Somalia: On Nov. 14, the body of a 23-year-old Christian convert, Mumin Abdikarim Yusuf, was discovered in Mogadishu’s Yaqshid district, according to Compass Direct News. On Oct. 28, members of al-Shabaab, an Islamic extremist group, detained Yusuf and searched his home for Christian materials. A 15-year-old Muslim boy had accused Yusuf of trying to convert him to Christianity. In an attempt to gain evidence against Yusuf and to gain information about other Somali Christians, the extremists knocked out all of Yusuf’s front teeth and broke several of his fingers. They then shot him twice in the head and dumped his body on an empty residential street. Since it is unknown whether Yusuf revealed information about other Christians during his torture, the underground Christians who knew him have relocated for their safety. Yusuf’s Muslim family members are also in danger, as extremists have accused them of failing to report his conversion to Christianity. The Voice of the Martyrs supports persecuted Christians through a project to assist evangelists and encourage converts from Islam. Pray for all those mourning the death of this brother in the Lord. Pray for safety for the relocated believers. Pray that Yusuf’s faithful witness will be a testimony to his Muslim family members and that they will turn to Jesus for their salvation.
Eritrea Imprisons Large Group of Elderly Women
Washington DC (December 7, 2009) –International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that on December 5 at 4 PM local time, officials of Eritrea arrested 30 Christian women in Asmara, the capital city of the country.
The mostly elderly women were praying together at a house when security forces rounded them up and hauled them off to police station one in Asmara. Their children and grandchildren told our sources that they are concerned about the safety of their loved ones.
Most of the detainees are members of Faith Mission Church, an Evangelical Church with a Methodist background. The church has been carrying out evangelistic and development activities in Eritrea for over five decades and was forced to go underground in 2002 after Eritrean officials required all religious groups to register. The officials then allowed only three Christian denominations to register. The three registered churches are: the Eritrean Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Lutheran Evangelical Church of Eritrea.
Since 2002, officials of Eritrea have been cracking down on members of both registered and unregistered churches. They have imprisoned more than 3000 Christians keeping them in underground dungeons, mental shipping containers, and military barracks. Several Christians have died inside prisons due to torture and lack of medical attention.
ICC’s Regional Manager for Africa and South Asia, Jonathan Racho said “We condemn the arrest of the 30 women by Eritrean officials. We urge officials of Eritrea to release the detainees and all the imprisoned Christians in the country. We call upon Eritrea to stop violating the freedom of religion of its people.”
Please pray for the safety of the imprisoned women, their release from prison, and for the release of all the imprisoned Christians in Eritrea.
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You are free to disseminate this news story. We request that you reference ICC (International Christian Concern) and include our web address, http://www.persecution.org. ICC is a Washington-DC based human rights organization that exists to help persecuted Christians worldwide. ICC provides Awareness, Advocacy, and Assistance to the worldwide persecuted Church. For additional information or for an interview, contact ICC at 800-422-5441.
Matthew 22:14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Have you ever wondered why few are chosen? I have. In fact God told me a lot about why few are chosen. Let me see if I can adequately describe what He told me. You know when God shows you something there is so much knowing in one brief moment. It is amazing to me how He pours so much knowledge to me through a few words or a brief picture in my mind.
It was during service Sunday when God gave me revelation knowledge! I love it when He does that!
Pastor was praying for the youth who were present during service. He was telling this one young women that she was called by God. Now I have seen a lot of people come to the altar area for prayer during my 6 years of salvation. I have been a member of Impact 4 Christ Ministries which is an outreach of our church, this ministry goes out of the walls of our church and holds revivals and crusades. So I have seen a lot of people receive prayer. There have been many people who have received from God.
Many may not understand, but when God tells you something, He can get a whole lot of information in a small glance, in a word, in a though ect… This particular service I looked at the young women being prayed for and I asked God “why are so many called, but only few are chosen?’ He showed me, He perfect will would be that all would be chosen, but the fact of the matter is that there is a price to be paid to be chosen.
God is undefiled and in order to be chosen we must keep ourselves undefiled as well. There have been many who were called and jumped into ministry without keeping themselves undefiled, the results have far-reaching consequences.
To be undefiled we must chose to stay away from sin, we must chose to allow God to work in us, we must stop making excused and pointing the finger of blame. When God calls you, He is telling you that now you must be different. If you want to be a chosen vessel of the Lord you must not associate with the ways of the World. It might be uncomfortable at times, and you might find yourself standing alone. The Bible clearly tells us to not be conformed to the World. To be chosen by God we must study out the Word of God to find out what makes Him happy. Afterall it is His World, we are to minister to His people, we should be doing things His way.
If you want to be a chosen vessel of God, read His book. He does not leave anything unexplained. Any question you may have will answered in one way or another. God tells us in His Word that He always hears us. Study His Word, He is Holy and He is looking for a people who will present themselves before Him without spot or blemish.
As a chosen vessal we need to remember that we house the Glory of God! We need to remember to ack like a people who are walking around with the Lord Himself dwelling inside of us. We should do our best to keep from bringing the Lord with us into our sinful situations. Nor should we call Him a liar by not believing His Word.
Isaiah 43:19 – 21
“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, The beast of the field will honor Me, the jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, to give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself, they shall declare My praise.”
Get ready people! Those who choose to serve the Lord Most High! Get ready! God will move His hand! Do not lose hope! Do not lose hope! Keep you eyes turned above! Keep your eyes on the Lord! He is mighty to save! He will provide! He will make a way! Declare His Praise to the ends of the earth and watch what He does! Have Faith in God!
I am the Lord your God
Isaiah 43:10-12 (New King James Version)
10 “ You are My witnesses,” says the LORD,
“ And My servant whom I have chosen,
That you may know and believe Me,
And understand that I am He.
Before Me there was no God formed,
Nor shall there be after Me.
11 I, even I, am the LORD,
And besides Me there is no savior.
12 I have declared and saved,
I have proclaimed,
And there was no foreign god among you;
Therefore you are My witnesses,”
Says the LORD, “that I am God
13 Indeed before the day was, I am He;
And there is no one who can deliver out of My hand;
I work, and who will reverse it?”
I love it when the LORD says “I am the LORD” It musters up visions of an all powerful all knowing God. It also seems like I can hear the heavens and the earth shake. I can almost feel the earth tremble below my feet.
The LORD is not a god that can be made into an image that suits our needs. The LORD is the LORD GOD! There is none other like Him. He made the heavens and the earth out of nothing, He formed you and created you. He loves you and wants a relationship with you.
Think about that, the LORD, wants a relationship with you! He created you to love you, care for you, spend time with you. He created you to love you!
Unfortunately a lot of people act like they are the god and the LORD is the created one. They want to live life by their rules and then blame God when things fall apart.
The LORD has set up a standard of living that He expects you to follow. When you follow His rules He will be your God and you will be His people. When you do not follow His rules you are exalting yourself above the LORD, in essence you are making yourself into a god.
Like I said at the beginning, I love it when the LORD says in His word, “I am the LORD your God” It just makes me feel good inside to know that the LORD my God is in control, it takes all the pressure off of me. All I have to due is abide by His rules and He will take care of Me. Thank you God!
Chiapas Mexico
We recently went to Chiaps Mexico to preach the Gospel. It was a wonderful experience.
We spent three days in San Christobal Las Casas. We had 2 morning services and three evening services. We saw a people hungry for God. Wow! God poured out His Spirit and we saw His Glory on the people. These people were so hungry for God. It was amazing.
The morning services started at 9:00 a.m. and went until noon. I was surprized to see people stay for three hours to hear the Word of God and to have prayer.
The evening services lasted 2 to 3 hours also, with people staying in the cold to hear the Word of the Lord and for prayer. The people would fill up the altar areas to overflowing. It was amazing.
We also went to Palenque, in the northwestern part of Chiapas. While there we went to a church on the outskirs of the city and we went to a church about deep in the jungle. Both of these experiences were amazing. I have never seen people who would be willing to walk for 2 hours to come to church. They would walk for 2 hours have service for 2 to 3 hours and then have to walk 2 hours back home. And these people ware walking in the middle of the jungle. They have no lights, only the moon and the stars. WOW!
The church they worship in does not even have a floor, it is grass; or in the case of the church closer to the city it is dirt. They don’t have a permanent roof, they have no windows or doors. They are still in the process of building and as they get money they build. (Which their money is few and far between) Yet these people are hungry for God and get together to worship Him, in-spite of the inconvenience. WOW!
While we were in San Cristobal Las Casas, we drove about half and hour to a town called San Juan Chamula. This was an experience. They have a pagan church there where people light candles and chant. The whole family comes to this catholic church with their bag of candles and their bottles of mixed drinks and the sit on the floor, light candles, drink and chant until they are out of alcohol and candles. They believe the more you drink, the more you are purified. The sad thing is we were not allowed to tell them the truth. We were told not to preach the name of Jesus in this place because the guards would come and beat us. So we did not. But it was so sad that I did not see one person smile except for the people I was with. The children were not in school learning and having fun, instead they were in this pagan church getting drunk. The oppression and the heaviness was almost to much for me. I will tell you what I noticed was that in San Juan Chamula the children are drunk and falling all over themselves in a dark smoky church, and half an hour away in San Cristobal Las Casas the children were skipping home from school with this backpacks of homework and big smiles on their faces. In San Juan Chamula there was only sadness and half an hour away there was laughter.
The whole experience was great. I am really thankful that God allowed me to go on this crusade. I feel blessed to have been able to see people who are so hungry for God. Here in America we have a microwave mentality. We want to sing only a couple of songs, hear a 15 or 20 minute message and then get back to our lives where we don’t think about God again until next Sunday. Here in America we don’t want God to change us we want to change God.
In Chiapas Mexico, the people that I saw, (about 3,000), they wanted to have an encounter with God and it did not matter how long it took. They stayed until we could not stay anymore. And wow, did God ever bless them, me and the Impact 4 Christ team.
What I see coming on the horizon
In this hetic time of uneasiness and unrest we tend to get caught up in what is going on around us instead of being caught up on what God is doing. God clearly tells us that we are to keep our eyes on Him and He will supply our needs. Does that mean we might have to change our way of living? Maybe. The biggest challenge we have is to remember that as believers in Jesus Christ we are not affected by the cares of this world because we are not of this world. We are just passing though. Our home is in heaven.
While the economy looks bleak right now, God is not dependant on the economy. God created the economy.
I am not trying to minimize the situation we face in America, but I do want to emphasize the fact the God created everything, I am sure He can provide for you and your family if you listen to Him and follow His ways.
Unfortunately in America we have turned to other gods. We follow the paths that seems right unto man, but the end is the way of death. We we founded on Christian foundations. We were founded on true Christian foundations, not the current false trend of christianity. That solid foundation is still there, we need to turn back the Lord.
Those of us who believe in Jesus, the true Jesus of the Bible will be fine during this crisis. God will provide a way for us. Woo to those who choose the path that leads to death.
We are in a time of choice. There is a passage in the Bible that says, “choose this day who you will serve”. In this time of economic uncertainty choose wisely.
That will I speak 
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