Muslim Woman in Middle East Battles Preacher Online
When a Muslim woman in the Middle East heard a local missionary say on a Facebook video that Jesus is God, she replied with some insulting messages.
Protests Lead to Gospel Advance in Iraq
Samer Jawad joined thousands of others who set up tents in Iraq’s Tahrir Square last year, settling in for months of protests over a faltering economy and breakdowns in public services.
Refugees Plead for Tablets More than Food
Local missionaries had distributed their only 10 tablet devices, used to teach refugee children to read, and a grandmother pleaded and cried for one: “Please, he is an orphan! Please, let my grandson learn to read!”
Iraqi Who Escaped ISIS Fights Coronavirus
After losing his mother and brother in the battle to liberate Mosul, Iraq from Islamic State (ISIS) terrorists, Sami Hussein fled with his family to a camp for displaced persons near Erbil.
Gospel Nourishes Needy Middle Eastern Refugee
A local ministry leader visiting a fatherless refugee family from a predominantly Muslim country in the Middle East was not used to the displaced declining aid – but he was joyful when they did.
One of the single mother’s three daughters had accepted such aid for weeks, but when she had first made contact with the church that the ministry leader pastors, she was looking not for aid but for truth.
She shared how her family had fled their home to avoid being killed but found themselves vulnerable in their host country to employers who tried to exploit and abuse them.
Amid New Disaster in Syria, Hope and Healing
Syria is an economic disaster after nine years of civil war and the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic, and the crisis has hobbled a native ministry as well – even as workers have seen more people come to Christ.
Economic chaos amid the pandemic has forced a native ministry to scale back its number of local missionaries while ratcheting up the intensity of its crisis response.
“As we are able, our leaders continue to distribute food and clothing to those that lack,” the ministry leader said. “Our target criteria: any person that is in need.”
Effects of Beirut Blast Expected To Be Felt for Months
Local missionaries gave out food and medicines and prayed with victims immediately after the Aug. 4 explosion in the bustling Gemmayzeh neighborhood of the port of Beirut that killed at least 180 people and injured more than 6,000.
Tens of thousands of people were injured or lost homes and loved ones, and the effects of the blast are expected to be felt for months, if not years.
“Before the explosion, the people had nothing,” the leader of a native ministry said. “Now they have less than nothing.”
Skeptical Refugees Learn to Freely Receive
The refugee family of a disabled young girl was unable to bring her wheelchair to Turkey when they fled Syria, forcing her to crawl on the ground, but her grandfather refused to let local missionaries help.
Other refugees had told her family that there were people from a church who could help, but when her grandfather heard it, his face was flushed with anger.
“They never help anyone without expecting something in return,” he said. “Don’t begin any type of relationship with them, because they are going to want something from you.”
Outreach in Middle East Shows How God’s Work Overcomes Opposition
A sheikh in a Middle Eastern country sent his nephew to a native ministry’s church to compile a list of names of everyone who attended worship services.
Such a list would be helpful for learning the names of Muslims who might be attending Christian services, names of Christians who were formerly Muslims and names of Christians who might be trying to convert Muslims.
Once known, these people could then be pressured to cease and desist their activities.
Syrian Refugees Find Reasons for Hope In Turkey
Local missionaries delivering aid to refugees in Turkey had never seen an elderly Muslim woman look anything but sullen, so they were curious when they saw her laugh as she talked with a group of Syrians in a tent camp.
The Christian workers asked her, “What happened? What did they say that has made you laugh?”
She told them, “They said, ‘You are always speaking so highly of these Christians, and you’re even visiting all the tents with them – what’s happened, have you become a Christian now?’”
