Encounter with a ferocious tiger ... and then with Jesus!

Five members of a Bibles for Mideast team—including our dear Pastor Paul—have just returned from spending a week of prayer and fasting in the jungle home of a fellow we’ll call Omar*, who had lost one of his legs in a vicious tiger attack.

Omar and some of his friends had headed out into the deep jungle to hunt, as they often did, for animals, birds, wild honey and various edible fruits. Some of their bounty would help feed their families, the rest they sold in nearby villages and towns.

On this fateful day, however, a fiercely aggressive tiger leapt out of hiding and attacked the hunters, killing one and seriously injuring Omar. Forest rangers on duty managed to rescue Omar, rushing him to the nearest hospital where medics did all they could to help and stabilize him, but, unfortunately, could not save his tattered leg.

One of those rescuing forest rangers ‘just happened’ to be an ALG church member (Assemblies of Loving God, or ALG, being the umbrella group of Bibles for Mideast churches) as well as a volunteer evangelist with Bibles for Mideast. So he prayed for and with Omar, telling him Jesus is the mighty Savior and Healer. While Omar did not accept the words of the forest ranger about Jesus and stuck instead to his Islamic faith, he kept quiet since the ranger was so good and helpful to him.

When Omar shifted to his home from the hospital, the same forest ranger often visited him for prayer and further sharing of the gospel. Omar’s wife and children joyously came to faith in Jesus, but soon became concerned when Omar began expressing his desire to die and end all his pain and discomfort. Only because of the family’s interest and insistence did the team decide on their ‘mission trip’ to their jungle home.

In spite of heavy rains, thunder and lightning for the entirety of the team’s stay, Pastor Paul calls the trip “tremendous.” Omar’s family’s home is, according to Pastor Paul, “a muddy house with grass roofing and no facilities to stay five people, not even bathroom facilities.”

Still, he says, “we enjoyed everything because of the love of Jesus.” Many in the area, both Hindus and Muslims, joined them for the times of prayer and fasting.

During one of those sessions, the Lord Jesus touched Omar palpably, giving him tremendous relief from pain and uneasiness. Now he could sit straight up in his bed! Since the tiger attack and the loss of his leg he had been completely prone in bed but now, for the first time, he could sit up comfortably.

With the supernatural relief came a solid and certain faith in Jesus. Further, hundreds of jungle people who attended the sessions came to faith in Jesus as well.

On the final day of prayer and fasting, 27 believers received baptism. Praise be to God as He adds daily to His Kingdom!

Please pray for these people. Pray as well that Omar can soon be fitted with an artificial leg, and that these many new believers find a place for meeting, worship and prayer.
____________
*Name changed for security reasons

From the inimitable Max Lucado . . . the W-E-L-L prayer

Best-selling author Max Lucado shares a simple but powerful prayer he calls ‘The W-E-L-L Prayer’:

"The prayer outlines four essential fluids for soul hydration: God's work, God's energy, His lordship, and His love. You'll find the prayer easy to remember. Just think of the word W-E-L-L.

"Lord, I come thirsty. I come to drink, to receive. I receive your Work on the cross and in your resurrection. My sins are pardoned, and my death is defeated.

“I receive your Energy. Empowered by your Holy Spirit, I can do all things through Christ, who gives me strength.

“I receive your Lordship. I belong to you. Nothing comes to me that hasn't passed through You.

“And I receive Your Love. Nothing can separate me from Your love."

— Max Lucado

Best-known as an author, Lucado has preached at Oak Hills Church in Texas since 1988, and he and his wife served as missionaries in Brazil for five years prior to that.

Lucado says the goal is to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ. He believes secularism has ruined the lives of many, many people, and it's time for Christians to desperately intercede for more of the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit to heal hearts and change lives. 

As a writer, Max is known for combining poetic storytelling and homespun humor with the heart of a pastor. His books have sold more than 145 million copies in over 50 languages worldwide.

All of his many trade books began as sermon series at Oak Hills Church, and his sermons all begin with Max asking himself this question: “What can I say on Sunday that will still matter on Monday?”

Suffering + on + the + CROSS

By Pastor Paul, Director, Bibles for Mideast

Many people don't really understand all the pain and suffering our Lord Jesus Christ went through for us. While we can never fully comprehend, here is what we do know. Because of its brutality, only the absolute worst offenders of the law received a sentence of crucifixion: thieves, murderers, and rapists would be the types of creeps who got crucified. Yet, in our biblical story, Jesus is crucified between two hardened criminals. WHAT did Jesus do? Did He murder anyone? Did He steal anything? The answer as we all know is NO! Jesus did absolutely nothing to deserve this type of death, yet he went willingly to his own death, between two thieves, so that we might be saved. So there, between the sinners, was our slain savior.

So we know it was brutally horrible, but how did it affect the person crucified? According to a medical practitioner, we can know the following.

Based on a drawing by Charlie Mackesey

The cross is first placed on the ground, and the exhausted man is quickly thrown backwards, his shoulders against the wood. A Roman soldier would feel for the depression at the front of the person’s wrist, then drive a heavy, square wrought-iron nail through the wrist and deep into the wood. He would quickly move to the other side and repeat the action, being careful not to pull the arms too tightly so as to allow some flex and movement. The cross is then lifted up into place. The left foot is pressed backwards against the right foot, and with both feet extended, toes down, a nail is driven through the arch of each, leaving the knees flexed. The victim is now crucified.

As he slowly sags down with more weight on the nails in the wrists, excruciating fiery pain shoots along the fingers and up the arms to explode in the brain: the nails in the wrists are putting pressure on the median nerves. As he pushes himself upward to avoid this stretching torment, he places the full weight of his body on the nail through his feet. Again he feels the searing agony of the nail tearing through the nerves between the bones of his feet. As his arms fatigue, cramps sweep through his muscles, knotting them with deep relentless, throbbing pain. With these cramps comes the inability to push himself upward to breathe. Air can be drawn into the lungs but not exhaled. He fights to raise himself in order to get even one small breath.

Finally, carbon dioxide builds up in the lungs and the blood stream, and the cramps partially subside. Spasmodically, he is able to push himself upward to exhale and bring in life-giving oxygen. Hours of limitless pain, cycles of twisting, joint-wrenching cramps, intermittent partial asphyxiation, searing pain follow, as tissue is torn from his lacerated back as he moves up and down against the rough timber.

Then yet another agony begins: a deep, crushing pain deep in the chest as the pericardium slowly fills with serum and begins to compress the heart. It is now almost over; the loss of tissue fluids has reached a critical level. The compressed heart is struggling to pump heavy, thick, sluggish blood into the tissues; the tortured lungs are frantically gulping in small breaths of air. He feels the chill of death creeping through his tissues and finally … he allows his body to die. Consider this: the Bible records the whole agonizing process with the simple words: "and they crucified Him" (Mark 15:24).

What a beyond-painful experience our Lord Jesus went through on the cross for our salvation! Marvelous all-encompassing LOVE it is!

SEVEN VERSES ON THE CROSS

1. “Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).

2. “Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise’ ” (Luke 23:43).

3. “When Jesus saw his mother there, and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to her, ‘Woman, here is your son,’  and to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ From that time on, this disciple took her into his home. (John 19:26-27).

4. “And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, ‘Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?’ That is to say, ‘My God, my God, why have You forsaken me?’ ” (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34).

5. “Later, knowing that everything had now been finished, and so that Scripture would be fulfilled, Jesus said, ‘I am thirsty.’ ” (John 19:28)

6. “When he had received the vinegar, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit” (John 19:30).

 7. “Jesus called out with a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.’  When he had said this, he breathed his last” (Luke 23:46).

Pastor and young Muslim have brilliant discussion on their separate belief systems: who's is wrong?

Christianity and Islam have much in common, but a few very fundamental differences well-elucidated in the discussion below.

Pastor Cliffe Knechtle speaks with a young Muslim man who asks, "Why is my religion wrong?' and many other q's. I found their interaction so enriching and helpful, and trust you will too.

"Countless Muslims have come and will come to Christ," says ex-terrorist confirming mass visions of Jesus in Gaza

Taysir "Tass" Abu Saada, a former terrorist and once aide to the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, believes revival is already breaking out in Gaza (as shared a few days ago on CBN News). His team and many others, including our own with Bibles for Mideast, know of many Palestinians who have seen the Lord Jesus in their dreams, visions, and even in the clouds.

Saada said he believes hearts are turning to Jesus and confirmed a report late last year that hundreds of Gazans encountered Jesus in their sleep.

"I have a report from one of my team members that 200 Gazans gave their heart to Jesus in one lump sum," Saada expressed. "The Lord appeared to them in visions and dreams and they were hugging each other and rejoicing. [They] realized all of them had the same vision! Obviously, the Lord is doing His work and the believers in the land are doing their work.” 

Ex-terrorist Tass Saada (l) and a refugee family in Gaza (R) /AP Photo by Fatima Shbair

Bibles for Mideast pastors and believers in the region corroborate these reports as they and teams from other Christian organizations work with the many caught in the crossfire.

According to Bibles for Mideast Director Pastor Paul, many report dreaming of Jesus explaining to them the way of salvation, and their responding. Imagine going to sleep a Muslim, and waking up a Christian!

Prayers for exactly what is happening were a large part of the seven days of prayer and fasting for the region held recently by Bibles for Mideast, as reported in our most recent post: The power of prayer and fasting: deaf woman hears and speaks for the first time!

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