Mission Conference, Social Media Outreach, and Local Ministry Updates

Mission Conference in Brazil 

“Commissioning the South American Church to send Laborers to the Muslim World”

During my Europe Bible distribution in February, I made several kingdom connections. Out of one of these contacts came an invitation to a mission conference in São Paulo, Brazil. I thought to myself, “What business does this ministry have in Brazil? How many Muslims in total live in South America?” As I was thinking about these things, a brilliant idea came to mind: “How about pray and seek God before rejecting the invitation.” 

I continued my journey to different cities all over Europe. I came across several Brazilian missionaries who were sent by the Brazilian Church to carry on with the Great Commission. I realized Brazilians are sending missionaries to Europe, but why not to the Muslim world? Brazilians can blend in with the people of the Middle-East much easier than a typical Caucasian missionary. If the Brazilian Church had the vision to reach Muslims, they probably would do something about it. Quickly I was seeing what God was saying to me – Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no vision, the people perish.” The South American Church needed a vision to reach the perishing Muslim world.

I accepted the invitation to the mission conference in Brazil. The last week of June, we traveled there to speak and minister at the Assemblies of God Jacarei Annual Mission Conference. It truly was a huge gathering. Hundreds of pastors and missionaries along with others were in attendance.

Saturday evening was allotted to me to minister. I shared what God has done for me, and the Word He gave me for this meeting. After ministering, I prayed and commissioned the church, but when I came down to sit, the Holy Spirit invaded the meeting. Usually after every speaker, the Pastor in charge would stand up and continue the meeting but this time he could not. I looked over to the crowd and saw people were being touched and moved by the Holy Spirit. Many were face down on the floor crying. Even a few days after the conference, we were still receiving testimonies of people in that meeting hearing the Call of God for their lives. If we didn’t have a language barrier, how many more testimonies would we have heard happened that night! 

After the amazing Holy Spirit meeting, that very evening, our host church surprised us in a massive way. When the Pastor came up to close the service, he asked me if I would be interested in having my book (Forsaking My Father’s Religion) translated in Portuguese. I answered, “By God’s grace, one day.” When I said that, he turned around and went to the podium and grabbed a book and handed it to me. He said, “Here it is, your book translated and published in Portuguese.” With this, they truly honored us. 

My story is the story of the boy in the Bible who had five loaves of bread and two fish. If you look with natural eyes at the boy’s supply to feed a massive crowd, it is an impossible task, but when the boy released what he had into the hand of God, it increased supernaturally and now it was more than enough. 

My testimony used to be a point of hurt in my life; a past that I never wanted to revisit due to the heartache I went through as a Muslim in an abusive Muslim family. But, I had to humble myself and cast this care upon the Lord. Apostle Peter in 1 Peter 5:6-7 tells us, “Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”

I became vulnerable and started to let the light of God shed on my past. I released what was insignificant and insufficient to my natural eye into the hand of God, and God did what only God can do. Currently, that very thing has become a source of victory and redemption. My story has gone beyond my wildest imagination to reach and touch millions of people. Only on one social media platform, over two million people have watched it. My little book now has been translated to six different languages and has the potential to be read by 3 billion people. If this is not a miracle, then I don’t know what it is. 

IS SOCIAL MEDIA EFFECTIVE IN ENGAGING MUSLIMS WITH TRUTH? 

The short answer is the Islamic government of Pakistan thinks it is. 

On Monday, July 7th, we received an email from YouTube regarding one of our video content. The title of the email was: “YouTube Video Blocked: Government Request.” I guess governments have nothing more important to do these days other than to scroll through social media and file legal complaints to censor and block content such as ours. The email shows that we have been effective in reaching Muslims even in Pakistan. So much so that the Islamic Pakistani government has taken the time and resources to legally go after our videos about Islam and its god. 

In the past year, we had over 7 million views on YouTube. These viewers are coming from almost every nation under heaven, and many of the viewers are coming from Muslim majority countries such as: Pakistan, Philippines, India, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and others. On a good note, literally hundreds of Muslims have written to us in the video comments that they have left Islam, and so many of them are Christians now. 

We also have been contacted by several women (nominal Christians) who married Muslim men and converted to Islam. The marriage and the religion were so bad that they actually left the marriage and Islam and became born again Christians. 

Recently, two Americans contacted our ministry and said they were converts to Islam but saw our content on YouTube. One of them said he had seen my “Reasons to Leave Islam” video and had been in so much anxiety since then. He told me on the phone, the stuff we are sharing must not be true and that if I could provide him a lick of evidence, he might consider a different path. I asked him if he had the Quran, and he did. I made him read chapter 3:54 which says “Allah is the great deceiver (the chief of the deceivers).” I asked him, “Richie, how could you put your future and eternal life in the hand of the great deceiver?” He got so mad that he hung up the phone on me. A couple weeks later, he called back and with tears, he repented and accepted Jesus as his Lord. I made him go ask his family for forgiveness for hurting them by converting to Islam! 

A true story of a prodigal, the second convert to Islam was the daughter of a pastor. I asked, “What happened that caused you to choose Islam over Christianity?” She said, “I saw discipline in Islam, and I saw that Islam holds me accountable.” I shed some light on Islam for her and explained the truth of the treatment of women in Islam. I warned her that Islam is not a religion for women. She wasn’t happy about what I had to share that day and accused me of all sorts of things. We kept in contact for a while on social media, and I kept telling her the truth. One day, she decided to block me because she had enough of it. Lo and behold, she called our ministry recently and was looking for me. She said, “I used to hate you and all the lies I thought you are spreading about Islam. But, now I know the truth and I want to thank you for everything.” I asked, “What happened to you?” She said, “I have lived in absolute fear these past two years as a Muslim convert, and keeping the Sharia of Islam has been mentally draining. I saw the hypocrisy of Muslim men who only wanted to use me as a sex slave, a second or third wife. These men were constantly harassing me and I got sick of it.” I told her, “Do you remember what I told you two years ago?” She said, “Yes, and I am here to apologize for not believing you.” After a short conversation, I prayed with her to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior. Afterwards, I said, “Now is a good time to go back to your Dad’s church and share all of what has happened to you!”

Ex-Muslims Tsunami

Our evangelism team is turning the biggest enemies of Israel to its friends!

Wars and rumors of wars have been the talking points of the news lately. Tension is rising every second between Israel and Iran. So many believe and claim this is the beginning of WWIII. Tehran’s Islamic Regime is threatening to attack and wipe out Israel. IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps), where I once was a soldier, is the biggest existential threat to the existence of Jews. I remember, when I was part of this madness, we breathed the hatred of the Jews and Israel. At that time, I was thinking I am serving God by hating the Jews. But, one day, the King of the Jews, out of His mercy reached out and grace opened my eyes. I had zeal for God but without knowledge. How did this transformation happen to me?  When I heard the good news of the Gospel and what Jesus has done for me.

Being an Iranian ministry, our response to the chaos of the Middle-East is to turn enemies to friends. Our team is, right now, on the ground in the heart of the Middle-East putting everything on the line to share this Gospel message with the enemies of Israel. As a ministry, we are persuaded of the Gospel message, because it is packed with God’s redemption power that can save even the most wretched of people such as me. Our evangelism team has so far handed out 1000 New Testaments, tracts, and electronic Bibles to Muslims. 92 decisions have been made thus far from Muslims who have decided to abandon Islam and follow Jesus Christ. This effort will continue till the end of this week. We so much appreciate your prayers in the urgency of this time to carry on with the mission God has bestowed upon us all. 

The Local Ministry

“Update on the Iranian Church in Colorado Springs”

In our last newsletter, we talked about the growth of new Iranian and Afghan believers in our area and the need for a Persian Church. Since then, the Pastor and his wife went to acquire their visa from the US Embassy which was approved by the US State Department. After being interrogated at the Embassy, they were told that the visa would not be granted. This of course was shocking news! And, it has muddled our plans. We are exploring all the possibilities of how we can appeal this decision. Thank you for your continued prayer for this Church plant, for the Iranian Pastor and his wife, and for a quick resolution with their visa situation. 

This past month I had the opportunity to work with Decision Point Ministries which is a ministry that is focused on reaching high-schoolers and college students all over America with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They are putting together a series called “Set Free”, which highlights testimonies of individuals who have been set free from all sorts of backgrounds such as atheism, homosexuality, transgenderism, occultism, and Islam. This series is going to be used for a massive social media outreach for students, and to prepare parents and teachers to combat all these false ideologies that are bombarding this generation through their phones. I was part of the kick off event promoting this series. There will be other events coming soon. If you are interested in attending one of these events, you can reach out for more information. There might be an event in a city near you. 

Your Partnership Fuels the Advancement of the Gospel

Why Become a Monthly Partner? 

Monthly partners are an essential part of the ministry. It is the steady stream of income from monthly partners that allows us to plan and prepare for projects around the world. 

Your partnership is fueling the advancement of the Gospel among Muslims all over the world. Many lives and communities throughout the Muslim world are being changed. This change is happening with Bible distribution and evangelism of the Muslims in the Middle East and beyond, training indigenous pastors and church planters who become disciplemakers, and our massive social media outreach. 

Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:13, “Contribute to the needs of God’s people [sharing in the necessities of the saints]; pursue the practice of hospitality.” I believe we are doing what God has commanded us to do in His Word. Together with God we are changing the nations. 

In Christ’s Service, 

Mohamad and Susan