A Christian Aid-supported ministry in Iraq started a church in the city of Nineveh, a particularly difficult region for believers to spread the gospel. Three pastors were killed there in 2006. Church meetings will be held secretly until the situation improves. The first meeting was announced to a select group of people on New Year’s Eve.
The ministry has been the victim of persecution in other regions of Iraq, as well. The pastor of their church in Baghdad received a death threat, and has fled to Damascus to serve the Lord there until the situation becomes safer for him.
But despite the dangers, ministry workers continue their outreach. With help from Christian Aid, the ministry purchased 20,000 copies of the New Testament to distribute in towns and villages throughout the country.
"Our biggest concern was to get through each military checkpoint," writes the ministry leader, "because the guards had the authority to let us in or out of the city or village to which we were going. But the Lord heard our prayers. Surprisingly, the checkpoints were the places where we distributed the most Bibles! Every time we went through a checkpoint, the people there asked for Bibles for themselves and their friends and family. We thank the Lord that we were not searched or held for any reason, but were able to get through without difficulty."
The leader reported that villagers surrounded their vehicle, eager to receive a free copy of the New Testament. In one village, a Catholic bishop threatened to kick his parishioners out of the community if they touched one of the free Bibles. Nevertheless, he was ignored, as many came to receive a copy of the Word of God. The gospel workers also made contact with many people who have started churches in their homes.
Native missionaries rescue Indian woman with AIDS
Zahida, a woman with AIDS in Maharashtra State, received Christ as Savior in November through a local ministry supported by Christian Aid. She has two sons and one daughter, and was living in her mother’s home. Formerly Muslim, she had arranged for an Islamic scholar to daily teach her children from the Quran. Upon discovering that Zahida had become a Christian, the scholar cursed her, and her mother immediately cast her and her children out of the house.
The ministry received a call from Zahida that evening. She told them that she had no place to live. Although the ministry leaders were concerned that sheltering the woman and her children would cause trouble from the Muslim community, they took her in, praying that the Lord would provide them with the funds to take care of the little family. At this point, Zahida was also suffering from chronic tuberculosis.
While under the care of the missionaries, Zahida’s health significantly improved. Within the last three months the ministry was able to provide $1,200 for the care of the family. The children were tested for HIV, and were happy to find that the results were negative. Recently, thanks to the prayers of the many believers associated with the ministry, Zahida’s mother has taken her back home and their relationship has been mended.
While a center for Islamic training, Egypt is also a hub for much Christian outreach to the Arab world. A Christian Aid-supported Egyptian ministry, Think and Do (TAD), specializes in vocational training, and reaches the Fellahin—the farmers and peasants living in rural areas. They comprise 60 percent of Egypt’s population, and are typically uneducated and very poor. TAD is a holistic ministry that concentrates on four aspects of a person’s wellbeing: spiritual, social, practical development and health.
Native founder, Tawfic George, began the ministry in response to his concern about the high rate of unemployment in his country. Born in Cairo in 1937, he became a Christian in 1957 while reading the Bible. Feverishly searching for the truth, he finished reading both Old and New Testaments in 18 days. "I found God in the first five verses of John’s gospel," he said.
The ministry began by giving loans to individuals to start small businesses, and blossomed into a training and literacy center. More than half of Egyptian women are illiterate, but through TAD’s educational courses, many are on their way to careers. More than 1,000 women are currently enrolled in sewing and cosmetology courses.
Other training offered includes ceramic tiling, men's hairdressing, women's hairdressing, house building, washing machine maintenance, electricity, carpentry, house painting, electronics, cooking, plumbing, maintenance of air conditioners and computer courses. Mobile computer training units are taken into poverty-stricken areas. Through this vocational training, many have accepted Jesus as Savior. Once students complete the training, TAD helps them find employment.
TAD’s village workers have also installed latrines and water connections in hundreds of homes to reduce the number of diseases caused by contaminated water.
Through funds sent by Christian Aid, specific programs for widows, children and the elderly have been established. Through TAD’s “Granny Project,” hundreds of elderly people receive regular assistance, including medical care. Each person is visited every month by a volunteer doctor. They have also been provided with basics like beds, mattresses, sheets, blankets, clothes; and gas stoves. Village workers visit to pray with them, encourage them, distribute regular food supplies and check their needs.
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