April Newsletter Web

DEAR FRIENDS: I WANT TO SHARE WITH YOU SOME OF THE EXCITING THINGS THAT HAPPENED DURING MY LAST TRIP TO TURKEY AND IRAQ. I have been traveling to Turkey for over ten years and for nine years working with the Iranian Christians. We have provided many New Testaments to help the Iranian Christians in Turkey grow in their faith in Jesus Christ. My underlying desire has been to get God’s Word into Iran. SEVERAL WEEKS BEFORE MY TRIP, I HAD BEEN TALKING WITH A FRIEND WHO HAS BEEN TO IRAN. He told me about the receptivity to the Gospel, and I shared my desire to get Bibles into Iran. He said the Kurds in Northern Iraq could help me accomplish this task. I tried to apply for an Iraqi visa, but was told it would take two months. Then, by the grace of God, I met a man who had been a missionary in Northern Iraq for 13 years. Through him, the Lord opened a door for me to cross the border into Iraq.

THE CHRISTIANS WERE GRATEFUL FOR THE SUPPLIES WE WERE ABLE TO GIVE THEM. It was like giving a cup of cold water in the name of Jesus. We were able to pray with several families we visited and encourage them in their walk with God. Many have been driven out of their homes by terrorists who threatened to kill them if they didn’t leave. The greatest thing that happened to me during the trip was that Jesus broke the fear I had of sharing the Gospel with

Muslims. I began to see them as people created in the image of God, for whom Jesus died. I was able to hand out many Gospel tracts in Turkey and left some in Iraq. Several hundred went to Germany as well. I prayed for an opportunity to share the Gospel with a Kurdish man working at the hotel where I was staying in Istanbul. A friend from The Way of the Master had explained to me how to share the Gospel with Muslims using the Ten

REPORT FROM CUBA TRIP BY CLIFF The living and powerful Word of God is absolutely changing the lives, hearts, and minds of thousands upon thousands in Cuba. We found a thriving church of the Living God in which believers are eager to share everything they have, even at great cost to themselves, in order that others may be provided with daily needs. Not only did the wonderful believers give us unaffected fellowship, they humbled us by the selfless nature of their generosity as they fed us, transported us, and invited us into their homes with the message everywhere that their houses were our houses, their families our own. In the midst of ongoing severe oppression of all kinds, true Christian discipleship is being passed on, believer by believer, in hundreds of churches ranging in size from a dozen members to over a thousand. Some of these churches have been meeting for more than three years in the open country without buildings, at times having to hold up large plastic sheets over an entire congregation to keep the rain off because they didn’t have permission to meet in a building.

IN CUBA, BELIEVERS SING HYMNS WITH CHORUSES SUCH AS, “I LOVE YOUR PRESENCE, JESUS, MORE THAN MY OWN LIFE.” And they mean it. Persecution over the years has left many a vacancy in local fellowships, through imprisonment or death. The attitude in practice of the believers we met is that it really doesn’t matter what a person may suffer, because knowing Jesus and serving Him through leading others into His Kingdom is the main thing in life, against which physical comfort, natural possessions, and personal safety are not worth even being considered. We took in many Bibles and other provisions, but we were the ones who received more than we would ever be able to bring in – in terms of the true Christian witness shown by those dear brothers and sisters who received us.

Commandments. The Lord gave me the opportunity, so I sat down with this Kurdish man and shared about Moses being a prophet and then about Jesus being a prophet. He sat and listened intently. I then began to tell him the Ten Commandments, and he admitted that he was a liar, a thief, and an adulterer. I explained that he had broken the Law of God and was under judgment. He was convicted of his sin and saw how he had violated God’s Law. Next I explained how Jesus is the perfect sacrificial lamb, and how Jesus died on the cross for his sins. I told him that Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by Me.” He understood the Gospel for the first time.

At the end of our conversation, he kept asking, “But what about Mohammed? He said we can have four wives.” I explained that while some men in the Old Testament had more than one wife, it caused them a lot of problems, and how God had created one woman for one man. The man really struggled over this, but I was so grateful that the truth had now been revealed to him. I trust the Holy Spirit to bring him to salvation.

WHILE I WAS IN TURKEY, I MET WITH AN IRANIAN PASTOR WHO REPORTED THAT THE REVIVAL IN IRAN IS COMPARABLE TO THE REVIVAL IN CHINA. He said there is a tremendous need for Scriptures in Iran and asked me to help get as many Bibles into Iran as possible

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while there seems to be a window of opportunity. He said the New Testament is the most sought after book in Iran, and that everyone wants a Bible, even government officials. He reported that a customs officer had seen Bibles in a foreigner’s luggage and asked him to come outside. After following him outside, the customs officer asked him for a Bible, explaining that he couldn’t take it inside because he was being watched on camera.

WE CAN PRINT AND DELIVER FARSI NEW TESTAMENTS INTO IRAN FOR $4.00 EACH. Initially I would like to print and deliver 10,000 Farsi New Testaments into Iran, which will cost $40,000. Would you please pray about contributing to this critical project? God Bless You, Patrick

Initially I would like to print and deliver 10,000 Farsi New Testaments into Iran, which will cost $40,000.