The Church is Growing in Iraq.
According to Frontiers USA, thousands of people from Fallujah, Iraq, have fled to a nearby refugee town dubbed the City of Refuge and, in the last 18 months, through the work of Iraqi Chrisitans, over 140 of those people have accepted Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
As Iraqi forces now work to secure Fallujah and resume public services, some of these new Christians want to go back to their homes and share the hope they’ve found through Christ.
What is it about the Gospel message that strikes such a chord with Muslim refugees? Recent surveys of new Muslim Background Believers seek to understand what it was about the Gospel that attracted them to Christ. The majority of these new believers refer to Jesus’ own words, ‘Come to me all who are weary and heavy laden. Learn of me, I will give you rest for your souls, for I am meek and humble.’
One such woman is Layla, who, along with her husband and children, fled on foot from the, then ISIL stronghold, city of Fallujah to the “City of Refuge”.
Then God gave Layla a vision of a man who would tell her about Jesus. That man … came to her house the next day and offered to read the Bible with them.
Over several weeks of reading the Bible, the message of the death and resurrection of Christ finally turned their hearts to accept the Lord, and over the last year, they have started up a whole network of about 20 groups of Muslim-background believers, mainly families, who are now studying the Bible together and encouraging each other in their new found faith.
- Give thanks for the Iraqi Christians taking the Gospel to their own people, often in danger to their own lives. Pray for them as they continue to serve God in the hardest of places.
- Pray for the Muslim Background Believers, for their faith to grow strong, for access to Bibles and discipleship material, and for protection for them and their families.
- Pray for those who seek to return to Falujah, for protection, for opportunities to share their faith in that city, and for a growing numbers of Muslims to come to know Christ Jesus as Lord across Iraq.
Romans 1 vs 16: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes”
Source: http://us4.campaign-archive1.com/