Hello Sister Autumn,
Greetings in the name of Lord Jesus!
Thank you so much for all your prayers for the work that the Lord is doing here. The Lord shows His mercies everyday and He encourages me through His work. I want to share with you the story of Faisal so you too can praise God and be encouraged.
Faisal, a young man, was a teacher in a village school. He wanted the children in that village to be educated and with the little resources they had he was working hard towards it. He was well respected in the local community. He was also a good husband and a father. Faisal has lived in that small village all his life but he knew there was a big world out there and he had a desire to know and learn more. Faisal had a small radio which he was using to tune into radio stations from all over the world. One night as he was tuning his radio he heard a program in his own mother tongue broadcasted by a radio station from another country. Faisal was completely surprised and when he heard what the program was about he was shocked.
The program was talking about The Bible and about Jesus Christ. How is this possible? In this country this is illegal and the law forbids it. Faisal was very afraid but yet next night also he tuned in to the same radio station. He was afraid another person might know he was listening to such forbidden things so he made a raft and went into the middle of the ocean to listen to the program every night. The programs made Faisal curious, afraid and angry. Yet he also heard about a God who cares and loves and is interested in him personally. After a year of listening to this program he wrote a letter to the P.O Box address given in that program and that is when I first knew about Faisal and the work the Lord has done in his life through the radio broadcast I was doing.
I wrote him back and he came to the city where I live to meet me and the others. With tears of joy I met my brother Faisal. He told me his testimony and that the Lord spoke to him in a dream too. Faisal stayed with us for 2 weeks and during this time he was baptized. After he returned to the village he tried to share his faith with his wife. She was very angry and warned him if he did not stop all this she will divorce him. Faisal was heart broken but he couldn’t leave the Lord. After a year Faisal’s wife divorced him and took the children and left. She also reported the authorities about Faisal’s faith.
Faisal was fired from his job and was arrested; he spent 6 months in jail and was released after lashes. The whole village turned against him and he was not allowed to see his children. He came to the city to stay with us for some time. We gathered and prayed and fasted and asked the Lord to help. During the 2 months he was with us the Lord opened a door. We found a company who was interested in helping small scale farming. We approached them and Faisal was able to start a farm in his village. Faisal worked by himself day and night and when the crop came even the company who helped was amazed. The whole village started depending on Faisal’s farm for their daily vegetables. The Lord blessed Faisal’s work and gave him acceptance and respect among the community. Faisal was asked by the company to advise and help others to start similar farms in villages. He is also able to see his children and spend time with them.
The Authorities keep a close watch on Faisal; it is hard for him to hide his bible or meet others for prayer. Please pray for:
Safety for FaisalHis wife’s heart will become soft towards the Lord.His children will not suffer prejudice because of his faith.
Thank you so much for your prayers for me and the ministry here. You are an encouragement for me and I thank the Lord for you.
In His Grace
Miriam
