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.
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*Name changed for security reasons

The power of prayer and fasting: deaf woman hears and speaks for the first time!

Last summer, one of our Bibles for Mideast leaders, Pastor Riyaz*, was brutally attacked while ministering among Muslims and Hindus in East Champaran, India—an area of India along the border with Nepal. Pastor Riyaz and his family are all former Muslims and so well-understand that faith system. He ministers mainly to Indians and Nepalese, with many Muslims and Hindus having received Christ through his, his family’s and his team’s efforts.

On this particular day, a mob of angry Muslim fundamentalists attacked him, then threw his seemingly lifeless body into a ditch, leaving him for dead [that story here: A beyond-astonishing story of God’s redemption!].

But God! Some Christian believers found him lying in the ditch and, noticing signs of life, rushed him to the local hospital. Barely alive and with one knee damaged beyond repair, once he was stabilized somewhat, doctors replaced the pastor’s knee.

More problems—and excitement—followed during his stay in hospital, which you can read about here: Going above and beyond with ‘Bloom where you're planted’:  hospital miracles continue.

MANY OF PASTOR RIyAZ’S* CONGREGATION GATHERED FOR PRAYER when he was hospitalized

AND NOW, THE EXCITING UPDATE!

Bibles for Mideast Director Pastor Paul recently joined Pastor Riyaz (now almost completely recovered) and his congregation at the pastor’s home in East Champaran.

Amazingly, even some of those who had attacked Pastor Riyaz and his church attended. Tears flowed as they confessed before him and the congregation. The once-disabled pastor then shared the saving gospel with them, and they accepted Jesus as their personal saviour and Lord! 

The group had originally planned for three days of prayer and fasting, to include sharing testimonies and hearing the gospel each day from 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., and then again from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

As more and more people came, the group grew so large Pastor Riyaz’s home could no longer accommodate them. Services were then moved outdoors, with worshippers gathering under the sprawling branches of a huge tree as even more joined in from the neighborhood. The projected three days stretched to seven full days because of the growing numbers of attendees—including the many people from the hospital who had felt the touch of the Lord as Pastor Riyaz recovered (and ministered!) there.

Last Saturday, as the seven days came to a close, Pastors Paul and Riyaz joined with two other pastors to hold a remarkable baptismal ceremony in the nearby Gandak River.

Among the 327 people baptized that day were hundreds from the hospital where Pastor Riyaz had received treatment—including four Hindu doctors, two Muslim doctors, and a number of Hindu and Muslim nurses—plus many others from the nearby Indian and Nepalese communities.

After the baptismal service, the group began making preparations to celebrate the Lord’s Supper—750 people partaking on this final day of their week of prayer and fasting.

As they prepared, Pastor Riyaz’s deaf and mute sister Saira* (who lives with the pastor’s family due to her disability) suddenly stood, vigorously moving her hands and lips. She kept this up for a couple of minutes. While all could see she seemed desperate to express something, they grew increasingly anxious at her inability to do so.

“The Holy Spirit then insisted I go and pray over her,” Pastor Paul recalls. “Holy Spirit is moving on her to say something!” he explained to those gathered. He then asked that everyone pray for her while he went to lay on his hands and pray.

“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!” It only took a few minutes for Saira to voice the name of the one who had healed her! She went on to speak for about 15 minutes, every word either praise or thanks to the Lord.  

Further, she could HEAR herself speaking; she could hear the murmurs of the crowd around her. As she continued in praise, the Holy Spirit moved on and filled every person in attendance, with absolutely glorious worship ensuing.

Pastor Paul then gave the people a message on his heart from the Lord, and went on to conduct the Lord’s supper.

Please keep all of these believers, new and seasoned, in your prayers. And when you pray, please pray for Pastor Riyaz’s church: that they would find their sorely-needed dedicated place of worship.
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*Names changed for security reasons

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