented the Gospel message to three Muslim families. As I understood it then, all had accepted Jesus and Pastor Paul was back home.

The story becomes murky, however, because at some point—I am still trying to figure out the timeline and details—Pastor Paul was viciously attacked and captured by extremists furious he had evangelized the Muslims. Apparently one of the attackers, using Pastor Paul’s cellphone, began sending messages to several of his correspondents, myself included. They certainly had me completely fooled.

When a few days then went by with no word from or about Pastor Paul, I contacted Peter Haneef (who leads the Assembly of Loving God [ALG] Church, umbrella organization for all Bibles for Mideast churches).  He explained as much as he knew, beginning with how Pastor Paul’s family had become worried when he did not return from his aunt’s funeral. They then learned he had been attacked after evangelizing the Muslims, and was being held captive by his attackers.

The deceased aunt’s son—a politician with some connections—had heard that his cousin had been attacked and captured. He managed to discover where the captors were holding Pastor Paul, gathered up a group of political cadets to storm the place, and after a fierce battle, freed the pastor. They brought him back to his home, but his injuries were so severe his family took him to the hospital for care. His cellphone remained in the hands of his captors, but by then I knew not to believe any messages I got from Pastor Paul’s WhatsApp account.

THEN—complete silence from Pastor Peter Haneef. Getting desperate for more information, I contacted Pastor Paul’s wife Mercy. She has had too many of her own  medical emergencies this year—hospitalized for heart surgery, and then later, for a stroke—so I wasn’t sure whether she would be well enough to respond. She thankfully was able to reply in her broken English to each of my numerous inquiries, and the blurry picture I managed to piece together follows.

Apparently, Pastor Peter had himself been kidnapped—on his way home from visiting his friend and co-leader Pastor Paul in hospital, I believe.

“He understood they were taking him to kill him,” Mercy explained. “He prayed to the Lord. He saw a police van behind, called again to Jesus, opened the door and fell out.” The police from the vehicle behind the captors’ of course came to investigate, and finding the injured pastor, rushed him to the nearest hospital.

So your prayers are certainly needed and appreciated: for Pastor Paul, Pastor Peter Haneef, myself and for the ministry as a whole: that absolutely no challenges thrown our way will deter us from seeking and following His Way, His Purposes, His Redemption.

We are all recovering, and we “know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). Please pray especially for Pastor Paul, who is still on supplemental oxygen.

While the old adage may go, “It never rains but it pours,” we also believe the Holy Spirit can rain down as copiously to save, guide, heal and protect. Make it so, Lord!

Isaiah 45:8 – “You heavens above, rain down my righteousness; let the clouds shower it down. Let the earth open wide, let salvation spring up, let righteousness flourish with it; I, the Lord, have created it.”

A beautiful version (with lyrics) of Holy Spirit Rain Down, a song released by Hillsong Worship of Australia in 1998 and sung here by Alvin Slaughter.

Reports from the ground in Afghanistan: Please join us in prayer!

Even before the recent takeover by the Taliban, the 2021 Open Doors World Watch List ranked Afghanistan the second most dangerous country in which to live the Christian faith, behind only North Korea.

According to its Annual Report, “It is impossible to live openly as a Christian in Afghanistan. Leaving Islam is considered shameful, and Christian converts face dire consequences if their new faith is discovered. Either they have to flee the country or they will be killed.” 

“Now that the Taliban is in power, the vulnerability of secret believers increases tenfold,” points out Brother Samuel*, Open Doors Field Director for Asia. “We are monitoring the situation, but this is the time for us to ask God to have mercy not only on His people, but on this country as a whole.”

He calls on Christians worldwide to pray for “the small group of believers in the country, the displaced, the women and the sick, and also pray that the country will not be a haven for extremists.”

Bibles for Mideast has established several underground churches in Afghanistan, but at this writing at least, Pastor Paul has heard precious little from or about them. He did hear from the pastor of one of our churches in northeastern Afghanistan, who reported that he and his people “are not yet safe, but hiding in a small room with all of our families, fasting and praying.” He then told a remarkable story about another pastor and congregation in another Bibles for Mideast church in the suburbs of Kabul. They were all together in a room, praying, when the Holy Spirit suddenly prophesied through a believer to flee immediately. Carrying only their bibles, the people fled. Within the hour, Taliban militants surrounded the place where they had been, destroying it as well as surrounding houses. While we don’t know where they fled to, we do understand they are safe.

“We have no information on any of our other churches,” Pastor Paul says.

Thanks to the work of our ministry and others, there are more Christians in Afghanistan than there were 20 years ago. With the Taliban back in control, Todd Nettleton, Chief of Media Relations for The Voice of the Martyrs, predicts the persecution will be worse simply because of those numbers.

Mikael Tunér, who grew up in Afghanistan, is a producer with a satellite TV mission ministry called Media Mission the Messengers He shared what he is hearing from contacts on the ground in areas under Taliban control.

“Our friends, our brothers and sisters in Christ, are telling us how afraid they are that their lives will be snuffed out. We are seeing the same things as before in the areas that the Taliban now control,” Tunér says. ”Girls are not allowed to go to school, women are not allowed to leave their homes without a male companion.”

Furthermore, he reports, some Christians who worked for the government now face reprisals. Many, we are also hearing, are being stopped and searched for evidence of being Christians on their phones.

We have posted several pieces on the work of Bibles for Mideast in Afghanistan, each an amazing story of God’s goodness, guidance and protection in the midst of repression, oppression and often terror. All were posted before the Taliban’s recent regaining control after 20 years of existing and continuing to operate more in the shadows. In case you missed them and/or need some encouragement, you can find them here:

• God's amazing grace and protection in Afghanistan

• Jesus heals and saves Afghani girl brought up by Taliban

• ISIS fighter flees bombardment and inadvertently, into the hands of Jesus

With the Taliban back in control, fear reigns in the hearts of many. So we must first of all pray for the reign of the King of Peace in people’s hearts. As so many wonder, seek direction, seek help, let us pray that they will find their Answer in Jesus.

Please pray for Afghanistan and its people

• Pray for all those impacted by the violence and those seeking a means of escaping the country.

• Pray against the violence and the oppression of Christians, ethnic minorities and women, who all fear being singled out and targeted.

• Pray for hope, mercy, justice, and healing in Afghanistan.

“Many have come to Christ from all ethnicities across Afghanistan. Please pray over the coming weeks that Jesus, Prince of Peace, will rule in many hearts.” – Mikael Tunér

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*Name changed for security reasons

Urgent plea from Pastor Peter Haneef, President, Assemblies of Loving God (ALG)

Pastor Peter Haneef, ALG (Assembly of Loving God) President, recently sent out a rather dire report from the front lines on efforts to keep the ministry going. I will summarize his plea to you, our friend and supporter, here.

“We are going through a big crisis,” he writes. “We have about 428 underground house churches in Asia, Africa and the Middle East spreading the gospel to Muslims and other unreached people. But our income is not sufficient for our needs.”

While about 20 churches in the Middle East have until the recent crisis been able to support themselves—with some able to support a church in Africa as well—due to the ravages of and limitations imposed on them by Covid they have been barely able to maintain their own congregations.

“I am requesting your prayers to overcome this pathetic situation,” Pastor Peter continues. “Maybe it is our Lord's plan to teach us more about His sufferings. Glory to His Holy name.

“We praise and thank our Lord for our brethren who regularly support us, though they are very few. On behalf of the ALG Church and Bibles for Mideast, I thank all contributors who help us and our ministry. May our Lord bless you and your family abundantly. Your contributions and prayers shall go forth as a memorial before our Lord.” 

He goes on to quote the Apostle Paul:

"We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed—always carrying around in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus may be manifested in us" (2 Cor. 4:8-10).

Pastor Peter and those in the many churches of ALG also take encouragement and strength from Paul’s further writing to the Church of Corinth (in 2 Cor. 6:3-10) about trials and hardships:

“We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited.  Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses;  in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger;  in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love;  in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left;  through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors;  known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed;  sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”

He asks that we keep up our prayers for all of the 428 churches he oversees: for the pastors, ministers and believers.

“Let our Lord's will be done.  However we will rejoice in the Lord as Habakkuk says in 3:17-19.

“With love and prayers,
Yours in His service,
Pastor Peter Haneef, President, The Assembly of Loving God”

“Though the fig tree does not bud
    and there are no grapes on the vines,
though the olive crop fails
    and the fields produce no food,
though there are no sheep in the pen
    and no cattle in the stalls,
 yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
    I will be joyful in God my Savior.

 The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    he enables me to tread on the heights.”
[Habakkuk 3:17-19]

Can you help? Prayer support is of course most appreciated, but if you can help financially in sharing and spreading the gospel to the unreached across the Middle East and parts of Africa, please click below:
BLESSING Bibles for Mideast

Cardiac surgeon says his young patient opened his own heart

Angela* had been a long-awaited addition to the family for a formerly Muslim couple now worshipping Jesus at an ALG (Bibles for Mideast) church near their home in North India. Born 13 years into their marriage, little Angela was only six when doctors discovered a serious problem with her heart. Blood clots were forming and interfering with her heart’s functioning, so her parents took her to a renowned cardiologist for further assessment.

After a thorough check-up, the specialist advised immediate open-heart surgery, but warned that it came with only a 30 percent chance of success.  

“What will happen if we don’t go for the surgery?” the concerned parents asked. 

“She will not live more than three months,” the surgeon answered.

After much prayer and consideration, the parents opted for the surgery.

“You do understand I can give you only a 30 percent assurance on her life,” the doctor reminded them. The parents nodded; they would stick by their decision.

The day for surgery arrived, and Angela was prepped for the procedure. She spied her surgeon getting ready too.

“Doctor Uncle, Doctor Uncle!” she cried out [an Indian expression showing her familiarity with the doctor—Ed.]  “I heard you will tear into and cut my heart!”

“Don't worry, my child,” the doctor assured her kindly. “I promise, you won’t feel any pain or discomfort.”

“It’s not that, Doctor Uncle! My mommy and daddy taught me that my Lord Jesus is living in my heart … and I do believe that! So Doctor Uncle, when you tear into and cut my heart open, please don't cause any pain and discomfort to my Lord, who sits there. Also, please, if you do see my Lord, tell me what he’s like!”

The caring doctor smiled at his young patient’s innocent—but surely ignorant—faith. As an atheist, he had long believed all of his success and accomplishments were his own doing, due to his own great intelligence and ability.

The operation finally got underway. But within 40 minutes, the young patient’s blood pressure, pulse rate and oxygen levels all began plummeting. As good as he was, the surgeon could see his efforts would be in vain, so he handed the operation off to his junior associates. Better leave than admit failure, he figured.

Still, this little girl had gotten to him somehow. He headed for a quiet, empty corner of the operating room, sat down and slowly sipped some water.

Just what was it about Angela, and especially, her words? He couldn’t get those words out of his own heart and brain.

“Lord God Jesus,” he found his heart praying before it could properly register in his brain. “If You are true and really dwelling in Angela's heart as she believes and says, please do a miracle now in her life.”

Within moments, the younger surgeons rushed over to him.

“Doctor, we don't know what is happening! Her blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation levels are all miraculously heading to normal! Blood has just now started pumping in her heart!”

The senior surgeon leapt up and rushed to the child’s side, beginning to fathom the fact the Lord Jesus must surely have worked a miracle in his young patient’s heart. He took over the reins of the operation and four and a half hours later, could declare it a complete success.

A few days later, feeling well and almost herself again, Angela had a few questions for her surgeon.

“Doctor Uncle! Did you happen to see my Lord Jesus when you cut into my heart? Did He say anything to you?”

“My dear child,” her cardiac surgeon answered, close to tears. “Over the last 30 years, I have opened many, many hearts. But, my precious little patient, you, YOU, were the only one who opened MY heart to see Lord God Jesus.”

Angela, now 18 and with a perfectly-functioning heart, is in university studies and doing well.

Please keep her and her continuing witnessing efforts in your prayers. Please also pray for the surgeon. While he knows and believes in the Truth of Jesus, he has kept his faith mostly hidden due to fear of retribution.

______________
*name changed for security reasons

Trust and joy in the midst of trouble: is it possible?

As India and Bangladesh face increasingly dire situations in their battles against Covid-19, Pastor Peter Haneef* reports on behalf of our workers and churches in those countries. He thanks you for your prayers and support, and with your help was able to send Pastor Masood and his team in northern Bangladesh nearly all of the 10,000 Urdu language bibles they had requested [earlier story on Pastor Masood and his team here].

In spite of Covid restrictions and intense persecution by Muslim fanatics, nearly 1,000 former Muslims have so far been baptized into new life in Christ across the northern Bangladeshi region!

Covid however, now rages out of control after many super-spreader events and lackadaisical government efforts. Everyone has been or knows someone who has been affected; the hospitals, morgues and crematoriums are filled beyond capacity, and a number of our church families face starvation.   

Many Bibles for Mideast churches have declared a time of prayer and fasting against the crisis. Pastor Haneef reports they find strength and encouragement from the words in Habakkuk 3:

Trust and joy in the midst of trouble

17  Though the fig tree does not blossom,
    and no fruit is on the vines;
though the produce of the olive fails,
    and the fields yield no food;
though the flock is cut off from the fold,
    and there is no herd in the stalls,
18  yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
    I will exult in the God of my salvation.
19  God, the Lord, is my strength;
    he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
    and makes me tread upon the heights.

May our Lord strengthen, protect and guide us all as we navigate these uncharted waters. If you feel led to help us in our work in many of the most restrictive regions of south Asia, the Middle East and Africa, please click here.

Most of all, we cherish your prayer support and know that you have ours as well.
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* Pastor Peter Haneef is President of The Assembly of Loving God (ALG) Church, umbrella organization for our family of Bibles for Mideast churches.