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.

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*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.

An Indian Christian doctor sees COVID-19’s silver linings

A refreshing look at how the Church should be

While so many Western Christians battle over pandemic politics (not to mention too much of anything else deemed ‘political’), an unlikely blueprint for how the church should be is emerging in, of all places, India.

According to the president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Johnrose Austin Jayalal, the pandemic has stirred the church to action.

The Christian doctor has observed churches supporting members suffering from poverty, church hospitals serving the community at large, and fellow Christian physicians volunteering to serve in some of the places hardest hit by the coronavirus.

“I am able to see, even amid persecution, even amid difficulties, even amid the control by the government, even among the restrictions we face in openly proclaiming the message of love, by various means and ways, Christianity is growing,” he said in a recent interview with Morgan Lee of Christianity Today.

While in western countries those of lower socioeconomic status have borne the brunt of the disease, the opposite has been happening in India. The mortality rate has in fact been less among the poor and underprivileged.

Image: Illustration by Mallory Rentsch / Source Images: Yawar Nazir / Stringer / Getty Images

“People here have already been exposed to various kinds of other diseases, and their immunity was built up,” Dr. Jayalal explained.

Even during lock-downs, the doctor senses growth within Christians as individuals and within the Church as a whole.

“I personally think that during this time, people have prayed and worshiped more than ever,” he explained.

The good doctor had a great answer when asked about the idea that to ‘be a serious Christian, you need to be a pastor or a minister or work in a church.’

“The opportunity in front of every Christian is splendid,” he replied. “It is not solely the responsibility of the pastor; it is that every Christian who is born again and who has experienced the love and affection of God Almighty will respond to the calling to go and preach the good news of love.”

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A version of this article first appeared on ChristianityToday.com on March 30, 2021. Used by permission of Christianity Today, Carol Stream, IL 60188

“I firmly believe what I am today is the Gift of my almighty God Jesus Christ and what I become tomorrow will be my gift to God.”
[from Dr. Jayalal’s inaugural address to the Indian Medical Association on being appointed national president, Dec. 2020]

Salvation and healing in the Sultanate of Oman

Abbasia*, a 52-year-old Arab Muslim in the Sultanate of Oman, had suffered with severe psoriasis since his teen years. The inherited skin disorder also plagued his mother, three sisters and two brothers. Strong Muslims, they faithfully recited the Koran and Islamic prayers, but found no relief. The itchy, painful sores made even dressing properly impossible. They ended up spending most of their money in hopes of finding a cure, but nothing helped.

Abbasia’s mother helped arrange a marriage for him when he was 20 (his father had died when the children were young), but the unhappy marriage lasted less than a year. Abbasia remained unmarried, as did his brothers and sisters. All lived together with their mother and many times, contemplated a suicide pact to end their misery.

Unbeknownst to the family, a secretive underground Bibles for Mideast church met regularly not far from them. The local believers had learned of the family’s plight, and while in prayer a few weeks ago, two of the church’s couples felt the strong, clear urging of the Holy Spirit to visit them. On top of the Covid restrictions in place across Oman, the family’s isolation due to their skin disease meant they rarely had visitors. Locals stayed away even in normal times, believing the family to be under some kind of curse.

Keeping Covid protocols but unfazed by skin disease, the four evangelists managed to convey to family members inside the house that they were there to pray for them.  When Abbasia came to the door, they tried to better explain why they were there.

“Our Lord and Mighty Healer Jesus Christ, who was crucified, died and then rose from the dead, will heal you all from this disease,” one of them announced.

"We have all suffered from this big curse of incurable disease since childhood!” Abbasia shouted angrily at them. “I beg of you not to bring more curses from your crucified Jesus! Get away from here! Please, allow us to die in peace.”

The visitors longed to explain Jesus more fully to the family, but Abbasia forbade it. He slammed the door shut, and the believers reluctantly headed back through the property’s entry gate.

Pray for God’s children in Oman [photo: Dan Goodine]

Soon, however, they noticed they had been secretly followed by Abbasia’s sister Mohsina*. She clearly had something to ask the visitors.

Could they have a short, quiet prayer for her and her family without letting them know about it, she wondered aloud …  and of course the Christians agreed  One prayed briefly over her, another gave her a gospel leaflet, and off she went back through the gate and into the house.

She slept wonderfully all night, unheard of for anyone in her family. Waking early, she reached for the gospel tract one of the visitors had given her. She decided to call the pastor’s number on the back of the leaflet, and reported to him how well she had slept and how much better she felt after yesterday’s prayer. He asked if she would be interested in attending a prayer meeting with the church that morning, and she agreed. He’d send a car for her, he said, and requested she be ready to leave from their property entrance at the agreed-upon time. Since most in her family slept in till near 10 each morning, no one even noticed her leave.

The small group of gathered (yet socially-distanced!) church members were deep in a time of prayer and fasting when she arrived. She listened intently as the pastor shared a gospel message, then all joined in prayer for Mohsina.

As they prayed, Jesus appeared to come down to her from on high. He touched her scarred, diseased body with his his nail-scarred hands. Her skin immediately cleared, her uncertainty vanished, and her face shone with the light of heaven!

"Believe in Me and be my witness," Jesus told her, then vanished.

Filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit, Mohsina could barely contain her joy. She began to dance as the others sang, rejoiced and worshiped.

The atmosphere at her home had by now become quite the opposite. Family members wondered where she had gotten, and after a thorough but futile search inside and out grew even more concerned. With her physical and emotional distress, they began fearing the worst. Just when they were about to file a ‘missing person’ report with the authorities a strange car drove up to their gate and out jumped Mohsina! But was it really her? She seemed the same, yet entirely new … a beautiful, happy woman they had never met.

Holding a bible, she began to tell them what she had experienced. They listened, but it all seemed too crazy at first. The fact she’d had a good night’s sleep and now, stood before them utterly transformed both physically and spiritually, well, they could no longer deny her story. Mohsina couldn’t wait to tell the pastor! She called as soon as she could and asked if he could a send a car again the next day—this time for her whole family.

The little church, still in a time of prayer and fasting, warmly welcomed Mohsina and her family. It didn’t take much convincing for all to accept Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord. Abbasia and the others noticed no physical changes in their bodies, but held onto their new faith and stayed in prayer with other church members.

By the third day of prayer, they found their bodies completely free of psoriasis. The church had planned four more days of prayer and fasting, so the family of new Christians stayed at the pastor’s house and attended all meetings and bible classes. Early this past Sunday (Mar. 21), the mother, three brothers and three sisters were all baptized at a secret location along the Arabian Sea.

The sun rises on Oman’s Al-Hajar coastal mountain range {photo: Robert Haandrikman]

Please pray for this family and their new church. We expect the persecution to be great, but our God is greater and will, with the prayers of God’s people, bring them all through to an even higher place.

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* Names changed for safety reasons

EXCITING UPDATE: The ‘light of a thousand suns’ shines on Oman!

Life and healing in the Palestinian wilderness

Ahmadi* grew up the only child of a poor Muslim family in Palestine. His father served as a soldier with the PLO (Palestine Liberation Organization) under Yasser Arafat.

While still in school, Ahmadi became friends with a young Christian fellow who regaled him with stories of Jesus. The Muslim boy found the stories of the amazing man Jesus interesting, and had no problem with the idea of him being a prophet—all Muslims knew and accepted that. But when his school friend began talking about Jesus as the Way, Truth and Life … the crucified One whose resurrection opened the only way to Heaven … the friendship nearly ended. True to the faith he was raised in, Ahmadi found the idea of Jesus’ resurrection ridiculous, even offensive. So the relationship endured so long as the Christian boy kept his Bible stories out of their conversations.

Then came the fateful day Israeli soldiers killed Ahmadi’s father. In complete shock, Ahmadi stopped going to classes. As an only child, he felt obligated to find a day-laborer job so he and his mother could afford to live and eat.

His hatred of Jews grew after the death of his father, and hearing that Christians around the world supported Israel, he began to detest them as well.  

Palestinian demonstrators burn an Israeli flag during a rally in central Gaza city, Oct. 13, 2000: AP Photo

When he reached 20, his mother decided her son should have a wife and took it upon herself to find him one. They married but remained childless, Ahmadi continuing to support his mother until her death by breast cancer.

About a month ago, attempting to cross a road while carrying a load of grain, Ahmadi missed seeing a truck veering towards him. The truck knocked him over, and when police arrived, they found him seriously injured and unable to move. They rushed him to the hospital and informed his wife. Within several days, doctors realized they could do nothing more for him medically, and asked his wife to take him back home and care for him there.

Unfortunately Ahmadi’s wife had neither the love nor inclination to help him. He lay untended, covered in bedsores, his injuries oozing puss and the bed increasingly soiled by his own excrement.

One night, his wife and two of her friends took Ahmadi from his bed, rolled him up in a mat, and brought him to a deserted area where they left him to die.

All Ahmadi knew at that point was unbearable thirst. He begged for water, but no one was there to hear or answer. His feverish brain suddenly recalled how the Christian friend from his boyhood had talked about Jesus having ‘living water’; how, however improbable, whoever drank that water would never thirst again.

"JESUS!” he screamed with as much strength as he could muster. “My Living Water, my Savior, give me to drink. Give me to drink. Save me Lord!"

He could barely believe what his eyes showed him next. A stream flowing from heaven to his own mouth … could it be? In that stream an extraordinarily beautiful man appeared, looking almost like a star shining in and from the water. The man had nail-scarred hands and what? A hole in His chest?  He noticed both live-giving water and blood flowing from the hole.

"I am Jesus of Nazareth,” the beautiful man announced. “The Son of the most high God. I was crucified for you, I died, and I rose from the dead. By my stripes you are healed; by my death you have entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. Do you believe Me?"

"I do Lord!” Ahmadi assured Him. “I believe You are my only Savior and Lord!" Something feeling like an electric shock jolted Ahmadi through and through. He stood immediately, completely healed. The Lord and the stream of water disappeared.

Ahmadi knelt down and began to pray. He hardly knew how to form appropriate words, but could feel the Holy Spirit prompting and inspiring him.

Around the same time, a Palestinian Bibles for MIdeast pastor, his family, and a small group of believers had been praying and fasting in their remote underground church. One of the believers felt led to prophesy about “a man who was going to see the Lord Jesus from the valley of death.”  He went on to describe the location, and said they were to go to that place and bring back the man to be God’s witness.

Pastor Jaseel* and his team continued in prayer even as they began their search, eventually reaching the deserted spot where Ahmadi knelt, still praying to the Lord he had just met.

Introducing himself to Ahmadi, the pastor heard more of his story and tried to help him better understand all that had happened.

Ahmadi, not wanting to return to his own home, followed the team back to where they lived. He remains with Pastor Jaseel, learning more about the Lord he now loves and serves, and worshipping Himin Spirit and Truth. Please pray for him, all Palestinian underground believers, and for further guidance from the Holy Spirit.

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* Names changed for security reasons