Kita dipanggil untuk berdoa untuk membina hubungan yang intim dengan Tuhan dan berdoa bagi sesama kita sebagai bukti kasih kita pada sesama terutama yang terhilang dan tengah berbeban berat
Yemen is very poor. Most of the population is engaged
in growing grains, vegetables, fruit, cotton, coffee, and khat (a
stimulant-containing shrub), and raising sheep, goats, and camels.
Foreign aid and remittances from Yemenis working abroad are important to
the economy. Once part of the ancient Sabaean kingdom (750 BC-115 BC),
Yemen was later ruled by the Himyarites, Romans, Ethiopians, and
Persians. It was conquered by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century AD. Ministry Obstacles Yemen provides a hostile environment to Christian workers. Outreach Ideas Bridges of friendship and trust are needed with the Arabs of Yemen. Christians can help them in material and physical ways. Pray for the followers of Christ Pray the
few followers of Christ among the Ta'izz-Adeni Arabs will cling strongly
to their faith in a harsh environment. Pray the Lord will protect them
and teach them to fully trust in himself for life. Pray for the entire people group Pray for the Arabs of Yemen to improve their standard of living, find employment and provide schooling for their children. Scripture Focus "He will have compassion on the poor and needy, And the lives of the needy He will save." Psalm 72:13
Pastor Kumar waited with about 50 others who had gathered in the
small church sanctuary. They sat on plastic chairs, waiting for their
name to be called. When a smiling man at the front looked at his list
and said “Kumar!” the pastor stood up and made his way to the front.
After being handed a red leather-bound study Bible, the first copy of
the Scriptures he’d ever owned, he broke into a broad smile. “Praise
God!” he exclaimed.
Kumar’s Bible was one of more than 300,000 distributed by The
Voice of the Martyrs’ contacts in India last year and one of more than
1.2 million distributed worldwide. New believers in hostile and
restricted nations need Bibles to help them grow, and pastors need
Bibles to help them teach their congregations.
VOM has collected the names of tens of thousands of Christians who
have asked for a Bible. When you sponsor Bibles through our “We Know
Them by Name” campaign, VOM will send you the names of those who receive
the Bibles so you can pray for them as they begin to read and share
God’s Word.
Join us today in providing Bibles to believers in hostile and restricted nations.
April 6, 2017 Islamic State militants last year killed a Christian woman identified only as Samira in Baghdaida, outside Mosul.
Some Iraqi civilians able to escape the Iraqi military's battle
against the Islamic State (ISIS) for control of Mosul have not only
avoided death but are finding life in Christ.
A displaced 10-year-old boy in northern Iraq was one of 600 kids who
enjoyed an indigenous ministry's program at which children received
Bibles and heard the gospel. Mahmood decided to put his faith in Christ
for salvation, the ministry director said.
"That night, we asked the kids to go tell their parents about what
they had heard and share the story of Jesus with everyone," the director
said. "Mahmood's father came the next day complaining to us about our
influence in his kid's decision to accept Christ."
The boy's father was upset and fearful of community backlash after hearing his son say, "I became a follower of Christ."
"His father had never heard a word about Jesus, so he gave us the
opportunity to tell him about Christ and His salvation," the director
said. "Not long after that, he accepted Christ and took Bibles for his
wife and two daughters."
Ministries based in Iraq are in ideal position to
provide aid, as they can purchase local items inexpensively and are
familiar enough with local cultures to introduce the gospel along with
relief items.
Other parents also approached the ministry leader with complaints
about their children; they too ended up accepting Christ, he said. He
gave them Bibles, and they told others of the peace and joy they had
found in Jesus.
"Mahmood's father now has a Bible study in his house every Friday at 10 a.m. – the Muslim prayer day!" the director said.
Those stuck in Mosul face a reality that stands in sharp contrast
with those who have fled. U.S-led coalition airstrikes in embattled
western Mosul reportedly buried scores of civilians in rubble last
month. Other civilians have succumbed to months of brutality by ISIS.
Since the campaign to retake Iraq's second largest city from ISIS began
on Oct. 17, desperate ISIS militants have tortured and killed civilians
suspected of being sympathetic to the liberators. Prohibiting civilians
from fleeing, the militants have sent the wounded into streets to lure
into the open Iraqi forces seeking to help them, and they have kept
women and children close by as human shields.
Iraqi forces, including the U.S.-led coalition airstrikes, are caught
in a harsh dilemma. After the coalition forces retook eastern Mosul, an
estimated 400,000 civilians are trapped in the city. ISIS militants are
also trapped; surrounded by coalition forces, with no escape route or
hope of victory, they have ensured that as many remaining civilians as
possible meet a cruel end. Horrifying accounts by relatives of killed
civilians are trickling out daily. Ruins of a building outside Mosul after destruction by Islamic State.
At least 355,000 civilians have been able to escape Mosul and its
suburbs, Reuters reported, citing government figures. United Nations
Secretary General Antonio Guterres last week said the international
community must step up aid to help them.
Ministries based in Iraq are in ideal position to provide aid, as
they can purchase local items inexpensively, know secure ways to
distribute them and are familiar enough with local cultures to introduce
the Bible and gospel along with relief items. They need only funding.
All three camps in Khazar and Hassan Shami are full with displaced
people from east Mosul, the director said.
"Despite the region still being in a state of war, large groups of
displaced inhabitants are risking their lives trying to return home," he
said. "Although this is dangerous, due to living conditions in the
camps, the lack of resources and the cold weather, many are still
trying. We provided some humanitarian support to the displaced that were
in the camps, in the roads and in small villages located between the
cities of Erbil, Dohuk and Mosul, but the need was much greater than our
resources."
The ministry team recently came upon a village of Yarsanis (in Iraq
called Kaka'in), followers of a syncretic religion founded in the late
14th century in western Iran by Sultan Sahak. The director said the team
learned that they had militant tendencies, so the members spent much
time in prayer before approaching them.
They went to the house of the village elder, religious leader Kaka
Shehab, and told him about Christ. His daughter was ill with asthma, so
they prayed for her before leaving him with a Kurdish-language Bible,
the director said.
"The next day," he said, "he phoned us and said, 'My daughter has
recovered, thanks to your prayers. Please, come back to the village and
pray in every house and for everyone the same prayer that you prayed for
her, and give Bibles to every house in the village."
The team returned and distributed 500 Kurdish-language Bibles, and
they prayed for and explained Christ to all who received them, he said.
We pray and hope that all the followers of this religion will turn to Christ soon," he said. "Please Pray."
To help indigenous missionaries to meet needs, you may contribute
online using the form below, or call (434) 977-5650. If you prefer to
mail your gift, please mail to Christian Aid Mission, P.O. Box 9037,
Charlottesville, VA 22906. Please use Gift Code: 444SHM. Thank you!
With
help from a student aide for an indigenous ministry in Jordan, a young
refugee girl from Iraq expresses repressed feelings about atrocities by
Islamic State terrorists. The director of the church school offering
education to refugee children noted that a 7-year-old Iraqi girl had
difficulty concentrating, a common symptom of Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD). Also speech-delayed, she needed a student aide to help
her adjust after the ordeal of escaping Iraq with her mother and
brother. The family had spent a year sleeping on the streets and in
parking garages. “Since starting at the church school, she is a lot
happier,” the director said. “In the classroom she is happy to
participate with the other students. Having a student aide/teaching
assistant enables her to participate without distracting the rest of the
class.” The ministry needs eight aides for eight traumatized children
at a cost of $1,500 per month for all eight assistants – also refugees
who benefit from the employment.
