Bibles for Mideast establishes its 500th church!

The ministry of Bibles for Mideast reached a milestone recently, establishing its 500th church in Haima, central Oman. That same day, 54 former Muslims were baptized to become new members of this newest church!

Pastor Paul, Director of Bibles for Mideast, travelled from India to lead both the baptismal and dedication services.  Pastor Peter Haneef, President of the Assembly of Loving God churches along with Pastor Musthafa (Overseer of Africa for Bibles for Mideast),  Pastor Muthalib (who oversees the work in the Middle East),  Pastor Khani (who oversees the work in Bangladesh) and many other leaders assisted in the programs. Holy Spirit moved powerfully throughout the services, which included wonderful worship and concluded with a celebration of the Lord's Supper. 

Because of security concerns in this mostly Islamic nation, the dedication service began shortly after midnight on the chosen day. Everyone then boarded three buses for the trip from Haima to the Gulf of Masira in the Arabian Sea. A police van followed the buses for part of the route, but the travellers were relieved when they saw it turn back. Finally reaching the seashore about 3:30 in the morning for the baptism, Pastor Peter Haneef and the others could palpably feel God’s Presence and pleasure.

“Our Lord gave us a very blessed and bright moon light!” Pastor Peter recalls. “It felt like daylight! The sea was calm and quiet. Nobody felt afraid going down to the sea.”

The baptismal candidates reaffirmed their faith in Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior and were baptised. All then knelt down together, praising and thanking the Lord before returning back to the newborn church in Haima. A worship service with the Lord’s Supper followed, with believers from many different ALG (Assembly of Loving God) churches taking part.

Pastor Mubarak and his wife worked long and hard, facing much persecution along the path to establishing this newest Bibles for Mideast church. The couple spend hours meeting people in the street, sharing their own experiences with and in Jesus, and distributing sample gospels. They often face abuse and beatings.

One evening a man brutally dragged Mrs. Mubarek by her hair through the street. Another time, someone grabbed their bibles and sample gospels and set them on fire. When Mrs. Mubarek lay down on the bibles in an attempt to squelch the flames, she was brutally kicked by the attacker. Even so, midst all the persecutions, the Lord rescued even some of the persecutors as He built His new church.

The pastor, his wife, and the growing flock continued in prayer and fasting as the small band of believers multiplied in numbers and power. When healings began to manifest, even more attended. And so the church was born!

We request your prayers for Pastor Mubarek, his family and all the members of this church as they continue to face persecution. We do remember you in our regular prayers as well, and thank you for your support of the ministry.

Muscat, capital city of Oman. Religion in Oman is dominantly Islam as Muslims account for a total of 88% per cent of the entire population

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Can you help? Please click here: BLESSING Bibles for Mideast

Pakistan faces floods and fears—BUT GOD

“The Lord controls [ is enthroned over] the flood [controls chaos].
The Lord will be [is enthroned as] King forever.”
— Psalm 29:10 (Expanded Bible)

As the devastating flooding in Pakistan recedes—the worst in that South Asian nation’s history and affecting as much as a third of the country—many people’s lives have been changed forever. Several thousand perished as homes, vehicles, animals, businesses and livelihoods were washed away.

Parts of Pakistan seemed “like a sea," Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif pronounced after visiting some of the flood-hit areas.

wadeing through flooded streets in Dadu District, Farid Abad Sindh province, Pakistan [SHUTTERSTOCK]

No doubt you have seen some of the horrific scenes on the news, but we want to share with you just one story of God’s amazing, saving Grace midst the onslaught in one once-beautiful area of northern Pakistan.

The region, known locally as ‘Pakistani Switzerland’, has long been a popular destination for its majestic mountains, lakes and rivers. But homes and properties along the banks of the mighty Swat River proved no match to the power of the record-breaking flood waters brought on by the monsoon rains which had pummeled the country since mid-June.

About two weeks ago, a luxurious, multi-storied hotel by the Swat River quickly crumbled before being completely washed away by the surging waters. Thankfully, it had already been evacuated. The video below shows the moment the hotel collapsed:

Just a mile away, members of a local Bibles for Mideast congregation had bravely gathered for prayer and fasting in a small house.  As the waters raged all around, killing thousands and leaving many more missing, this small home miraculously remained intact!

A helicopter flew overhead shortly after the hotel collapse and rescued the believers taking cover nearby, ‘under His wings’. Flown to the safety of a camp set up for survivors, some soon found themselves witnessing to the Pakistani Muslims sheltering with them about the saving power of our amazing Lord. They know it’s risky, but clearly have little fear taking risks for Jesus!

While we do praise and thank God for protecting His children (Ps. 124), they—as have many, many others—lost homes and belongings. Please keep these precious ones in your prayers, that our Lord would provide all they now need.

The concern as the waters recede is over the spread of waterborne diseases among thousands of flood victims.

The development has forced the government to deploy additional medical teams and dispatch medicine besides providing clean drinking water to survivors, many of whom are living in tents and makeshift homes.

Thank you for your support and prayers as we all do what we can to help.
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Can you help in our work?
Please click HERE: BLESSING Bibles for Mideast

Deep floodwaters in Peshawar city, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, Pakistan [GETTY]

Summer PROGRESS AND PRAYER report: help us keep going!

We apologize for the months of seeming silence here, but want you to know that the mission and work of Bibles for Mideast continues apace. Following is a brief update on some of our boldest and bravest missionaries and their activities. All need prayer to keep going, and in some cases, to stay alive.

As reported a few months ago, our Pastor Ashwin had been hospitalized after a brutal attack by radical Hindus (Hindu festivals always mean trouble for converts from Hinduism: Please pray for Pastor Ashwin in India). After sixteen days in ICU and a week or so in a regular room, he was finally released in mid-May. He thanks all who prayed for his recovery!

Not to be kept down or out—and not that he had anything to prove but God’s goodness and saving grace—our indomitable Pastor Ashwin was soon back in frontline ministry.

In June we got the tremendous report that he and his team had ministered in a small rural village in western India, and the entire village came to faith in Jesus! With your help and prayers we are trying to supply him with the needed Gujarati language bibles for the many new Christians.

Rejoicing unfortunately soon turned to more struggle when the team began feeling sick with what they at first thought was simple stomach flu. Unbeknownst to them, the village they had just spent time ministering in had been in the midst of a cholera outbreak. Their symptoms turned out to be cholera as well, and the pastor and two of his team ended up needing hospitalization. While they were released a week later, by then Pastor Ashwin’s children had also come down with cholera and likewise spent a week in hospital.

Being the prevailing warrior he is, the recent trials have only strengthened Pastor Ashwin’s will and determination. He has returned to ministry with even more spiritual power, proving yet again the amazingness of our ‘upside-down Kingdom’.

Stranded people being evacuated following heavy rains in village of Chhara, Uttarakhand State,India [Reuters]

Intense monsoon rains across India have caused heavy flooding and landslides in many areas. Nineteen of our Bibles for Mideast families lost their homes but thankfully, managed to escape to the safety of refugee camps. With much prayer, fasting and hard work, church members—including Pastor Paul and his family—rebuilt the homes within two weeks. All the displaced families have now returned to their restored homes.

We have two more urgent prayer requests from this past week. Pastor Subhash, one of our pastors in North India, was brutally attacked by extremists while sharing the gospel with a group of villagers. They then handed him over to the police, who charged him with ‘forcefully converting people to Christianity’. The officers refused to allow him to be taken to hospital for proper treatment. It took Pastor Paul three days (while church members prayed and fasted) to get the police to finally release the pastor, who was then admitted to hospital. He, his family and his church are all poor—please pray for them.

Our Pastor Ram Behadur in Nepal has also suffered a brutal attack and been hospitalized. He had actually been praying for the sick, sharing the gospel and giving away New Testaments in a Nepalese hospital when a group of Hindu militants caught wind of it. Enraged, they grabbed him, dragged him outdoors, tied him to a tree and ruthlessly beat him. When someone let the police know, they fortunately had pity on him and brought him back into the hospital. Please pray for this brave pastor, his church and his family. He is still hospitalized.

Please also keep Pastor Paul, his wife Mercy and myself (Susanna) in your prayers. We all have had some health challenges but know God hears the prayers of faithful friends like you.

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“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.”
—2 Cor. 12:9, Berean Study Bible

“I can do all things [which He has called me to do] through Him who strengthens and empowers me [to fulfill His purpose—I am self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency; I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him who infuses me with inner strength and confident peace.]”
—Phil. 4:13, Amplified Bible

SHACKLED: one woman's amazing triumph over abuse, persecution and a death sentence

Our Lord shines brightest in the darkness, as so many of the stories we post here display and trumpet. A new book by Sudanese doctor Mariam Ibraheem—while gut- and heart-wrenching—also proves a remarkable testament to the power of Jesus.

Born and raised in the same Sudanese refugee camp that her mother, a refugee from Ethiopia, had grown up in, Dr. Ibraheem’s life has taken far too many dark twists and turns. Her Christian mother had at 16 married a Muslim man decades her senior who promised to protect her from the horrors of camp life. Instead, he turned out to be an abusive bully who brought the horrors indoors. 

Incredibly, Mariam’s mother did her best to raise her children in the Christian faith. Against all odds in Islamic Sudan, her efforts bore surprising fruit. Young and determined Mariam grew strong in her faith, studied and became a doctor, married a Christian man she met at church, and had a baby boy.

Then, one day in 2013, Sudanese authorities insisted she was Muslim because of her father’s background … which meant she had broken Sharia law by marrying a Christian man. Authorities insisted she abandon both her marriage and her son and adopt Islam. Yet no matter how intensely they pressured her, Mariam repeatedly refused.

Ultimately a Sharia court sentenced her to 100 lashes and death by hanging. She received the lashings, but because she was pregnant her death sentence was postponed till after the birth.

Imprisoned along with her toddler son, mentally and physically tortured, she never accepted Islam or rejected the name of Jesus. She was forced to give birth to her second child while in chains.

Her book Shackled: One woman’s dramatic triumph over persecution, gender abuse, and a death sentence details the young doctor’s gripping story from life under Islamic law, through imprisonment and childbirth while shackled, to her remarkable escape from death following an international outcry and advocacy that included diplomats, journalists, activists, and even Pope Francis.

 “You will be encouraged to persevere no matter the circumstance you are facing and to have faith that God will work it will out as you trust in Him.”
Amazon reviewer, Naghmeh Panahi

Hindu festivals always mean trouble for converts from Hinduism: Please pray for Pastor Ashwin in India

Hindu festivals always mean trouble for converts from Hinduism, especially in increasingly radical and authoritarian Hindu nationalist India. Hindus across Kerala and some neighboring areas of India celebrate Vishu, the beginning of their traditional new year today (the day is celebrated elsewhere but called by other names).

While some prepared for the festival in a home in Karnataka State yesterday evening, they overheard Bibles for Mideast Pastor Ashwin sharing the gospel and his testimony nearby. Enraged on learning he had converted from Hinduism to Christianity, they left with steel pipes to find and brutally attack the pastor. He suffered serious injuries and is now in hospital, desperately needing our prayers. He has three little children. The church where he has been ministering is as rich in the Spirit as its members are poor.

Please pray for Pastor Ashwin, his family and church and our many other converts from Hinduism: that God would protect, guide, and provide for miraculous growth.

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UPDATE ON PASTOR ASHWIN (April 30)

After spending 16 days in ICU, Pastor Ashwin has been finally moved to a regular room and is now able to speak—and praise and thank our Lord! Thank you to all who have prayed … please keep it up, for him and all of our workers.