>> Urgent Request for Prayer <<

Yesterday, I received this email from a good friend of mine serving in a closed country requesting specific prayer. I ask for his permission to share this with you, and he was all about it. Here is the email (emphasis mine): Dear Partners, I would like to request special prayer for some friends of mine during the month of October. Though the dates do not coincide exactly, this is the month of Ramadan. In our recent updates you have seen us mention the training of about fifteen former Muslims in our country of service. Of these we have about four that are really faithful. These guys are excited about what Jesus has done for them, and are sharing with others. One of them I mentioned to you has lost his job. Now his family is putting pressure on him. In the words of my friend, "They hate me now." Another has been threatened with force if he doesn't properly observe the month of Ramadan. This month brings difficulties for converts because they don't go through all the outside practices (such as fasting and going to the Mosque for prayer). These men are both heroes to me, and friends. I see in them the joy of the Lord. They seem delighted to go and share even at cost. I praise the Lord for that. If we really understand the gospel, then such is the appropriate response. We are blessed even to be counted worthy to suffer for the sake of Christ. My request is that you would pray for them to be filled more and more with the Spirit of God. When the enemy wants to do his worst God often delights in showing the greatness of His power. May this area of the world never be the same. May Jesus Christ be famous because of these things. And may their witness be more intense now than ever before. Amazingly, two of the four have only been believers for about four months. You can also pray for me. Their is an Muslim cleric in one area who is widely respected because of his strong teaching. He is a powerful man in the community. Some of the believers close to his area are becoming timid. That makes my job really easy, at least in knowing what to do. I have to go and practice what I am telling these guys to do. It is a very remote area, and it will take several days in order to go and come. Pray not only that I would be able to work it out with my schedule, but also that the first time I go down there I would be able to locate this man and share with him. Pray for my language, and that he would be saved. Most of all pray that the fearful believers there would be encouraged. Thank you so much. Only eternity will reveal the importance of your prayers. Wes This dear brother has been laboring in a militant Islamic culture, one of which many believers have been beaten, imprisoned, and killed throughout the years. In recent years, many Muslims have been gloriously converted to Christ, and these new converts and joining their train. For the month of October, I am asking you to pray for Wes and these new believers every day (during Ramadan). While we do not experience their persecution, we can join them in their prayers that their kinsmen would be saved. Here are some verses that come to my mind on behalf of these brothers: (For the new believers) "Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have." Philippians 1:27-30 (For Wes) "And pray also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I might declare it boldly, as I ought to speak." Ephesians 6:19-20 May God use Wes to bring salvation to this Muslim cleric. May these new converts be emboldened by the superior pleasures of God. May their joy in the Holy Spirit be their strength in the midst of much opposition. And may Jesus be famous among these peoples!!!