The God of abundance! A new church is born, and we meet the most fertile woman in the world

A former Muslim who had been radically healed of cancer through the prayers of Bibles for Mideast believers has helped spearhead the formation of a brand-new Assembly of Loving God (ALG) church in Uganda.

Pastor Mustafa*, already overseeing close to 40 underground churches across Africa, had the privilege of conducting its very first service recently. Holy Spirit moved powerfully, he reports, and the 25 Muslims in attendance all accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

As he traveled back home, Pastor Mustafa and his team decided to visit Mariam Nabatanzi and her 38 children to tell them the wonderful Truth of the gospel. [You may have heard about Miriam, known as the most fertile woman in the world, and just happening to live not far from the new church plant.**]

Born into a Muslim family, Mariam was married off at 12 to a 40-year-old. By the time she was 13, she had her first set of twins and in the years that followed, gave birth 14 more times—including six sets of twins, four sets of triplets and five of quadruplets. Suffering from a rare genetic condition, by the time she was 36 she had given birth to 44 children.

.Mariam Nabatanzi with 21 of her 38 children (Daily Monitor/Colleb Mugume, 2017)

When her husband abandoned her completely four years ago after the birth of her last child (one of twins, the other died), she was left to raise her 38 surviving children alone.

Mariam welcomed the visitors and soon began to open up about her life. She had found marriage to be a hard journey, she admitted. Her mostly-absent husband would beat her violently at any perceived affront on the few occasions he did show up (usually about once a year, according to one of the sons).

“So I grew up in tears,” she explained. Every waking minute she spends looking after her children and working to earn some money.

When she’d already had 23 children, she decided to ask doctors if some procedure could be done to prevent further births. After an extensive examination, they diagnosed her with hyper-ovulation and advised her against taking birth control pills since that would likely cause her health problems. 

Mariam says she has no regrets, and considers having children a blessing from God. The only thing that upsets her is seeing her children grow up without a father; most do not even know what he looks like. The only role he took in raising them had been naming them—and that often by phone.

Still, she doesn't feel sorry for herself.  She has dedicated her life to loving and caring for her children, providing for them as best she can with whatever is available. Food proves of course the largest expense for the family, who live crowded together in four ramshackle buildings. They wear old, tattered clothes and often go barefoot.

One of Mariam Nabatanzi's son's carries a meal at their family home (REUTERS/James Akena)

"Do you know who Mariam was?" Pastor Mustafa asked.

"Yes" she answered. "She was the virgin mother of Prophet Jesus." [Muslims know Jesus’ mother as Mariam or Maryam, and consider her—the only woman mentioned by name in the Koran—to be one of the most important women to have ever lived—Ed.]

"Why was Jesus born of the virgin Maryam?" he asked her. She had no answer.

The pastor went on to tell her how Jesus, Son of the Most High God, was the only person ever to have been born, and to have lived, without sin.

“All others, including you and me, have sin throughout our lives,” he explained.

“And with sin, we cannot go to heaven. A sinful man cannot bear or remove the sin of others. But Jesus, a sinless man, took away the sin of all humanity by His crucifixion on the cross of Calvary. He died and rose from the dead. Jesus redeemed us by His death on the cross. If we believe in Him, we will get salvation.”

Mariam with two of her children (Bibles for Mideast/Pastor Mustafa)

Mariam and the children listened carefully. Pastor Mustafa gave them a sample gospel of St. Luke and urged them to read it. He then prayed for them, and they all sat quietly and seemed to be receiving. While none were open to making decisions to follow Jesus, he feels certain the seed of God’s Word has been sown in their hearts.

Before leaving, he gave them a donation to help with maintaining the family. Please pray that the seed planted by Pastor Mustafa takes root and grows by the Holy Spirit, and that Maryam and all her children come to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior.  

Please also pray for the new underground ALG church started very near Maryam’s home in Uganda. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this ‘village within a family’ finds themselves there soon!

____________________________
* Pastor Mustafa oversees approximately 40 underground Assembly of Loving God (ALG) house churches all across Africa. You can read more about his powerful but dangerous ministry in these earlier posts: New African church under threat from Islamic extremists and NEW LIFE: from Islam, and from death itself.  
**  An African newspaper ran a story on Miriam several years ago, as did Reuters last year.  

Exciting 2019 highlights for the ministries of Bibles for Mideast

(with reporting from Pastor Peter Haneef, President, Assembly of Loving God)

We cannot thank God and our faithful supporters enough for enabling a brilliant year for Bibles for Mideast and its umbrella organization, the Assembly of Loving God.

Twenty-eight new Assembly of Loving God underground house churches were established, seven in Africa (three in Somalia alone), eleven in the Middle East and ten in other parts of south Asia.

Jungle baptismal ceremony

Most excitingly, a grand total of 9,622 people were baptized! 7,932 found freedom from Islam, with the remainder escaping Hinduism, Buddhism and local tribal belief systems. Several thousand more prepare for baptism at this writing. The picture here shows a baptismal ceremony held for new believers at one of our Indian jungle churches several months ago. More recently, on New Year’s eve, over 50 new Christians from various faiths were baptized at a challenging site near another jungle church (Saved from witchcraft ... and crocodiles ... in the Indian jungle).

Pastor Kumar organised and led this month's hospital prayer meeting on January 10, with over 1,000 people in attendance. This is the hospital where he had been taken after the brutal attack on his church and its members last September (that story here).

cHRISTIAN MEETING IN THE hiNDU HOSPITAL

A number of students and hospital workers shared their testimonies, with many doctors and other staff, even the Managing Director of the hospital, filling the auditorium to capacity. Some nursing students reported that even though their parents opposed their reading the Bible, they continued to do so secretly. And every single new attendee accepted Jesus as Savior and Lord (apologies for the low-resolution photo)!

Rebuilding after Indian mudslides

The ministry continues its work helping a number of families who lost their homes during the 2018 flood and landslides in India. Two houses have been completed and the keys handed over to families while several other homes are still being built. Unfortunately a lack of funds has slowed the work.

Our church in Iran faces severe persecution. One woman, actually a member of the late Ayatollah Khomeini’s family, accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior! After prayer with some of our workers, her cancer vanished and soon, she joined the KIngdom of Jesus. Local Muslims have made attempts on her life. She, other believers and the Bibles for Mideast pastor there live under constant threats of death. But our Lord has kept them safe.

Once again, we thank you for your prayers and financial support … please keep it up. We cannot do any of this without the help of you and God’s people everywhere.

If you feel led to support us in our efforts to reach the lost in many areas restricted to the Gospel, please click here.
As ever, we especially cherish your prayers.

UPDATE on church members brutally attacked … and more former Muslims baptised

By Pastor Peter Haneef

I thank you for your prayers and support for Pastor Kumar and three of his church members who were brutally attacked by Hindu militants almost a month and a half ago. Pastor Kumar remains in hospital, and the other three were discharged recently.

They are all very poor, so other local church families have been helping their families and Pastor Kumar's family as well with their daily needs. They also did as much as they could to settle the hospital bills. With the help of our other churches and our generous partners, we have managed to cover the rest of the expenses.

By God's grace, Pastor Kumar continues to recover from his injuries and may be discharged from hospital by the end of this week. He has undergone two surgeries, one a major procedure on his back. Doctors were not certain he would be able to out of bed afterwards. But now, he has begun walking slowly with his wife’s assistance. The doctors themselves report this is a miracle! Of course we know it is because of your prayers that our Lord touched his backbone and healed him as a witness to His glory.

Please pray for him that our Lord may give him more courage and strength to labor in His Vineyard, witness for Him, and win more souls for His Kingdom. Pray also for his family and all the members of his church. 

Many of the local people who were against the church and ministry are now attending the prayer meetings and worship services. Please pray for them, and also for the conversion of the attackers. 

Ninety-four former Muslims were baptized in the Middle East last week. Pray for them and their families. So far this year, thousands of former Muslims have been baptized not only in the Middle East, but in our Asian and African churches as well.

Baptismal ceremony in the Indian Ocean by African ALG Church

This past Sunday, Pastor Mustafa baptized 22 former Muslims in Somalia in Africa. Others are also preparing for baptism there. Even more people are getting ready for baptismal services in Pakistan, which will probably happen next week. Please be in prayer for all of them.

94 former Muslims baptised in dramatic Arabian Sea ceremony!

94 former Muslims praising God in the Arabian Sea [photo: Bibles for Mideast]

[Oct. 26, 2019] By God's grace, several Middle Eastern pastors of the Assembly of Loving God (ALG) churches of Bibles for Mideast baptised 94 former Muslims in the Arabian Sea early yesterday morning!

The pastors and believers had all fasted and prayed for the Lord's guidance and protection over the three days leading up to the service. Going 72 hours without food or drink, they feasted only on the Word of God.  

Very early yesterday, they travelled by six buses to the shore of the Arabian Sea. God blessed them by providing ex-pat evangelical Christians as drivers, all promising to keep the journey and baptisms secret for the safety of the believers and churches.

The sea had been churning violently since the evening before, inciting fear in some of those to be baptised. How could they safely get in with such massive waves crashing in?

Before beginning the service, all joined hands as the pastors led in prayer. As soon as they finished, the sea calmed, the waves completely subsided. The people looked up in awe to see unusual illumination from above. Pastors and candidates approached the shore praising the Lord of Creation and salvation. As they proceeded with the ceremony, the Holy Spirit moved powerfully among them.

When all had headed back to shore after the baptism and the final prayers concluded, giant waves began to swell and crash in again. As mysteriously as it had appeared, the glow from above the sea also dissipated.  

Returning to their churches bursting with joy, the believers celebrated the Lord’s Supper and only after that, broke their fast.

We know without a doubt that God’s protection and care guided and guarded His children as the apple of His eye. Their time of prayer and fasting, added to the prayers of our prayer partners, moved and continue to move heaven. A great mystery we shall all know the answer to one day!

Thank you for all your prayers and support. Kindly continue praying for the newly-baptised and their families.

Please also pray for all the leaders, believers and the ministry of Bibles for Mideast as a whole for the great task of winning every Muslim to the fold of Jesus Christ at any cost!

Miraculous healing, deliverance and salvations in restrictive Middle Eastern kingdom

Report: Bibles for Mideast and the Assembly of Loving God (ALG) Church in the Middle East

Pastor M, married with two young boys, four and six, works tirelessly and fearlessly building a strong underground church in the midst of unimaginable constraints on what he can ‘legally’ say, do, share, or be in a highly restrictive nation of the Middle East. A former Muslim working with Bibles for Mideast and the ALG, he has an amazing story of his own healing and salvation but we’ll have to leave that for another time.  

Two weeks ago, he completely disappeared. Religious police, after finding a gospel tract with his phone number on it, had tricked him into meeting with them. When he agreed and they met up, they brutally beat him before hauling him off to ‘religious court’.  

"Why did you leave Islam and become a Christian minister?" the judge demanded at his trial.

"I was a sinner and got into all kinds of trouble,” Pastor M. replied. “I also contracted a serious disease and became a dying patient. But the Lord Jesus Christ saved my life. He healed me, and also rescued me from sin and death by His crucifixion and death on the cross of Calvary. He rose from the dead and still lives. I believed in Him and received salvation. Then, the Lord Jesus Himself called me to His ministry. So I am now trying to help my fellow brethren find salvation as well."

ISIS burns hundreds of Christian books in MosuL

The court ordered he be imprisoned for 15 days. He was told that if he returned to Islam, he would remain in jail for two more years and then be in service to the religious authorities in their fight against Christianity. Should he decide not to renounce Christianity, he would be beheaded. It was as simple as that.

The young husband and pastor refused their demand so was sent to prison to await execution, and the horrible torture began.

The judge of the court had two sons of his own, plus five daughters. Sadly, he lost his older son at 21 last year to testicular cancer. Now his second son faced the same diagnosis. Doctors had given up both hope and treatment for the younger boy, so he lay in bed at home in excruciating pain, waiting to die.

A week after the sentencing, the judge woke in the middle of the night to a mighty voice sounding in the bedroom.

“Release the pastor from jail!” it boomed. “Ask him to pray for your son to be healed.”

Not liking what he heard, the magistrate ignored the plea.

The next day, his son’s sufferings increased to almost beyond what the boy could bear. That night, the judge dreamt a ball of light, somehow encasing powerful words, headed toward him. The words seemed to flow from the light as it approached.

"Release my servant from the prison and ask him to pray for your son!” he heard echo through the room. “With his prayers, your boy may be cured and healed."

Surely this had to be the work of Satan trying to misguide his faith in Islam! He got up, read some portions from the Koran, and did a Sunnah Namaz (ritual prayer done in special circumstances). 

The third night, the Lord Himself appeared before the judge.

"I am Jesus, the Son of the Most High,” the man in white proclaimed. “I did die on the cross and now live forevermore  [interestingly, Muslims do believe Jesus was raised bodily to heaven by God, but do not believe he died on the cross—Ed.]. You are needlessly persecuting my servant! Release him from prison. Your son will be healed. And, accept Me as your Lord and Savior. This is the only way you and your household can be saved from hell."

Jesus then disappeared. The judge rose from his bed to the sounds of his son screaming out in pain. Rushing to the room, he saw his wife and daughters standing by the bed, weeping. Overcome, he disclosed the details of his dream. They listened in amazement. Without hesitation, his wife and daughters begged him to release the minister and get him over to their house to pray for the boy. The son urged him to as well.

When prison officials got the unexpected order from the judge, they immediately freed the pastor and had him sent to the family’s home.  

The judge poured out all he had heard and seen, and asked forgiveness for the prison sentence and execution order. Pastor M of course agreed, and was led to the young man’s room.

He began by sharing the Truth of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection.

“Will you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?” he asked.

The sick young man agreed straightaway. The others followed, kneeling down and inviting Jesus into their hearts and lives.

The atmosphere now thickening with holiness, Pastor M began to pray. As he did, all were filled with the Holy Spirit. The boy jumped from his bed and began to dance, praising and thanking Jesus for his total healing! Everyone rejoiced in the Lord, the family bursting with a joy they’d never known.

The next day, the judge took the minister back to his court, this time to release him according to court law. For the following three days, Pastor M stayed in the magistrate's home, praying, fasting, teaching from the Bible and preparing the new believers for baptism. On the fourth day, the whole family were baptized. 

As all this was going on, the pastor’s church knew only that he had been beaten and taken away. They hadn’t heard anything from or about him since his disappearance—when they had immediately launched into a time of concerted prayer and fasting.

At one point, his wife—overwhelmed with the strain of continuous prayer, fasting, and understandable concern—became critically ill. Believers rushed her to hospital where doctors began treating her, and discovered she is carrying the couple’s third child.

She remains in hospital, recovering, but with her husband now by her side. Please pray for them, the church, the believers, and Bibles for Mideast ministry in the Middle East. Further exciting news is that the judge’s son has joined our Lord’s ministry and will be working alongside Bibles for Mideast after more extensive training.

Religious police on patrol in Saudi Arabia

Pastor M thanks all who joined the orchestra of prayer for his release and his wife's recovery.

Please also pray for the next baptism service which he had been planning for his church before being ‘sidelined’. Local fundamentalists may well cause problems and resume persecution of this pastor and the church he loves and leads.