Meet the esteemed Arab professor who became the unlikely voice of, and for, Jesus

‘Ali’*, a respected Islamic professor in the Middle East, taught for many years at a seminary in an area hostile to Christians (as most of the region is).

An expert in his field of ethics, Ali figured he really should read a Bible to study Jesus—someone he, like most Muslims, only knew as the ‘Great Prophet Isa.’

He found the Gospels especially fascinating, even stunning. The Word of God spoke deeply to his heart. He discovered Jesus to be quite different from the other prophets. He was not violent, but self-giving and loving. Yet, for someone in Ali’s position, following Jesus would be difficult, perhaps even impossible. 

Then it happened.

Ali explained that Jesus began to appear to him. The Lord would literally sit across the table, teach and answer his many questions. He said it happened 17 times! 

“I asked Him how we can live like Him. He gave me Truth for the rest of my life.” 

Then Ali was given the chance to watch the film ‘JESUS’ (produced by the Jesus Film Project). Again, he was stunned.

“It was Him in the movie, the Man who appeared to me 17 times!” he exclaimed.

He believed even more deeply, and couldn’t help but share with his fellow professors that Jesus is the Son of God. He led seven of those fellow professors to Christ. 

As expected, seminary higher-ups were far from impressed and fired him. Persecution mounted to the point he felt he had to flee to Lebanon. But the Lord’s hand was upon him. 

In Lebanon, he became the voice of Jesus for the translation of the ‘JESUS’ film into the Baghdadi dialect of Arabic! What a transformation! 

Please pray for the transformation of many more precious lives.

____________
*Name changed for security reasons
[Thanks to the Jesus Film people for this story]

An ISIS fighter turns to Jesus

Thank you to our friends at Jesus Film for the following amazing story

IRAQ—The phone rang. When a JESUS film staff worker answered, he heard a deep voice saying, “I am an ISIS fighter in Syria. I heard your phone number on the radio” [he had been listening to an audio broadcast version of the JESUS film].

“My name is Fareed. I am part of an ISIS militia. Our commander sent us to a neighborhood to attack and kill Christians. We hid in a burned-out church. Everything in the church was destroyed, blackened. Waiting for our orders to attack, I sat, exhausted, and leaned against a wall. With my headphones on, I began listening to your broadcast and fell asleep. 

He Saw Jesus

“Like in a dream, the burned-out church began to turn white. Color returned. The lights came on. I saw rows of benches. Suddenly a Man in brilliant white was in the aisle walking towards me. The man said, ‘Follow Me’.

“Everything was white, and then in full color,” Fareed continued. “The Man touched me on the shoulder and said, ‘Fareed, don’t worry. Follow Me.’ Just then the phone rang. Our commander cancelled the mission! All the rage and bitterness inside me was gone! I was peaceful and knew I could not fight anymore. So, I turned in my weapon and came to Baghdad. I’m calling you. What shall I do?”

The JESUS film staff member who took Fareed’s call explained the Gospel to him and directed him to a church in the city, which Fareed joined, and where he grew in his faith.

He has since been actively witnessing to others about the love and power of God, and using the JESUS film to help him.

In his latest update about that former ISIS fighter, the staff member said, “I speak with him often and have given him equipment and support to help show the film to many others. He is a transformed man.” 

___________
Originally published by the JESUS film people, “a Christian media ministry bringing millions face-to-face with Jesus in their heart language”.
You can visit their website here:  Jesus Film Project.

Beyond GOOD NEWS from the field

This may be one of our most complicated yet joyously victorious stories yet, so you may need more than one sitting to absorb it all.

If you recall, a few months ago we were praying for Pastor Paul as he had been hospitalized for what were likely complications from his way too many attacks over the years [Resting with and testing: ‘His power made perfect in weakness’;  Pastor Paul improves, plus an exciting report from ALG President Pastor Peter Haneef].

When Pastor Peter returned to Bangladesh (his main field of ministry) after visiting Pastor Paul in hospital in India, he travelled with his team to visit a Muslim village. While speaking to the crowd gathered, he was suddenly and viciously attacked. Lunging with steel pipes and butchers’ knives, the attackers seriously injured many, one actually slicing off Pastor Peter’s left hand and throwing it, along with his Bible, off into the distance.

Onlookers were aghast, siding with Pastor Peter and his team rather than with the aggressors, which is itself a miracle. Not only that, all—either then or soon afterwards—became Christians! And what do Christians do? Help others of course.

All the injured team members were rushed off to a ‘super-speciality hospital’ owned and run by a former military surgeon, Dr. Salmu. He took excellent care of all of them.

When Pastor Paul, newly-released from hospital in India, heard about the tragedy, he set off on the long, treacherous trip to the Bangladeshi hospital. Another Bibles for Mideast pastor, Rahim Khan, accompanied him on the challenging journey.

After first flying to the capital city of Dhaka, they took a train and then an overnight bus through the hills and mountains to the hospital. With no seats available inside the bus until the following week, they had to climb ATOP the bus for the trip. Travel (and other) conditions are so overcrowded in Bangladesh that bus-top and train-top travel is quite common, if not exactly legal.

One of many over-crowded buses in Bangladesh

Pastor Paul found Pastor Peter in the hospital’s intensive care unit, still heavily sedated, along with another severely-injured missionary named Riyas who had had his skull crushed with a steel pipe and would soon need brain surgery.

The visitors sat sitting and praying by Pastor Peter’s side until he became conscious. Only then, as he tried to hold Pastor Paul’s hands, did he realize his left hand had been cut off. He also discovered how others of his group had been attacked and many admitted to the hospital as well.

The villagers who had heard the sharing of the Gospel—all now Christians!—stood by, helping when and however they could, bringing food and other needed items for the patients.

One man from the village retrieved Pastor Haneef’s left hand from where it had been thrown, and brought it to the hospital. Doctors, however, declared it hopelessly damaged and impossible to even consider trying to reattach.

At Pastor Paul’s insistence, however, the hand was placed in a freezer rather than thrown away. It remained there for four days, at which point—again at Pastor Paul’s insistence—Dr. Salmu reluctantly agreed to at least have a look at it. His medical mind knew a severed, severely-damaged hand would be nothing but worse four days later!

At that time Pastor Paul explained the story of Lazarus who was raised up by Jesus four days after being buried. Dr. Salmu was not ready to believe, nor was he willing to try rejoining the hand. Pastor Paul insisted he was ready to take all the consequences, which is why Dr. Salmu finally agreed to at least try.

Pastor Paul then took the severed hand in his hands, prayed over it, sealing it with the living blood of Jesus Christ before handing it over to the surgeon. While Dr. Salmu had absolutely no hope for success, he soon regretted his unbelief … and accepted Jesus as the living lord and his personal saviour! The surgery was entirely successful.

Dr. Salmu appreciates the faithfulness of Christian missionaries and even made the arrangements to conduct gospel meetings in his hospital among staff and patients. On Pastor Peter’s last day in the hospital, a Sunday, they held a worship service in the hospital auditorium and invited Dr. Salmu, who agreed to attend. And what a service!

“The Holy Spirit moved throughout the worship,” Pastor Peter reports. “There were more than 300 people, including doctors, nurses, patients and bystanders. Dr. Salmu had an immediate surgery, but he attended the service for awhile and encouraged the people. At the end of the service, everyone accepted Lord Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord by their heart and their mouth.”

“I had some difficulty standing and giving a message,” he explains. “But our Lord strengthened me and gave the message by the help of the Holy Spirit. Some doctors and nursing staff also witnessed Lord Jesus in the audience. All were Muslims, but they all are Christians now.”

After the service, Dr. Salmu provided lunch for everyone.

Pastor Peter Haneef and friends then travelled back to India, to a joyful welcome home ceremony where they shared their experiences and renewed their faith and dedication. 

Pastor Peter says his reattached hand is still not fully functional, but getting better every day. Please keep up your prayers for him … and for all the new Christians and for all of us here at Bibles for Mideast. We cannot do any of this without your awesome support.

Pastor Peter Haneef attacked; hand cut off

I am sad and sorry that most of our posts of late have been requests for prayer for our leaders rather than reports from the field.

In a recent correspondence with Assembly of Loving God (ALG Church) President Peter Haneef, he wrote the following when I asked him for news from the mission field:

“Dear Susanna 
Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ 

I’m thankful to you for keeping us in your prayers for our ministry throughout Bangladesh. 

We’re a dedicated team ministering for the Lord among jungle people and among village Muslims. By this time we’ve established 127 house churches and every week they are worshiping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. The Holy Spirit moves wonderfully and there are many, many people embracing Christianity in these days.
 
I will send you the report when I prepare it. Kindly continue praying for us."
 
He wrote that back on June 10, so I’d been wondering when his report would come … and found myself being prompted to be even more in prayer for him and his team.
 
Today I got this message from Pastor Paul:

”Pastor Peter Haneef and gospel team are attacked by a mob of Muslims in a Muslim village in Bangladesh.

Pastor Haneef was carrying a Bible and was speaking to the crowd. Suddenly a group of attackers came with big butchers’ knives and steel pipes and attacked them. Pastor Haneef’s left hand was cut off and thrown away along with his Bible. The other team members rescued him although they were also seriously wounded. The people brought them to the hospital. Don’t know the details. But I am on the way to Bangladesh.”

So of course, he asks us all to be in prayer for this brave man of God and his team. Let's also pray for a safe and successful trip for Pastor Paul.

As ever, we cherish and in fact cannot function without your prayerful support of this ministry. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

May our Lord be your forever Guide, Protector and ever-present Help ....

Resting with and testing ‘His power made perfect in weakness’

Isn’t it one of God’s grandest, deepest mysteries: that His power can be made perfect in our weakness?

Our dear ministry Director Pastor Paul is testing and resting in that one right now, and wants to thank all who have been praying for him and helping with medical expenses. Thankfully he is home from hospital, feeling much better, but still weak and tired. So please keep up your prayers. Ministry ‘out in the field’ of course continues.

We are still not really sure what all was going on with him. His doctors thought it could be aftereffects of the damage he has suffered from being attacked so many times over the years, and then of course the resulting brain surgeries (we have covered all those stories in previous posts).

“But I said, and I fully believe, that those were completely healed by my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ by His nail-pierced hands,” Pastor Paul asserts.

“He will not do His work partially. And also He will not keep His promise partially. His work and promise are always fully done. So I don’t think it is an after-effect of anything. This is what I learned and experienced from my Lord Jesus. He is always good for me. Whatever He thinks, let it be done.”

“So what, then, do you think was going on in the hospital?” I asked.

“It was of course that He wanted to teach me more to stand stable in His faith, to serve Him more without any doubt and hesitation. Of course my body is weak, but His Spirit within me is strong. Let Him use me according to His will.”

He knows the Lord wanted to teach similar lessons to his family, who stood with him and found their faith strengthened through the whole ordeal.

“In this crisis, the faithful servants of God, who love me with the everlasting love of God, stood for me and still stand for me with prayers and kind support, and helped me and my family so much. In the name of Jesus, I’m thankful to them all.”

This precious, mysterious and mysteriously STRONG verse (from 2 Cor. 12:9) is one I stand and live on as well. How about you?