Pastor Peter Haneef attacked; hand cut off

I am sad and sorry that most of our posts of late have been requests for prayer for our leaders rather than reports from the field.

In a recent correspondence with Assembly of Loving God (ALG Church) President Peter Haneef, he wrote the following when I asked him for news from the mission field:

“Dear Susanna 
Glory to the Lord Jesus Christ 

I’m thankful to you for keeping us in your prayers for our ministry throughout Bangladesh. 

We’re a dedicated team ministering for the Lord among jungle people and among village Muslims. By this time we’ve established 127 house churches and every week they are worshiping the Lord in Spirit and in Truth. The Holy Spirit moves wonderfully and there are many, many people embracing Christianity in these days.
 
I will send you the report when I prepare it. Kindly continue praying for us."
 
He wrote that back on June 10, so I’d been wondering when his report would come … and found myself being prompted to be even more in prayer for him and his team.
 
Today I got this message from Pastor Paul:

”Pastor Peter Haneef and gospel team are attacked by a mob of Muslims in a Muslim village in Bangladesh.

Pastor Haneef was carrying a Bible and was speaking to the crowd. Suddenly a group of attackers came with big butchers’ knives and steel pipes and attacked them. Pastor Haneef’s left hand was cut off and thrown away along with his Bible. The other team members rescued him although they were also seriously wounded. The people brought them to the hospital. Don’t know the details. But I am on the way to Bangladesh.”

So of course, he asks us all to be in prayer for this brave man of God and his team. Let's also pray for a safe and successful trip for Pastor Paul.

As ever, we cherish and in fact cannot function without your prayerful support of this ministry. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

May our Lord be your forever Guide, Protector and ever-present Help ....

Bibles for Mideast pastor and family finally to be released from hospital

In our last post (Bibles for Mideast pastor and family hospitalized after brutal attack), we told you the horrific story of a Bibles for Mideast pastor and his family who had all ended up in hospital after a brutal attack by Islamic militants.  

Thanks to prayer and the grace of our Lord, all are now doing vastly better. The youngest, two-year-old Hannah, seems to have suffered the worst injuries—her little body grabbed viciously from her mother’s arms and thrown away during the attack. She had to be readmitted to the ICU, but a week later was shifted to her mother’s room.

While some internal injuries have yet to be completely healed, doctors plan to discharge the family of six this coming Saturday. This is in fact the second hospital they have been in, having to be moved since ‘infiltrators’ had interfered with their receiving proper care at the first.

The attackers had also destroyed the family’s home, which members of the pastor’s congregation have been busily rebuilding. Even some neighbouring Muslim families have joined in the reconstruction. They had visited the family in the hospital, and Pastor Surcaf and his wife had shared with them the gospel of Jesus and His everlasting love. So most now fully support the pastor, many having even ‘switched sides’, now placing their faith in the living Lord Jesus. While the Imam and other of the local mosque’s authorities are far from pleased, so far there has been no more trouble.

Pastor Surcaf shared the gospel of Jesus with more than his visitors, of course. Fellow patients, doctors and other staff in the hospital all heard the ‘best news possible’ from him … how he and his family turned from Islam to Jesus, and now experience a joyful relationship with God through Jesus—in spite of being persecuted. His message could not help but resonate loudly with all who heard!

Once again thank you for your prayers.

Bibles for Mideast pastor and family hospitalized after brutal attack

Pastor Surcaf, the missionary pastor with Bibles for Mideast who played a key role in our last post now desperately, along with his family, needs the prayers of God’s people.

As we told you in that last post, Pastor Surcaf had prayed for the healing and deliverance of a Muslim man named Bachu, with miraculous results (you can read the story here: Freedom and recovery from both a brain tumor and Islam!).

Bachu had been a key leader in his local mosque, but after his healing and conversion, had quit that position. A few days later, he and his family had taken part in three days of prayer and fasting at the ALG Church of Bibles for Mideast under the leadership of Pastor Surcaf. Then, last Sunday, Bachu and his wife received baptism and attended the church’s Sunday service.

A cross is captured through some ornamental railings in the Fort Kochi area in the state of Kerala in South India. | Getty Images

That, however, proved just too much for the congregation of the local mosque, who considered it a tremendous attack towards the mosque and Muslims in general. So they intended to finish off Pastor Surcaf, his family and his home. The night before last, a group of a dozen or more angry Muslim fundamentalists brutally attacked Pastor Surcaf, his wife and four children, as well as set their house ablaze. The family members are now all in hospital with serious injuries, their home a burnt wreck.

Pastor Surcaf’s tiny congregation are praying and doing what they can to assist the hospitalized family. Please join us in prayer for all of them.

A beyond-astonishing story of God’s redemption!

A tale of the truly awesome nature of our Lord’s redemptive power has been unfolding over the last several months in an area of India along the border with Nepal.

One of our Bibles for Mideast leaders, Pastor Riyaz*, had been brutally attacked while ministering among Muslims and Hindus in East Champaran, India. A mob of Muslim fundamentalists threw his seemingly lifeless body into a ditch after attacking him, leaving him for dead.

But God! Some Christian believers found him lying in the ditch and, noticing signs of life, rushed him to the local hospital. That was two months ago. Barely alive and with one knee damaged beyond repair, once he was stabilized somewhat, doctors replaced his knee.

We have been sending out prayer requests to our subscribers (sign up at the bottom of our CONTACT US page, in the Subscribe section, if you’d like to be one of them) for Pastor Riyaz, his wife, four children, his church, and for his deaf and mute sister who lives with the family.

‘May God be glorified through this horror!’ has been our constant prayer. But, just a couple of weeks ago, the horror got worse.

Many of Pastor Riyaz’s* congregation gathered for prayer

Pastor Riyaz had been recovering slowly but well, learning to walk with a walker, and was expecting to be released soon. Then, in the middle of the night, three thugs somehow made their way into the hospital and into his room. One used the pillow he had been propping his leg up with in an attempt to strangle him, while the other two masked men held tightly onto his arms and legs so he couldn’t move.

The pastor’s wife, sleeping in a bed beside him, woke suddenly from a dream where her husband was in mortal danger. Her loud screams alerted hospital staff, who rushed to the room. The attackers, who clearly had hoped to kill the pastor, fled. Pastor Riyaz’s re-injured leg was bleeding profusely by this time, so he was rushed to emergency surgery.

As he recovered in the ICU, his congregation and many others prayed and fasted, often on-site, for his recovery and safety. And soon, answers to prayer began to be more apparent.

The pastor’s health continued to improve, and hospital management both apologised for the attack and provided far tighter security for him. 

Then the hospital staff—all 250 of them, and mostly non-Christians—began visiting Pastor Riyaz and his wife. They wanted to encourage them after the horrible attack, then would stay to listen intently to the couple’s testimony of turning from Islam to Jesus. Many accepted Lord Jesus as their Savior!

When the doctor came for rounds this past Sunday, Pastor Riyaz asked him a special favor. Could he have a worship and prayer service in his room for four people, to include singing and clapping? The doctor said he would look into it, and half-an-hour later returned with official permission.

So at about 11 a.m. yesterday, Pastor Riyaz and those with him began their little worship service. Ten minutes later, the same doctor and a few nurses came to the room and sat with them for prayers. Pastor Riyaz’s wife put a mat on the floor for them to be seated.

A little while later, a few other staff wandered into the quickly-filling room. A doctor who had just arrived announced that even more were on their way, so he asked that the hallway be arranged for prayer.

Soon about 200 people had gathered in the hall, with Pastor Riyaz joining in a wheelchair. For most of the doctors and other staff, it was their very first Christian worship service. Pastor Riyaz shared some of his story of converting to Christianity from Islam, then his wife both shared her testimony and the Word of God. She relied entirely on the Holy Spirit for the words since it was her fist time giving a ‘message’!

As the service wrapped up, many in attendance shared how meaningful and impactful it all had been for them, and before the closing prayer, each and every one joyfully dedicated themselves to Jesus! Worship continued well into the afternoon.

We are also grateful that hospital authorities have reduced the pastor’s hospital bill by half, and will not charge for his second surgery (done after the murder attempt in the hospital). Yet, as Bibles for Mideast Director Pastor Paul explains, we still need a fair amount to settle the rest of the hospital bills.

If you would like more information on what we do, or how to support us (prayer is most important, and you can submit a request for your own needs), please visit our CONTACT US page.
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*Name changed for security reasons

Important update from Pastor Peter Haneef on attack in northern Bangladesh

We hope this finds you well and with peace in our Lord. Thank you for your prayers and kind offers of help for the pastors and other believers attacked in their underground church by Muslim militants in northern Bangladesh during five days of prayer and fasting.

Pastor Munna and the other two seriously injured believers have recovered and been discharged from hospital. Pastor Masood, however, is still in intensive care, having had to undergo brain surgery due to the extensive damage to his head.  By the prayers of the church. thankfully, he is slowly improving.

Many of the radicals who attacked the pastors and the believers have contracted Covid-19 along with their family members, and two have died. The whole village has been declared a hotspot.

But praise the Lord, none of our church members have gotten Covid-19 so far. They adhere strictly to the rules imposed by the government, knowing they are protecting themselves and others. They also of course know the power of prayer and praise.

The villagers have come to understand the Christians believe in and worship the true, living Lord. Some of them have confessed their sins and accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal savior! Please join us in prayer for the whole village.

Pastor Masood's family is extremely poor. Our church there, which he helps lead, is also small and poor. Unfortunately the burden of hospital bills—about US$7,000—is far beyond their means. We believe our Lord's treasury is so powerful and we look to Him. We humbly request your prayers to meet the hospital bills too.

Christmas and the New Year is coming. We hope a new dawn with the light of Jesus Christ will be rising up everywhere.

May the grace of our Father and the love of Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all.

With love and prayers,
Yours in His service,
Pastor Peter Haneef, President
The Assembly of Loving God (ALG) Church

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[earlier story here]

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