How the Holy Spirit Is Encountering Syrian Refugees 2016  Israel, Islam & End Times

“It’s amazing what God has done in the last years,” Sharon said. “Before, we were not hearing much of people coming to faith. Now Syrian [Muslims] are getting baptised!”

Sharon* moved to the Near East nine years ago and now leads an outreach team that helps meet the spiritual and physical needs of Syrian refugees. Her team members provide aid and relief, share the gospel, lead Discovery Bible Groups, mentor individuals and start local fellowships of new believers. Amid the poverty and brokenness around her, Sharon also sees God’s grace at work.

“God is pursuing people,” Sharon said. “He is calling people to be disciples: to ‘come follow me’ and ‘make disciples’, [especially] among the Syrians.”

Each week Sharon teaches English. She is often invited to visit her students’ families, which enables relationships to deepen and opens up conversations about faith.

Sharon met Tara*, the aunt of one of her students, when she visited their home two years ago. A total of 28 relatives lived on a rooftop, including Tara, her husband, Ahmed*, and their four children. Sharon shared the gospel with them and, soon after, two other believers also came to share their faith with the same family.

Tara decided to follow Jesus and attended a Discovery Bible Group. Additionally, she started studying God’s Word with Sharon, while Ahmed studied the Bible with another member of the team. The couple joined a local church and, in July this year, they were baptised.

“It’s amazing what God has done in the last years,” Sharon said. “Before, we were not hearing much of people coming to faith. Now Syrian [Muslims] are getting baptised!”

In the past two years Tara, Ahmed and their children moved nine times, including temporarily living in a one-room apartment with no windows. Despite struggles of currently living with no regular income, as Ahmed cannot find work, Tara is keen to share the hope she has found in Christ Jesus.

Tara, a Syrian Kurd, wants to lead a Discovery Bible Group in the Kurdish language for her friends and neighbours.

Each week Sharon goes to Tara’s apartment to mentor and equip her to lead a group on her own. Together, they discuss Bible stories in Arabic until Tara knows them well and can retell the stories in Kurdish. They are praying for neighbours with whom she would like to start a Bible study.

“When I came, I expected two or three people to come to faith,” Sharon said. “It has changed my expectations to see so many people come to faith and tell their neighbours. God has done it, and He can do it again.”

Increased numbers of individuals coming to faith is evidence of the Lord’s grace at work.

“People are praying for Syria,” Sharon emphasised. “God’s Spirit is moving. God is doing something among the Syrians.”

While acknowledging challenges ahead, Sharon exudes excitement at an opportunity to be part of a movement of God in the Near East.

“The harvest is white. We need labourers. If it’s not you, ask someone else to come,” Sharon shared. “We are only going to reach unreached areas through the people we disciple.”

God is transforming lives and communities, as believers respond to God’s call to share their story of His grace in their lives and make disciples.

Please pray for God to raise up more Syrian believers to serve their communities and make disciples. Pray for OM Near East Field workers to live out the gospel in neighbourhoods in the Near East.

*Name changed.

Exposed: Obama’s Love for Jihadis and Hate for Christians - BIN by Raymond Ibrahim

Exposed: Obama’s Love for Jihadis and Hate for Christians - BIN

By Raymond Ibrahim December 2, 2015

President Obama recently lashed out against the idea of giving preference to Christian refugees, describing it as “shameful.”  “That’s not American.  That’s not who we are.  We don’t have religious tests to our compassion,” loftily added the American president.

Accordingly, the administration is still determined to accept 10,000 more Syrian refugees, almost all of whom will be Muslim, despite the fact that some are ISIS operatives, while many share the ISIS worldview (as explained below).

Yet right as Obama was grandstanding about “who we are,” statistics were released indicating that “the current [refugee] system overwhelmingly favors Muslim refugees. Of the 2,184 Syrian refugees admitted to the United States so far, only 53 are Christians while 2,098 are Muslim.”

Aside from the obvious – or, to use Obama’s own word, “shameful” – pro-Muslim, anti-Christian bias evident in these statistics, there are a number of other troubling factors.

For starters, the overwhelming majority of “refugees” being brought into the United States are not just Muslim, but Sunnis – the one Muslim sect that the Islamic State is not persecuting and displacing.  After all, ISIS – and most Islamic terrorist groups (Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, Al Shabaab, Hamas, et al.) – are all Sunnis.  Even Obama was arguably raised a Sunni.

In this context, how are Sunnis “refugees”?  Whom are they fleeing?  Considering that the Obama administration defines refugees as people “persecuted by their government,” most of those coming into the U.S. either aided or at least sympathized with the jihad against Assad (even if they revealed their true colors only when the time was right).

Simply put, some 98% of all refugees belong to the same Islamic sect as ISIS does.  And many of them, unsurprisingly, share the same vision – such as the “refugees” who recently murdered some 120 people in France, or the “refugees” who persecute Christian minorities in European camps and settlements.  (Al Azhar – the Sunni world’s most prestigious university of Islamic law, which co-hosted U.S. President Obama’s 2009 “A New Beginning” speech – was just recently exposed as teaching and legitimizing all the atrocities that ISIS commits.)

As for those who are being raped, slaughtered, and enslaved based on their non-Sunni religious identity – not by Assad, but by so-called “rebel” forces (aka jihadis) – many of them are being denied refuge in America.

Thus, although Christians were approximately 10 percent of Syria’s population in 2011, only one percent has been granted refuge in America.  This despite the fact that, from a strictly humanitarian point of view – and humanitarianism (Obama’s “compassion”) is the chief reason being cited in accepting refugees – Christians should receive priority simply because they are the most persecuted group in the Middle East.

At the hands of the Islamic State, which supposedly precipitated the migrant crisis, Christians have been repeatedly forced to renounce Christ or die; they have been enslaved and raped; and they have had more than 400 of their churches desecrated and destroyed.1

ISIS has committed no such atrocities against fellow Sunnis, they who are being accepted into the U.S. in droves.  Nor does Assad enslave, behead, or crucify people based on their religious identity (despite Jeb Bush’s recent, and absurd, assertions).

Obama should further prioritize Christian refugees simply because his own policies in the Middle East have directly exacerbated their plight.  Christians and other religions minorities did not flee from Bashar Assad’s Syria, Saddam Hussein’s Iraq, or Moammar Gaddafi’s Libya.  Their systematic persecution began only after the U.S. interfered in those nations in the name of “democracy,” succeeding only in uncorking the jihadi terrorists whom the dictators had long kept suppressed.

Incidentally, prioritizing Christian refugees would not merely be an altruistic gesture or the U.S. government’s way of righting its wrongs: rather, it brings many benefits to America’s security.  (Unlike Muslims or even Yazidis, Christians are easily assimilated into Western nations due to the shared Christian heritage, and they bring trustworthy language and cultural skills that are beneficial to the “war on terror.”)

Finally, no one should be shocked by these recent revelations of the Obama administration’s pro-Muslim and anti-Christian policies.  They fit a clear and established pattern of religious bias within his administration.  For example:

• While inviting scores of Muslim representatives, the State Department is in the habit of denying visas to solitary Christian representatives.
• 
  
• When a few persecuted Iraqi Christians crossed the border into the U.S., they were thrown in prison for several months and then sent back to the lion’s den to be enslaved, raped, or murdered.
• When the Nigerian government waged a strong offensive against Boko Haram, killing some of its terrorists, Secretary of State John Kerry fumed and called for the “human rights” of the jihadis (who regularly slaughter and rape Christians and burn their churches).  More recently, Kerry “urged Tajikistan not to go overboard in its crackdown on Islam.”
• 
  
• When persecuted Coptic Christians planned on joining Egypt’s anti-Muslim Brotherhood revolution of 2013, the U.S. said no.
• 
  
• When persecuted Iraqi and Syrian Christians asked for arms to join the opposition fighting ISIS, D.C. refused.
• 
  
• When the U.N. Security Council held a meeting to discuss the genocide against Christians and other minorities, although “many high level delegations from UN member states addressed the Security Council meeting, some at the Foreign Minister level, the United States failed to send … a high ranking member of the State Department.”

Most recently, as the White House works on releasing a statement accusing ISIS of committing genocide against religious minorities such as Yazidis – who are named and recognized in the statement – Obama officials are arguing that Christians “do not appear to meet the high bar set out in the genocide treaty” and thus likely will not be mentioned.

In short, and to use the president’s own words, it is the Obama administration’s own foreign and domestic policies that are “shameful,” that are “not American,” and that do not represent “who we are.”

Yet the question remains: will Americans take notice and do anything about their leader’s policies – which welcome Islamic jihadis while ignoring their victims – or will their indifference continue until they too become victims of the jihad, in a repeat of Paris or worse?

1 Even before the new “caliphate” was established, Christians were and continue to be targeted by Muslims – Muslim mobs, Muslim individuals, Muslim regimes, and Muslim terrorists, from Muslim countries of all races (Arab, African, Asian, etc.) – and for the same reason: Christians are infidel number one.  See Crucified Again: Exposing Islam’s New War on Christians for hundreds of anecdotes before the rise of ISIS as well as the Muslim doctrines that create such hate and contempt for Christians who are especially deserving of refugee status.

Reprinted with author’s permission from American Thinker

Rick Joyner - Learning From Israel & the Events of Our Times PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVES

Learning From Israel 

& the Events of Our Times

Rick Joyner  PROPHETIC PERSPECTIVES 

Thursday, November 26, 2015

  

In this episode, Rick continues talking about the Syrian refugee crisis. He shares how we can glean wisdom from Israel and other nations in these kinds of situations by paying attention to how they have handled terrorism.

Watch here: Learning From Israel 

& The Events of Our Times

Order here: Army of the Dawn

LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE Editor's Note: Thank you Rick for speaking up and speaking out! We appreciate your stand for truth and saying it like it is! 

Steve Martin, Editor

P.S. I bought your new book Army of the Dawn at the MorningStar book store yesterday. 

Pat Buchanan Calls President Obama's 'Mindset' Into Question - TROY ANDERSON CHARISMA NEWS

Pat Buchanan says President Obama should be outraged over Paris attacks. (Reuters )

Pat Buchanan Calls President Obama's 'Mindset' Into Question

11/19/2015 TROY ANDERSON  charisma news

Conservative commentator Pat Buchanan called into question the "mindset" of President Obama following his remarks chiding anti-refugee politicians as being "scared of widows and 3-year-old orphans."

In an interview on Newsmax TV, Buchanan criticized the president for his remarks lashing out at Republicans who called for barring Syrian refugees in the United States.

"He didn't really show what he should have shown, which was American leadership in the time of a real crisis for our ally in France," Buchanan told The Steve Malzberg Show."He really seems to be letting Republican criticism get to him.

"The president has not handled this at all well, there's no question about it. This was a massacre, a perpetrated massacre, the largest hit on France militarily, lost more casualties than any single incident since World War II. He's focusing on the Republican Party—and he's calling it a setback in the war on terror. You have to ask yourself about the mindset of the president right now."

Buchanan's remarks followed comments Obama made in the Philippines on Wednesday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit. At the summit, Obama make veiled references to GOP candidates who have called for closing the nation's borders to refugees.

"These are the same folks oftentimes that say they're so tough that just talking to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin or staring down ISIL (ISIS) or using some additional rhetoric will solve the problem—and they're scared of widows and 3-year-old orphans," Obama said.

Meanwhile, a growing number of mostly Republican governors have called for shutting down their states to Syrian refugees.

Obama said intelligence agencies vet the refugees coming to the U.S. for up to two years prior to their entrance into the U.S.

"We are not well-served when, in response to a terrorist attack, we descend into fear and panic," Obama said. "We don't make good decisions if they're based on hysteria or an exaggeration of risks."

For a limited time, we are extending our celebration of the 40th anniversary of Charisma. As a special offer, you can get 40 issues of Charisma magazine for only $40!

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Should Messianic Jews Help Syrian Refugees? | David Lazarus ISRAEL TODAY

Should Messianic Jews Help Syrian Refugees?

Monday, November 16, 2015 |  David Lazarus  ISRAEL TODAY

Yoel Shoshani, a Messianic Jew from Jerusalem, thinks so. He went to see for himself and shared the following eyewitness account.

The full article appears in the November 2015 issue of Israel Today Magazine.
CLICK HERE to read it all

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Messianic Jews, Christian Arabs Reach Out to Syrian Refugees

Messianic Jews, Christian Arabs Reach Out to 

Syrian Refugees

Tuesday, October 14, 2014 |  David Lazarus  ISRAEL TODAY

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A team of Israeli Messianic Jews and Arab Christians have been assisting Syrian war refugees. The group recently visited a church where 219 refugees families (over 700 people) were taking shelter after fleeing from ISIS and other Islamist groups.

“These people lost everything,” says one member of the Israeli group, whose names need to be protected. “They even saw family members murdered or kidnapped.”

The Arab and Jewish team are working together with local Christians who are doing what they can to care for the needs of the multitudes of children who have been devastated by the war. The team brought a large financial gift from the Body of Christ in Israel, Jews and Arabs who wanted to reach out to the Syrians in a practical way.

“We brought milk for children, diapers, jackets, warm clothes, toys and candy; we purchased heaters and blankets, small cooking stoves and cooking pans. What a joy to see the faces of the young ones that walked around barefoot, having lost everything, receiving new sandals,” the team member recalls.

In addition to the practical humanitarian needs, they are also supporting educational opportunities for the multitudes of displaced children, including Bible teachings. “We do not want to pass the pain to our children,” said a local Arab Christian working with the refugees.

Many of the refugees the team has helped are educated people with good professions who lost everything. They told us about Mohammed (not his real name), a successful businessman originally from the Syrian side of the Golan Heights.

The Israeli team recounted Mohammed’s own story, which is representative of thousands of Syrian refugees, thus:

"Due to the war, he had to relocate several times during the past 3 years, but eventually had to run for his life with his family to Jordan. While attending a funeral of one of the young men from his village with 3000 people, a missile hit the crowd and Mohammed found himself lying over the dead bodies of 403 people, 15 of them members of his extended family.

"Mohammed, his 4 daughters and 3 sons, a daughter-in-law and several grandsons then walked the cold desert to cross into Jordan, all while facing death threats. [During the journey], some of their number were killed by wild animals. A pregnant woman had to deliver her baby in the freezing cold desert. They burned their jackets to make a fire to keep the new born baby warm. Hope was waning.

Desperately, Mohammed left his family alone in the dark, cold desert and walked for five hours until he reached a Jordanian army border post, which provided assistance bringing his family into the country. A month later, we visited the family and brought them jackets to replace those they had burned. We shared the Gospel with them and prayed for the family.

The team also visited a church that was filled with refugees, reporting:

“They slept in the pews, offices and every available place. The church has rented a wedding hall for the people to live in. What dedicated people that understand what is happening is an opportunity rather then a curse! We were able to help with medications for a medical team that travels and takes care of refugees in different places.”

At one point, several refugees became angry when a team member identified as a Messianic Jew began to speak to them. “But then I saw many people getting touched and crying,” said the Messianic believer. “Many of the people came and said, 'When you first started to share, we wanted to kill you, but now we know that Jesus is real and want to accept Him as our Lord.'”

“I’ve never seen a church full of Muslim women wearing the hijab,” said the Israeli team leader.“We could see the joy in the eyes of frightened children as we ministered to them. We saw hunger for the truth as people started to question Islam.”

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Israel Messianic Leader Aids Syrian Refugees

Monday, May 19, 2014 |  Israel Today Staff  

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Israeli Messianic leader Moti Cohen recently traveled to neighboring Jordan with a group of fellow Jewish and Arab believers to provide aid to the over half-a-million Syrian refugees who have gathered there.

Cohen serves on the pastoral staff at Tiferet Yeshua Congregation in Tel Aviv together with Ron Cantor, who published Cohen’s report on his blog over at Messiah’s Mandate.

In the report, Cohen states that “the evil in the Muslim world is overwhelming. What is happening in Syria unveils its true face.”

He is also quick to point out that the classic “good guy – bad guy” dichotomy does not exist in Syria. “Both the Islamic rebels and Assad’s army kill everybody in their way,” says Cohen, after meeting with countless refugees, many of them children.

But the unbelievably tragic situation does have a silver lining, as Cohen and his associates were able to share and pray with many of the Syrian Muslims, as well as present a very different face of Israel from what most Syrians are taught.

Cohen’s full report is a must-read. CLICK HERE to head over to Messiah’s Mandate and read it now.

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