My Heart Rejoices!

So often when I hear that someone's given their life to Christ, I just casually congratulate them and do not really give it a second thought. Following Christ is the most important decision anyone can ever make and we should celebrate them! My heart rejoices this morning for all of the people who are turning away from sin, and giving their lives to Jesus!

• "During the month of February in the North 24 Parganas district of West Bengal, 173 people have come to accept Jesus as their savior."
• "In recent weeks we have asked you to pray for the Training for Trainers (T4T) meetings that are taking place throughout India. We are praising the Lord for a report we have received from the South 24 Parganas district of West Bengal. Thirteen of our church planters in this district have shared their story of coming to faith in Christ with 168 people out of which 56 of them have also become followers of Jesus." That's exactly 1/3 of the people they witnessed to! Isn't that amazing!

• Witch doctor, Nischal Jai, who was addicted to alcohol, has left his practice and his alcohol after he discovered the love of Christ. At first, there was much opposition from his fellow villagers. Soon, they began to see the power of God working through Nischal and many of them decided to make Jesus their Savior. In December 2010, 300 people gathered to dedicate their first church building to God. This was the first Christian church in the area. God continues to bear fruit through Nischal's ministry and throughout the region. 

Praise God for the all of the people that are placing their faith in Him!

How God Feeds His Children

I just returned home from a three day training class for work. The hosts of the class fed us lunch everyday consisting of pizza, salad and brownies the first day; subs, salad and cookies the next day and chicken cordon blue, rice, salad, vegetables and cookies the final day. Since we were staying out of town, we went out for dinner every evening. There were a couple of days after lunch and then again after dinner where I was so full from eating so much that I had a stomach ache and could not finish the meal. You know the feeling. We've all been there- at least in the U.S.
I am convicted as I write this because there are people in some parts of the world that have nothing to eat and are starving to death. For them, this is reality. This should also be our reality- not that we should be starving to death, but that these people whom God has called us to love, some of them our brothers and sisters in Christ, are starving to death and need our help. For those who are not yet our brothers and sisters in Christ, they would come to believe in Christ because of Christ's love for them    that is demonstrated from our obedience.


According to statistics, more than 2 million children throughout India alone die of hunger every year (6,000 children per day)! I was shocked when I recently heard that people are eating dirt for food in order to quench their hunger! Sadly, the dirt only causes them to get sick and possibly leads to death. I can not imagine! Can you imagine being so hungry that you have to eat dirt? Can you imagine that more than 6,000 children are going to die today because of lack of food?

The United States is the richest country in the world. We that live here should use our resources to help supply the needs of those in need in the U.S. as well as to the poorer countries of the world (2 Corinthians 8:13-15).

Gospel For Asia's Bridge of Hope centers located throughout India and other parts of Asia are demonstrating and sharing the love and the hope that is found in Jesus by providing food and medical services as well as an education to many of the children that are starving throughout these regions.

You can help by sponsoring a child. For just $28 per month, you will provide a child with an education, a hot meal and medical care that includes teaching them basic hygienic practices that will help keep them healthy. Most importantly, they will be taught that they are loved by Jesus and that they can receive eternal life with Him and be saved from eternal death.
 I receive Gospel For Asia and Bridge of Hope newsletters, e-mail updates and just recently a DVD that all tell of how God is healing and revealing Himself to entire villages through these ministries because of the simple faith and obedience of both the B.O.H. leaders and their hearers. People all throughout these Asian regions are putting their faith in Christ because the love and hope of Christ is being shared boldly and courageously despite intense opposition and persecution. There is no question that the Holy Spirit is moving rapidly throughout Asia. There's nothing like it here in the U.S. Many, many people are being saved for eternity because of Bridge of Hope's faithfulness to Christ. As a follower of Christ who is called to share Jesus' love to all the world, will you please consider sponsoring a child through Bridge of Hope? Please visit Bridge of Hope for more information about sponsoring a child and to see pictures, read articles and watch videos of how God is transforming the lives of people through this ministry.


"If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth." -1 John 3:17-18

A Big Life: Faizal- Part 2

Thank you for joining us for Part 2 of the extraordinary story of Faizal from Peter Hone's new book A Big Life. We pray that you will be deeply impacted by this story of God's redeeming grace and unconditional love. Enjoy.

A welcome breeze lifted the fringe of his hair, and he lifted his face and closed his eyes to enjoy the momentary relief from the heat. As he opened them again, he saw a dust devil a little way off, red sand rising and twirling as it danced in circles a foot above the ground, slowly moving toward him. In among the red was a flash of white, and he watched until it died, and a scrap of paper landed at his feet. He reached down and picked it up. It was a part of a torn page of a book, but a very thin and fragile page. The words were printed, very small, but clear. He read it.
   "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
Faizal looked away for a second, and then he read it once more. He had no idea what it was, but he knew it was not the Koran so he crumpled it in his fist, intending to throw it away. But even as he raised his arm to toss it, he knew he could not. He had to finish reading it. Opening his hand he smoothed out the paper and read on.
   "Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy."
Something inside him stirred. Mercy? There could be no mercy for his enemies. Mercy had no part in his recent training. And surely the kingdom of heaven is for the strong, not the poor in spirit. He could not accept this. But as he read the words over and over, he felt their power, and he knew with his whole heart and his whole mind that this was truth. From where did this teaching come?


Some weeks later, he received the call to jihad. He packed up his things, bid his proud father farewell, then left his home. But he did not report to the Taliban because he could not. Instead, he stayed at the home of a close friend, hiding out from hid family, the Taliban, and the world. Faizal was in an agony of doubt. It was not fear that had changed him because Faizal was no coward. No, it wasn't fear; it was something else, something that he did not yet understand.


He carried the scrap of torn page everywhere, and he kept looking at it, reading it, and wondering why it was so powerfully affecting him. What else could prevent him from responding to the call for jihad when it had been his life's ambition a month ago? He finally showed it to his friend who thought he recognized "the kingdom of heaven" as Christian.


A week later, Faizal met with a Christian, a former Muslim, on the outskirts of the city. The Christian was stunned to be contacted by this man who revealed after some questioning that he was a Taliban fighter, and he agreed to meet but insisted that it be in the back room of a cafe' in the Christian part of town. "You can't meet him there. He is a Christian. It is dangerous to trust him-suicidal," said Faizal's friend. But by now, he was focused on only one thing: a small scrap of paper. Faizal found the Christian friendly but unsure of him. Their small talk was awkward, so Faizal took out the scrap of paper and just handed it to him. 
"What is it? Is it Christian?" he asked bluntly.
The man read it then nodded.
"Yes, it's Jesus," he replied.
"It's about Jesus, Jesus the prophet?" Faizal asked, frowning.
"No, this has been torn from a Bible. This is not about Jesus. These are the words of Jesus." The Christian stared into Faizal's face defiantly. "And Jesus is not just a prophet. He is God, and the Savior of the world."


But Faizal was not listening to this. He was thinking of what the Christian had said before. The words of Jesus? The words of Jesus?


Everything seemed to stop. Suddenly, there was nothing in Faizal's existence except the realization that Jesus Christ had spoken to him. He recognized instantly that he had been called in pure love, and then he fell to his knees and cried out in utter despair at the brutal awareness of his own sin. The Christian also fell to his knees, putting his arms around Faizal, comforting him. After some minutes, he led him in a prayer of repentance, forgiveness, and acceptance-a prayer of salvation.


When Faizal was praying later that night, he could think only of the finality of his life that would accompany his new faith. But this was only the beginning of everything, and soon Jesus was leading him to new life and directing him to the work he had for him to do. Soon, Faizal was talking not of death, but of mercy, and directing Muslims to the kingdom of heaven.


Soon, he was serving his God through a ministry named Big Life.

(Exert from "A Big Life" by Peter Hone. Used with permission.)

Read about Big Life on our International Ministries page or visit their website at www.biglifeministries.com.

Also visit our Resources page to order a copy of A Big Life and see other books and resources.

A Big Life: Faizal- Part 1

I just finished reading one of the most powerful books I have ever read. It's called A Big Life: Ordinary People Led by an Extraordinary God  by Peter Hone. The book is about John and Kathy Heerema's extreme obedience to God to live for Him and to start Big Life Ministries and the lives that God has transformed through Big Life. The book is filled with testimony after testimony of how God radically transformed and called numerous people to His service because of His unconditional love for them.
I want to share an exert from the book on the story of Faizal  because it is a powerful testimony of God's love and transforming power. Please join us for this two part series and I pray that it will stir your heart for the lost as it has mine.

Part 1
Pakistan-
He raised the small plastic cup to his lips and sipped gingerly, holding it delicately between thumb and forefinger because the tea was scalding hot, steam rising and swirling even on this blistering hot day. It probably wasn't good tea, but it tasted good to Faizal. When you have just returned to the city after months in the mountain wastes of Afghanistan training to be a Taliban freedom fighter, any tea tastes good.


They had first approached him outside the mosque where many young Muslims were recruited. The clerics told of the fatwa announcing the call to arms. He was excited and surprised to find he was no stranger to them. They knew all about his family's standing in the community, his strong religious education at the Madrassa, the Koranic school, and his strict upbringing as a devout Muslim. They said they wanted him, and they were calling him in the name of jihad. He was to be a warrior for Allah, given the honor of fighting to expel the infidels from Afghanistan.


His father, a prominent Pashtun leader, was so proud. To have a son called to jihad in this manner was a privilege. When the war had begun a few years ago and the Taliban fighters were driven back from Kabul, many had been conscripted to fight; but they were poor fighters, poorly trained, and they were defeated. But now the Taliban had regrouped, they were organized, and they chose their soldiers more carefully, selecting men who were strong in mind as well as body-men who understood the holy vision of the Koran, obedient men with passion who would never accept defeat. 


Faizal became skilled in modern weaponry and in the art of guerilla warfare that has always been so successful in the maze of mountain strongholds that is Afghanistan. He learned to kill efficiently and to hate the arrogant, invading infidel and everything for which he stood. 


He was comfortable handling both light and heavy weapons and many kinds of explosives, most of which he could improve himself. He could blow up a bridge or a railway track in minutes. He was taught hand-to-hand combat, survival techniques, communications, and how to set up spy networks. He learned to assess the weak points in different kinds of enemy aircraft and armored vehicles and to master the weapons that were effective in destroying them. And he learned how to conceal a device on his body if he was ever given the honor of being called to be a suicide bomber. He had no fear of death, knowing that his reward in paradise was assured. He was a Muhajid, a warrior called to jihad.


Now he was back home. He would work in his father's business until he was called again-this time not for training, but for war. He would pray that this would be soon because his purpose and his destiny were rapidly approaching. Faizal knew this because he could feel it in his heart. Something was about to happen.


As he sipped his tea, he looked around this busy, open tea stall. No one paid him any attention. He smiled, wondering how they would regard him if they knew he was a Taliban soldier. His mind drifted back to his training. It had been difficult sleeping five hours a night on the hard ground in a thin tent, a loaded weapon constantly at his side. Some nights he froze, not sleeping at all, and the food had been pitiful.


But Faizal's heart stirred as he remembered the commander's address the day he left to return home. He recalled the set of the man's jaw and the steel in his eyes as much as he recalled the passion in his words: "The infidels are ruling this world, and they are bent on the demonization of Islam. They are terrorists, and it is the duty and the holy purpose of all Muslims to take up arms and crush those who would oppress and murder Muslims throughout the world. They must be killed, slaughtered, and annihilated wherever we find them."


Faizal had wept as he cheered. He was ready to fight, ready to kill, and ready to sacrifice.

(Exert from "A Big Life" by Peter Hone. Used with permission.)

Read about Big Life on our International Ministries page or visit their website at www.biglifeministries.com.

You can also visit our Resources page to order a copy of A Big Life and other books and resources.

Please join us tomorrow for Part 2 of the extraordinary story of Faizal from A Big Life by Peter Hone.