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!