Counting the Cost: Surrender in the Middle East

Nasser al’Qahtani oversees our ministry in North Africa and the Middle East and recently shared this story and prayer request:  

I just became aware of a situation in the Middle East.  An officer in the military came to Christ last April, after Jesus appeared to him, and immediately began to share the Gospel with his family and friends. His family contacted the police and he was quickly arrested, tortured, declared mentally ill and then drugged and put into a mental institution.  Almost 9 months later he is free but has been stripped of his salary, his ID confiscated, was put on court-ordered medication for his “mental illness” and is therefore unable to legally work to support himself.  He had taken out a business loan for his father before coming to Christ and now he is facing prison if he cannot pay it back (his family will not help). He is watched constantly by military police and many believers are afraid to be in contact with him. Despite all this, there is a couple I am connected to who are discipling him as best they can and trying to prepare him for potentially greater persecution to come (prisons in this part of the world are horrific places).

Everything in me wants to just come in and try to “fix the problem” but I’ve learned over the years that sometimes our money is not what God is asking us to surrender.  Sometimes the Lord invites us to go with Him into dark places (like prison), bringing the hope and life we have in Him.  Sometimes He invites us to fully lay down our lives and receive the reward of martyrdom.  And, yes, sometimes He does want us to care for and support one another as a family with our physical resources.

So I would invite you all to pray with me for wisdom as to how the Lord wants me to love this brother and son in His name. 

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