JOEL 2 GENERATION

There are simply too many stories now to document.  I tried to keep up but I've lost count of the dozens and dozens of people we have been able to encourage, to pray for, to share about Jesus with. Every man I have taken out with me has seen God at work, has seen the gratitude being expressed by people.  We have ministered to many non-Christians, and there has been absolutely no resistance.  Even this morning, a Lebanese Muslim woman was so encouraged when I prayed with her in Arabic. I met an American policewoman who also was from an Arabic background, and got to pray with her in Arabic.  Yesterday, I got to pray for many Persian Muslims.  So open, so receptive.  I got to pray that God would visit them in dreams and visions. Two young Moroccan-American Muslim women were very open to me praying for them and who wanted to meet my wife for further ministry. I think the thing I am struggling with the most is how many Christians who are completely missing the g...

I went out with a close friend to walk and to be "FEAR Extinguishers" - we chose a local area where there would be people and businesses/restaurants/shops open.  And just like it was in the Middle East ("just like" might be an understatement as you will see below), we were able to openly minister to I estimate a couple of dozen people in a couple of hours.  People were incredibly receptive.  This particular city is known as being somewhat hostile to Christianity, but I can honestly say, we saw NONE of that. We prayed for individuals mostly but in a couple of cases, it was up to 3 or 4 people.  One woman, a security guard, began to tear up, nearly crying as we prayed for her and her husband. One restaurant employee who was taking my order named "Jesus", let me pray for his entire family where everyone who had had jobs was no longer working.  Another manager at a large restaurant that miraculously had not let go of a single one of their 85 employees, ...

I had no idea what to expect upon our arrival in the United States. We have been praying for people and ministering to people in the Middle East since the COVID-19 crisis began with a level of openness and receptivity than I have ever seen in 28 years of living around the Arab World. But in my first two days in the US, I have been able to minister to many many people while I am out - mostly employees in stores and other businesses. It all started in the American airport where our plane landed.  I knew immediately that the door for ministry, the door to be a "Fear Extinguisher", was wide open in the U.S. I have found the same level of openness to me praying with them that I found in the Middle East. Everyone has a story, something they. are particularly concerned about and that is always the starting point.  The grace of listening to people!  And then the gratitude when they know they have been heard and their appreciation when we offer to pray for their specific need...

The doors that open every day to minister to people continue.  Many Christians do NOT think it is possible or "wise" to be reaching out in person to people in this hour, and they are just wrong. God spoke to us in one nation to be "Fear Extinguishers" and we prayed for people each and every day.  We went TO THE PEOPLE! We did NOT stay at home. We followed the leadership of the Holy Spirit.  And in 30 days we prayed for a few hundred people all over the country! Now we are in transition to begin "Chapter 2" of this mandate and we are currently traveling. Even in the airports as we have been traveling, from those working to those on the flights, we have been having opportunities to proclaim Christ and to pray for those who are fearful. In one airport, where we had a lengthy layover we prayed for at least a couple of dozen people - from Asia and from Africa.   One woman was so touched that she began to cry.  Her grandmother had been hospitalized back...

On this Easter morning, a small group of us men gathered early in the morning to walk and pray - and along the way, God opened more doors for us to share - this time about the Resurrection of Christ!  For the Arab Muslims that I met who didn't have any idea that today was/is the greatest day of celebration in the world, the greatest religious holiday of all time, I explained that this was the Christian "Feast of Resurrection" (the Arabic translation).  How tragic that this glorious event happened 2000 years ago, and still so many have yet to hear the news!  A couple of the Egyptian Muslims knew about Easter (as they have Coptic Orthodox friends).  They were so kind, so affirming and when I prayed for them, they were clearly touched. When we walked by them again later, they wanted to give us free food (they worked at a restaurant).  I was touched by their sincere appreciation and heartfelt wishes to us on our most important holiday! On the same prayer walk, I ...

One again we had the chance to minister to a number of people in the Name of Jesus.  On my morning prayer walk, my good friend and I met a Filipino Christian man who was waiting in his truck outside of a customer's home.  We had the chance to encourage him on this Easter weekend, to pray for him and to speak about the Lord and His work of redemption.  We weren't rushed and so it was a truly special time with this man who will not be celebrating Easter tomorrow with his church. We got to "be the church" today for him! Later we got to follow up with another Filipino Christian woman working in a restaurant who we had prayed for a week or two ago.  My wife got to pray with her again and since we are breaking our fast tomorrow and getting food from that restaurant, we told her we'd be back to celebrate Easter with her! After that, we got to bless another group in a coffee shop I have been visiting - including a new Italian manager that we hadn't met before. ...

Today is Good Friday and once again our community chose to go out and do another week of "Church on Wheels".  And like all the other weeks, God opened unprecedented doors to minister to dozens of people.  I was with one of the members of our Church and in a 2.5 hr. period us two were able to minister to well over 50 people. In some cases it was one or two on the street, in other cases, it was 6-8 employees in a McDonalds (actually 2 McDonalds today!). For the Christians we ministered to, and we met Orthodox, Roman Catholics, and Evangelical Protestants, it was a time to do "mini Good Friday services".  We reminded them of the death of Jesus and His forgiveness of our sins.  The response was remarkable.  So many expressed their gratitude and one woman literally started to cry.  This has been such a fearful and emotional time for these guest workers in this Muslim-majority country.  They fear for their families, they fear for their jobs and of cours...