Going above and beyond with 'bloom where you're planted': hospital miracles continue

We have an exciting, crazy-encouraging update on Pastor Riyaz*! If you aren’t aware of his story thus far, please read our earlier post, A beyond-astonishing story of God’s redemption!

As only God can orchestrate it, the injured and hospitalized pastor’s story has gotten even more astonishing.

First of all, he has been improving quickly (from both the original attack and the attack in the hospital), and if all continues well, hopes to be released next week. The most astonishing part is that his mission work has continued in the hospital!

A few Sundays ago, Pastor Riyaz asked permission to have a worship service in the hospital hall. Since many staff had already become Christian through his ministry, hospital authorities were happy to provide the hall space for worship.

So at about 10 a.m. those gathered—some 300 staff and patients—began to pray. The Holy Spirit hovered and moved powerfully. Pastor Riyaz shared a gospel message from his wheelchair, while his wife conducted the overall service.

One of the hospital’s security staff shared his testimony about the previous Sunday service.  He had prayed as best as he knew how to God for his wife, who has been paralyzed and bedridden for three years. He and his children were trying to care for her, but his income from the hospital work wasn’t enough to manage both looking after the house and his wife’s treatment. In an attempt to support the family, two of his young daughters worked as sales girls in a local cloth shop, but it was still barely enough.

When he returned home after his hospital shift, his children excitedly reported that their mother had been shaking her legs and fingers around midday! The security man knew it had to be around the time he had prayed for her during the worship service. The Lord Jesus had touched her! So he shared all of this with his family, as well as about the salvation possible only with Jesus.

He and his children then joined hands and prayed aloud for his wife. It was really the first time he prayed consciously and knowingly to the Lord Jesus. Since the family belonged to a Hindu priestly family, none really knew how to pray. But the Holy Spirit ‘taught him’, giving him the words, as he prayed.

And then suddenly, his wife stood up from the bed and praised the Lord! As the security guard shared his amazing testimony in the hospital that Sunday, he wept over all the Lord had done for him.

Many others then shared exciting and powerful stories of what they had experienced as well.

So until he is released from hospital, our dear pastor will continue leading people to the Lord as well as powerful Sunday worship services!

Please keep all of these dear people in your prayers. Pastor Riyaz still needs total healing, and all the brand-new Christians need discipleship as they move forward in the Kingdom.
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*Name changed for security reasons

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A beyond-astonishing story of God’s redemption!

A tale of the truly awesome nature of our Lord’s redemptive power has been unfolding over the last several months in an area of India along the border with Nepal.

One of our Bibles for Mideast leaders, Pastor Riyaz*, had been brutally attacked while ministering among Muslims and Hindus in East Champaran, India. A mob of Muslim fundamentalists threw his seemingly lifeless body into a ditch after attacking him, leaving him for dead.

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

We have been sending out prayer requests to our subscribers (sign up at the bottom of our CONTACT US page, in the Subscribe section, if you’d like to be one of them) for Pastor Riyaz, his wife, four children, his church, and for his deaf and mute sister who lives with the family.

‘May God be glorified through this horror!’ has been our constant prayer. But, just a couple of weeks ago, the horror got worse.

Many of Pastor Riyaz’s* congregation gathered for prayer

Pastor Riyaz had been recovering slowly but well, learning to walk with a walker, and was expecting to be released soon. Then, in the middle of the night, three thugs somehow made their way into the hospital and into his room. One used the pillow he had been propping his leg up with in an attempt to strangle him, while the other two masked men held tightly onto his arms and legs so he couldn’t move.

The pastor’s wife, sleeping in a bed beside him, woke suddenly from a dream where her husband was in mortal danger. Her loud screams alerted hospital staff, who rushed to the room. The attackers, who clearly had hoped to kill the pastor, fled. Pastor Riyaz’s re-injured leg was bleeding profusely by this time, so he was rushed to emergency surgery.

As he recovered in the ICU, his congregation and many others prayed and fasted, often on-site, for his recovery and safety. And soon, answers to prayer began to be more apparent.

The pastor’s health continued to improve, and hospital management both apologised for the attack and provided far tighter security for him. 

Then the hospital staff—all 250 of them, and mostly non-Christians—began visiting Pastor Riyaz and his wife. They wanted to encourage them after the horrible attack, then would stay to listen intently to the couple’s testimony of turning from Islam to Jesus. Many accepted Lord Jesus as their Savior!

When the doctor came for rounds this past Sunday, Pastor Riyaz asked him a special favor. Could he have a worship and prayer service in his room for four people, to include singing and clapping? The doctor said he would look into it, and half-an-hour later returned with official permission.

So at about 11 a.m. yesterday, Pastor Riyaz and those with him began their little worship service. Ten minutes later, the same doctor and a few nurses came to the room and sat with them for prayers. Pastor Riyaz’s wife put a mat on the floor for them to be seated.

A little while later, a few other staff wandered into the quickly-filling room. A doctor who had just arrived announced that even more were on their way, so he asked that the hallway be arranged for prayer.

Soon about 200 people had gathered in the hall, with Pastor Riyaz joining in a wheelchair. For most of the doctors and other staff, it was their very first Christian worship service. Pastor Riyaz shared some of his story of converting to Christianity from Islam, then his wife both shared her testimony and the Word of God. She relied entirely on the Holy Spirit for the words since it was her fist time giving a ‘message’!

As the service wrapped up, many in attendance shared how meaningful and impactful it all had been for them, and before the closing prayer, each and every one joyfully dedicated themselves to Jesus! Worship continued well into the afternoon.

We are also grateful that hospital authorities have reduced the pastor’s hospital bill by half, and will not charge for his second surgery (done after the murder attempt in the hospital). Yet, as Bibles for Mideast Director Pastor Paul explains, we still need a fair amount to settle the rest of the hospital bills.

If you would like more information on what we do, or how to support us (prayer is most important, and you can submit a request for your own needs), please visit our CONTACT US page.
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*Name changed for security reasons