Transcription
[Music] Thank you. But I don't feel [Music]
Good morning, Calvary Chapel. >> Good morning. >> Good morning. Who's ready to worship the Lord today? >> All right, there we go. Good morning, everyone. It's wonderful to be in the house of the Lord today. Um, it's a beautiful day to worship. We ask that uh you enjoy the morning and that you get what the Lord has for you out of it. As we uh begin the service, let's pray.
Dear heavenly father, we thank you for this day, for the beautiful time that you've given us to come and worship you. We ask you to bless the worship team as they sing and uh the pastor as he brings the message and we just ask that your will be done in our lives today in Jesus name. Amen.
>> Let's all go ahead and stand up. You know, whenever somebody important, the president walks in the room, everybody stands. But somebody more important than that is here. The Lord is here. The king is in the room. [Music] [Music] Open the doors and make way. The king is in the room. The king is in the room. Expect those strongholds to break. And we know what you can do. We know what you can do. Change, soul save, broken hearts renew. The king is in the room. Lord, we enrolled you upon our grave. The king is in the room. [Music] There's freedom and life anywhere you lead us. We come only to you. We're laying down all of our crowns. The king is in the room. [Music]
>> Come see all the captives run free. He's tearing down the walls. He's tearing down the walls. There's worshiping power when we sing the name above them all. Your name above them all. The king is in the room. >> Lord, we enroll you upon our king is in the room. There's freedom and life anywhere you reign. Jesus, we bow only to you. We're laying down all of our crown. The king is in the room. [Music] Fear has to flee. Shame has to leave. Before the king before the king have to break. Dry bones away. Prepare the way. Fear has to wait. Shame has to be before the king. Before the king has to break. Drive away. Get away. The king is in the room.
>> Hallelujah. >> Lord, we enroll you upon our gra. The king is in the room. We use every word anywhere you reign. Jesus, we bow only to you. We're laying down all of our crown. The king is in the room. Let's prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. Prepare the way. He's in the room. Praise you, Father. [Music] [Music] Strength arises we wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. Strength arises we wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. Wait upon our God. will reign forever, [Music] our hope, our strong deliver. You are the everlasting God, the everlasting God. You do not faint. You won't grow weary. You're nothinger of the we. You comfort those in me. You lift us up like [Music] Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. We will wait upon the Lord. Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord. Wait upon the Lord. He will wait upon the Lord. Our God, you reign forever. Earth, our hope, our strong believer. You are the everlasting God. The everlasting God. You do not think you are growing. [Music] You're the defender of the we comfort those in need. You lift us up on we might go. You are the everlasting God. The everlasting God. You do not faint. You won't grow wey. [Music] You're the defender of the we. You comfort those in need. You lift us up far away like [Music] Hallelujah. Praise you Jesus. Thank you Lord Jesus. [Music] Hallelu. [Music] Hallelu. For the Lord God Almighty, [Music] [Applause] hallelujah. [Music] For the Lord God Almighty reigns. Hallelujah. [Music] Holy, holy, are you Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. You are holy. [Applause] Holy are you, Lord God Almighty. [Music] [Applause] Worthy is the lamb. Bless you. Worthy is the lamb. Amen. [Music] Hallelujah. Hallelu. [Music] Hallelujah. [Music] For the Lord God Almighty reigns. [Music] Hallelu. [Music] Hallelujah. For the Lord God Almighty. [Music] Hallelu. [Music] Holy, holy are you, Lord God Almighty. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. You are holy. Holy [Music] are you, Lord God Almighty. Yes, you are Lord. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Worthy is the lamb. Amen. Hallelujah. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] Lord, I lift your name on high. [Music] Lord, I'd love to sing your praises. [Music] I'm so glad you're in my life. [Music] I'm so glad you came to save us. You came from heaven to earth to show the way. From the earth to the cross, my de. From the cross to the grave. From the grave to the sky. Lord, I lift your name on high. [Applause] [Music] Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I love to sing your praises. I'm so glad you're in my life. I'm so glad you came to save. You came from heaven to earth to show the way. From the earth to the cross. My death to me. From the cross to the grave. From the grave to the sky. Lord, I lift your name on high. [Music] You came from heaven to earth to show the way, from the earth to the cross. My dead to me. From the cross to the grave, from the grave to the sky. Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I lift your name on high. Lord, I lift your name on high. His is the name above every name that is the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, things on earth, and things under the earth. The name worthy of our praise. Let's go ahead and greet one another in the Lord. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat.
Next contraption. Well, good morning everyone and welcome to Calvary Chapel. It's wonderful to see everybody here today. We're so glad you've taken time out of the busy weeks that we have to spend a little time with us. Everyone who's tuning in online, watching on the live stream, thank you for uh tuning in this morning. I know you will be blessed. Uh if this is your first time here at Calvary Chapel or if you're new to Calvary Chapel and you'd like a little bit more information, our ushers will be walking up and down the aisles and they have two things in their hand. First, they have a welcome packet. If you're new to Calvary Chapel, just lift up your hands. They'll give you a welcome packet. It's full of information. Um, all kinds of good stuff. Also, the ushers have in their hands a Bible. If you came this morning and uh you forgot your Bible or perhaps you do not own a Bible, just lift up your hand and they will give you a Bible. And uh please, if you do not have one, take it home with you and read it. It is the living word of God.
Now, on your way in this morning, you should have received a bulletin. There's a couple of things I want to go over. On the back of the bulletin, you'll see it says, "Welcome, Tom Doyle. We are so wonderfully blessed to have Tom and his wonderful wife Joanne with us this morning. Been looking forward to hearing from you. Tom is with Uncharted Ministries and uh I know it's just going to be a blessing to everyone that is here today. So, you know what? If this is your first time here at at this church, you're going to be super blessed today. I know that.
Now, on the inside of your bulletin, you'll see we have a lot of stuff going on. We have our weekly activities and we have our upcoming events on the side. There's a couple of that I want to touch on. Um, first yesterday was family fun day. Thank you to everyone who came out, who ate pizza and drank the soda and uh brought food and just supported it. It was a wonderful time. We had the water slide, the dunk tank. Pastor Steve, I spoke with all the men who dunked you yesterday. They assured me they sought forgiveness from the Lord. Uh, so that is all covered. But it was a wonderful time just to get together, the body of believers, and have a great time. time. I know the kids loved it and I just want to thank you again for coming out to that.
Now, in case you guys don't know, Sunday morning we meet here at 8:30 in the morning on the side to pray for the service, to pray for our community and our nation. If uh you're able to come on out at 8:30 in the morning, but we meet right there. The Holy Grounds Cafe will open at 9:00, so you can go over and get pastries and coffee after that. Also, Wednesday, October 1st at 6:00 p.m. right here in the sanctuary, we will be having baptisms. If you have never been baptized or if you have just recently come to faith in Jesus Christ, we urge you to be baptized. You can pick up a registration form at the office or see uh the gentleman behind the counter out there and he will give you one of those. It would be just an honor to baptize you up in the baptismal pool up there.
As you go through, there's a there's a lot of other things going. men. I spoke with uh Pastor John Hoppy about the Deep South Men's Conference that is uh in Lexington, South Carolina on the 3rd and the 4th of October. There is uh some a lot of things going on that weekend. He said if you have not got your hotel room yet, please you might not be able to get one right in the town. You might have to go out. So, if you do plan on going to that, please make your hotel reservations as soon as possible. Uh a couple more things. uh that are not in the bulletin. There is going to be a drive for the homeless on Octo on October 4th at Hernando Lake and our brother Pete herer is going to head that up. Pete, could you stand up so everybody knows who who you are? Now Pete, thank you Pete for all you do. Pete is going to be out in the foyer after service and and we're looking for donations for that. Pete's looking for donations to support the homeless such as tents, sleeping bags, bicycles, blankets, flashlights. You can see him. He'll give you all the information you need and what they are looking uh actually for to to help these people in need.
Also, at the end of the service, the Holy Grounds Cafe doors will be open. And uh Paul Quesan has got a nice setup over there of pickle ball apparel and uh it's hats, shirts, pants, he's got uh suits, uh all athletic wear, and all the proceeds that are raised will go to the Duran Immigration Fund. So, it is 100% of the proceeds goes to that. He's got some really nice stuff over there. Thank you, Paul, for doing that. And that is uh all the announcements that I have at this time.
We are going to set our hearts to worship the Lord with our tithes and offerings this morning. And there's two ways to do that here at Calvary Chapel. We have our agape boxes spread out throughout the sanctuary. And also on our main church website at calvaryv.com, you can go on there and give securely. After I pray over the offering, the team is going to do one more song. And after that, I ask that the children be dismissed. The nursery is to my right and your left on the ground floor, children upstairs, and our teen ministry is to my left and your right. So, won't you all please pray with me?
Oh, precious heavenly father, Lord, we love you. We just thank you, Father, for this amazing weekend that you gave us, Lord, for the the wonderful weather, oh Lord God, and the time that we could get together and have fun and laugh and fellowship with one another. And then today, oh Lord God, that you have made this place possible, oh Lord, that you have planted this church, oh Lord God, and brought all these people here, Lord, we are all here for such a time as this, oh Lord. And we expect to be filled with the spirit this day, oh Lord, from our brother Tom Doyle and his wife Joanne. We just thank you, oh Lord, for them taking busy temp taking time out of their busy schedule to come minister to us. Now, Father, we ask that you bless these offerings and these tithes that we give you, oh Lord, a small portion of all that you have given us, oh Lord God, as we seek to spread the gospel throughout the world. We ask all this in Jesus name. Amen.
>> The worship team ministry wants to always make sure that we do music that honors God, turns our focus upon him, and whenever possible contains scripture. We're going to sing a song that's taken from Psalm 95:es 6 and 7. It's a good way to memorize the word of God. [Music]
>> Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God our faker. >> Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God of maker for he is our God. [Music] And we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Just the sheep [Music] of his hand. >> Join us in singing that again. >> Come let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our God of m. [Music] Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For he is our God [Music] >> and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. Just the sheep of his hand. [Music] [Applause]
Well, good morning, church family. So glad to see you here on a Sunday morning. Before I introduce our guest, I do want to take this moment to thank you for praying for me. It's been a very very trying last couple of weeks and there's three things I'm very thankful for. First of all, the great physician, the Lord Jesus Christ, my lovely wife who has uh taken care of me uh these last two weeks, and also the church family. I told another pastor friend of mine that the love and prayer of the saints is refreshment for a dry and weary soul. So, thank you very much for doing that. I do have one prayer request. Ruth and I go tomorrow uh before the doctor to hear the results of several tests I've had to go through. So, I would ask that you just keep that in mind at 9:15 tomorrow morning. We're trusting the Lord for it and believing God and it's always good to have the prayer of the church family.
In Acts chapter 18, we are introduced to a couple by the name of Aquilla and Priscilla. uh they were Jews living in Rome and Claudius Caesar Caesar Claudius expelled all the Jews from Rome. Nothing's changed in 2,000 years. Anti-semitism has been going on since Genesis 12. So they left and you know God has a way. God takes uh and gives beauty for ashes. So they uh left Rome forced to and they went to Corenth and there they come in contact with two men that have shaped the New Testament church and one in particularly for what we are today that is Apollos and the Apostle Paul. God used this one wonderful Roman Jewish couple to shape Apollos and teach him the more excellent way because he was a very polished preacher, but he still did not have the full understanding the dynamic of the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And of course, they employed Paul because he like they were tent makers. And so with that being said, it was a number of years ago I was at the Calvary uh East Coast Pastors Conference up in Philadelphia and I heard Tom Doyle and he was talking about his 838 ministry and I was just enthralled by the testimonies of faith and hope of what God is doing in the world today. Look, there's a lot of dark things in our world. There's a lot of troubling things in our world. And that's why God raises up couples, raises up men and women to encourage the church. Let us know that where sin abounds, grace much more abounds. And I know that you are going to be encouraged. That no matter what's going on in your life, there's hope in Jesus Christ. And that anyone who is willing to live a life of faith following the Lord will see God do extraordinary things not only in their lives, but through their lives. So with that in mind, please give Tom and Joanne Doyle a very warm Calvary welcome. God bless you. [Applause]
Well, good morning. It's great to be here. I remember that conference. That was a a a great conference. Calvary pastors all over the place and it was certainly something. So, I want to thank Pastor Kevin and his wife Ruth for having us and uh for us connecting years ago at that conference. And then also a good friend of mine since ninth grade and we lost track of each other, Tim Reebeck and his wife an I went to Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas with Tim in ninth grade. And so that's how long we've known each other. And when we connected, we started talking about what you know the Lord. Yeah, you know the Lord. I mean, it was just amazing how God brought us back together. So, thank you for nudging the pastor saying, "Try have him out." So, thank you. And um so glad to be with you. And a friend of ours was here some months ago. uh Amir Safati was here and we know him from Israel and um I've had a chance to work with him and he's uh he probably gave you a great message on what's happening in Israel and we want to follow up on that and then talk about what God's doing with Muslims. Okay. So, I got to tell you, Amir used to be because we've done tours to Israel over a hundred now since 1995. And Amir, we knew him real well because he's he's a guide and I'm a guide. And he used to get on me when we'd say, "Hey, we just smuggled Bibles into Iran." He'd go, "Tom, what are you doing? That's the enemy." And I'd say, "Am they need Jesus, too? Remember that?" Well, yeah, they do. They do. And same thing in Syria, you know, and we tell them what we were doing on the other side of the fence and oh, I can't believe you're going there, but remember there's a church there and they're underground and secret church. Yeah, that's right. That's right. So, anyway, he was warmed up to it and uh anyway, he's he's a good friend. So, great to be here this morning. How we doing, CJ? Are we able to Yay. Look at Fantastic. Thank you. We're going to look at today. Persecuted believers are the new face of Jesus church. Okay, we're going to be going to 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, but we want to start a little bit. Let's do this first slide here if we can, CJ. Okay, so this is us in 1990. Joanne had six kids, six children in eight years. I mean, it was just like one right after another after another. I remember once I called my dad about a football game and I said, "Hey, Dad, guess what?" And he goes, "Is Joanne pregnant?" "No, no, is it always that?" And he goes, "Almost." You know, so this was our kids when they grew up. If you can go to the next one, that's our six kids. And that's about what, five or six years ago, six of them. And uh so, crazily enough, we had five teenagers at once. And we were all home for dinner one night. And so we just went around the table and I just said, "Hey, uh, how many kids do you want when you get married?" I mean, you never have the teens. They're always busy, right? But they were all there. And Sarah, I think was 12, wasn't she? So, almost a teenager. Let's go around the table. How many kids do you want when you get married? And John Mark, uh, third from the right, goes, um, I one, maybe none. I'm not sure. Lindsay next to him said, uh, I think maybe I don't think I want any kids, you know. We went around the room and there was a net of two. That was it. And I said to Joanne, that confirms it. We're horrible parents. They don't even want children. But you know what? They grow up and they get married. Next slide if you would, please. There you go. There you go. 17. So now we have 17 grandchildren. We can go to the next one if you would. And that was us dressing up for what was that? You in a birthday party and everybody had to come in a costume. And so so they had me come as Blippy. I don't know. Has anyone seen Blippy to your kids? I don't know how I feel about him. But anyway, yeah, I had to impersonate him. And then uh this next one, why do I show you this picture? Because a little over a year ago, I was staged with was uh uh diagnosed, thank you, was stage 4 cancer, aggressive, rare, less than a hundred cases in America a year. And they found out at MD Anderson that it was a parasite that started it. That's kind of a new thing. They're looking at par parasitical invasion in your body with cancer. But this one was a parasite. Probably picked it up in a village in Egypt or Afghanistan or something. And uh a doctor said, "I had a a year or less to go." And but you know what? Aren't we glad that God is the author of our days, right? So we prayed and God moved and within about six to eight months wasn't it Joanna four months to diagnose four months treatment and we prayed and we did a lot of things on the side complimentary treatments there's a lot of evidence out there other things are working for cancer eight months later they declared that I was cancer-free [Applause] >> so I wanted to drive by that other doctor's office and go, "No, I didn't." But but anyway, so I'm just so thankful to be here and and God is moving powerfully in our lives. We were so thankful to be with you. And year ago, I wasn't able to do these kind of things. So the the glory of the Lord, he gets all the glory. God's doing miracles. It's dark out there. We're going to take you through the Middle East. You're going to see some real dark things, but Jesus is breaking through just like he did in our life. Yeah. That's our That's I think we don't even have all of them up there, do we? The stocking 17. It's a mad house on Christmas at our place. Okay. Next next uh shot if you would. Okay. So, we started going to Israel in 1995. Joan and I have been there a lot over 100 times, tours, mission trips, doing a lot of stuff. And so, our heart was for Israel and the Jews. And so, we did not have a real passion for Muslims. We we just didn't. Okay. Next slide if you would. Joanne, come on up here. You got to tell this. October 7th, we're coming up on that. And it's going to be uh two years if you can believe it since the invasion in U Israel. And amazingly enough, we've been in Gaza probably 15 times, worked with Palestinians there. When one Palestinian would escape and get over the fence, they were either arrested or if they were terrorists and wired, they were shot. We could not fathom that there were 2,000, maybe 3,000 that got across the fence on October 7th. And so it's already passed 700 days. We know some of the hostages. We uh will take you there and tell you their story. But here's Joanne. Amazing. Joanne, six children, non of 17. That's right. >> She's Italian, so she's non. >> That's right. That's right. Yes. You want to tell the story of Well, actually, let me back up a little bit. Why did we tell you all about our family? >> Yeah. >> That's right. I was going to say that. >> But anyway, you know, look how excited we get when we have a new grandchild or a new child, right? I mean, it's like it lights up our life, doesn't it? >> Well, just think how the celebration in heaven, how God and Jesus and the angels feel every time someone gives their heart to Jesus. They celebrate even more than we do here on earth. And that's why we show that because if we are celebrating here, again, the celebration in heaven is so much greater. That's right. And especially when we see Jews come to faith in Yeshua. Tom and I are thrilled to see your Israeli flag. Um, yes, God has called us to reach Muslims, but our heart is for the Jew first. And we're both wearing, well, I guess you forgot mine today. Yeah. >> And we've been wearing this. We've been to Israel three times since October 7th. Yeah. And this necklace says in Hebrew on the top and English on the bottom, bring them home now >> for the hostages. There's about 20 that are still in captivity. They believe are still alive. That's right. And then another, what is it? 40 something total that or no maybe another 20 something 27 yeah the thing >> not their bodies are being held but we were in um last March right after Tom had been declared cancer free we thought we need to go on a hallelujah trip just the two of us >> and we've never been to Israel >> and we always have a team you know like 50 people or whatever and it was like just two of us we can do what we want and it was kind of amazing >> oh hi up there >> y'all so we got up the first day at a hotel at the Sea of Galilee and Joanne was getting her plate. I was getting mine and I see this woman and she has this t-shirt on the back and you can see this young Israeli uh woman and I thought she's the mom of a hostage. She's the mom of a hostage. And I went up and said, "Hello, is your daughter in captivity?" And she said, "No, my my daughter was killed on October 7th." What? Oh my gosh. And immediately we brought Joanne over and started to visit with her. And if we can go to the next slide just within um 30 seconds they were already hugging each other and tell the story about Avivve if you would sweetie. >> So this is Meera her mom and Aviv 19 years old was an IDF soldier. She was one of the girls you probably heard about them. They were right there on the border and they were the lookout. They had computer screens and they're looking into Gaza and these girls had been calling the IDF telling them something unusual is happening. We're seeing paragliders. We're seeing training that we've never seen before. Something is different. And remember they were kind of ignored. >> And then sadly um Aviv was on the early morning um you know working whatever on the computer and she started shift that's the word she was starting to hear gunshots and she calls her mom. So Mera's on the phone with her, "Mama," she said, "I think we're being invaded." She said, "Oh, sweetie, you are probably it's probably just a an exercise, just a training. It's you're probably fine." And she goes, "No, no, no, no." Then she starts saying, "We're hearing Arabic." >> And then that her mom realized this is an invasion. >> Then she went radio silent because it was the people were the Arabs, the terrorists were getting so close, she turned her phone off and she began texting >> and she's telling her mom, "I love you." and she's telling her, "I don't know if I'm going to survive this." And then I've been shot and then nothing. And so this precious mom, and if you can see, she's smiling, but the smile doesn't reach her eyes. Well, as Tom said, we connected quickly. They invited us to come to their home. We went to visit. She and her husband, Phineas, who's just the the kindest Jewish couple. So close, y'all, coming to faith in Yeshua. >> Um, but I don't know if the next picture shows what in there. Okay, sorry you go back to that. We went to their house and they have literally turned their home into a memorial for Aviv and um she told us, "Please tell our story. We do not want people to forget of what has happened on October 7th. And until all of the hostages are brought home, >> there's really not going to be full healing that people in Israel cannot move forward until there is closure. And there will not be closure until all those hostages are brought safely home." >> So true. So, our heart is with them. We know some of the families. It's uh Yeah. You want to read some of the stats just in case you haven't? You've got a good teaching, pastor. We can already hear. And we know you're up to date on Israel, but here's some stats. >> Yeah. Here's some current stats. Since October 7th, 900 soldiers have fallen since October 7th. 329 fell in defensive battles on October 7th. 456 fell in Gaza on ground maneuvers. 50 fell in Lebanon ground maneuvers. 34 fell in defense against Hezbollah. 16 fell in clashes with terrorists in Judea and Samaria, what we used to call the West Bank. Two fell in militia UAVs from Iraq. >> One fell in and remember the big Iranian missile attack when so many missiles came over. Only one person fell in that which is truly miraculous. And then 12 soldiers have fallen in various um accidents that took place. There are 200 and this is just today. Sadly, the war continues. So, these numbers are continuing to grow. 23 IDF widows. There are 563 IDF orphans. And there are more than 7,000 berd family members in total. >> Does that not just break your heart? >> And yet, the world says there's genocide happening in Gaza. and that nothing happened to Israel. >> That's right. >> And I will say this, Tom and I try to be very balanced because as you said, we've been to Gaza many times. We know believers in Gaza. That's right. And they are suffering, but there is not genocide. Hamas is controlling everything. And Hamas is even controlling our dear believers who are struggling to put food on their table. But you can talk more about that. >> Yeah, that's right. So, how did we go from loving Israel so much and going there and spending two and a half years of our life there over time and to working with Muslims? Well, it was a calling. God had to do that because it was not something naturally that we move toward. So, um if we can go to the next one, CJ, thank you. You're doing a great job. So this is me a couple of months after 911 and at the Yaser Arafat mosque in Gaza City. Okay. So we met some Muslim background believers. They're called MBBS. They were former Muslims. Now they're believers. We went in and started working with them in Gaza. And right out of the shoot the first day they said, "Hey, let's go down to Yaser Arafat's mosque and tell people about Jesus." And I thought, "Okay, so here we go." Right? And so, uh, anyway, we went down and, uh, and actually, you can see after visiting with them, you can see the guy leaning in. And one of the things you don't do is wear shorts, you know, in Muslim area. I wore shorts. It was hot that day. I didn't I didn't know. I mean, there were so many things that I did wrong. Um, that I saw everybody hugging each other when they came out of mosque and and I thought, great, they're like Italians. Joanne hugs everybody. So, I'm hugging the men and I'm hugging the women, you know, in in my shorts. And uh one of the leaders that was with us later said, "Yeah, never do that again, Tom. Please." Yeah, we could really get in trouble. So, that would have never happened if I didn't have other events leading up to it. So, in the '9s, we were living in Colorado. I was getting my car fixed and our car fixed in Denver. Joanne dropped me off. who lived in Colorado Springs and went up there and they weren't done. The guy said, "Hey, we need to another hour in your car. Can you just go across the street to this little restaurant? It's on us. Have some lunch and and we want you to just eat whatever you want. We'll be done in an hour." So, okay. So, I go there and remember, no heart for Muslims whatsoever. This is in the '9s. And we go and I go and sit down a very small cafe, Middle Eastern. So, I got a falafel and a diet Pepsi. And I'm sitting there and two guys walk in uh their Arab closely cropped uh uh beards and black leather jackets and they sit in the table caddy corner from me and they start whispering in Arabic. So immediately I'm thinking things and I need to tell you why I was always suspicious of people. My dad was an FBI agent, special agent and a mafia specialist, organized crime specialist. So I lived in Chicago, was born there, went to Vegas. They were controlling the hotels, right, Tim? All of that infiltration. So in my house, you were considered guilty until proven innocent. You know, that's my dad. So I'm just sizing these guys up. It's obvious they're terrorists. I mean, we know these things. I'm an FBI kid, right? And so they're whispering in Arabic and the one guy turns the other and all of a sudden breaks into English and he says, "Makmood, the Lord's amazing, isn't he?" And I thought, gosh, that's like what we say in Christian circles. I didn't know Muslims said that. Well, they go back to whispering in Arabic and I'm I'm listening in, you know, and finally the other one just breaks out in English. He goes, "Makmood." He goes, "Muhammad, let's just face it. Jesus is Lord over Syria." >> And I turned and looked at him and I said, "Are you guys believers?" And they said, "Yes, are you?" And I said, "I think so. I'm I mean I used to be before I came in here and profiled them, right? And thought they were terrorists and they said, "Come on, brother. Sit down and we want to tell you what God's doing in our country." And that was the first time I went met Muslims who were now believers. And let me tell you, they were on fire for Christ. I called Joanne on the way home said, "You're not going to believe this. You will not believe it." So God started doing something in my life. Okay. At that point, CJ, next slide if you would. Let's see. Can we go to the next one? Okay, Joan, you want to tell the story about the Jordan? >> Yes. And so my story is a little different, but I too, my heart was for the Jews. And when we would go to Israel, I would see all the veiled women in their hijabs. And I would feel so badly for them, you know, the heat, and here they are all, you know, wrapped up, long sleeves, black, and all of that. But I also thought that was their silent message to me to stay away. >> I'm dressed this way because I believe what I believe, and I don't want to know what you believe. So I stayed away. But then God started changing my heart. Excuse me. I was in Jordan and it was on a women's ministry trip. I brought a bunch of women with me there and there were some ladies that were MBBS, former Muslims. And I was talking to one through a translator and every time I talked to her, she would turn her head to the side. So finally I said to the translator, "Why does she keep doing this every time I talk?" She goes, "Oh, well, you know, her husband is still Muslim. She's a new follower of Christ and he's stuck metal in her ear. So, she's deaf in one ear, so she's turning so she can hear you. And I I my heart broke and two things happened. One thing I thought, he put metal in her ear and she's deaf. What else has he done to her body? But more importantly, what has he done to her heart? And then the second thing that hit me was the translator who was from a Christian background. She said that so matterofactly such a a common thing that I thought this is not new to her. They are so used to hearing about the abuse that that Muslim women suffer. So as my heart broke open, God's love rushed in. And one of the things he said to me is, Joanne, they are created in the image of God just like you are. They too are longing for truth. Their misdirected and as follower of Christ we are the only ones that have truth and if we're not going to bring it to them who will and so that's what started me on my personal journey to okay I've got to reach these Muslims with the love of Jesus so now I see a woman with a hijab on and I am making a beline for her and trying to show her that I see her and that she matters and and then of course trying to share the love of Jesus with her. So that changed everything for me. Um, and now since then, it's funny because people have told us through the years that we cannot work with both Jews and Muslims. And our answer is why? God loves them. All right? He's called us to love both, to serve both, and minister to both. >> So, we found ourselves in the Gaza Strip after we had these experiences. And we were >> there to meet with uh believers. And I remember just seeing so much graffiti on the walls. Uh, we will never bow down, death to Israel. This is a family restaurant we went into. And you walk in in Gaza and it's four of the greatest terrorists of all time. And this was a family restaurant. Yaser Arafat on the right side, uh, George Habash, popular front for the people's liberation of Palestine. He was the one that started that as another terrorist group. Next to him on the left, Ramadan, uh, Shalam, who is, uh, uh, Islamic Jihad, uh, head of Islamic Jihad. And then Shik Yin that was the spiritual founder of Hamas. I don't know what that means, spiritual founder. But these this is the darkness that they live in in Gaza. This is a family restaurant. These are their heroes. And so we were seeing this on our first time there. And we went to a little apartment about four or five stories up, graffiti all over, guys hanging out, looks dangerous. And as soon as we opened the door, what happened? Joanne, >> it literally was like walking from hell to heaven. I mean, walking up the stairs, there were men loitering with guns in their arms glaring at us. You know, we obviously stand out as Americans. And then we walked into the apartment and there were believers gathered and it felt like we were in the book of Acts because they had little groups over here playing the guitar and worshiping and another group over here praying and it was amazing. I'll never forget the young girls. They were mainly teenagers, young 20s and they said, "Will you come and pray with us that we can godly husbands that we can find believer. How do you find a believer husband in the Gaza? That's right. Right. >> But you know since then all of them have married believers. Most of them are out of the Gaza group now in different areas in full-time ministry. God heard the cry of their heart and answered their prayers. >> That's right. That's right. Okay. Next slide if you would. Thank you. Okay. What's that? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. For sure. Let's um Okay. So, we want to talk to you about some friends of ours that have come to faith in Christ. But let's just take a break here and let's go to the scriptures. We want to set this up because when they come to faith in Christ, they are persecuted. Muslims, they their own family will want to kill them. Their uh their friends will want to kill them. It's this is just normal. And so, um let's read this. Really reminds me these these secret churches of this group out of Thessalonica. Let's go and let's just start in verse two of chapter 1. First Thessalonians chapter 1. We give thanks to God always for you all making mention of you in our prayers. Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father, knowing beloved brethren, your election by God. For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance as you know what kind of men we were among you for your sake. And you became followers of us and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction with the joy of the Holy Spirit, so that you became examples to all in Macedonia and Aaya who believe. For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Aaya, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out so that we do not need to say anything. For they themselves declare concerning us what manner of entry we had to you and how you turn to God from idols to serve the living God, living and true God, and to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come. So you know the story. Paul went into Thessalonica. He was there three Sabbaths. The church was born. A riot happened and right out of the shootute they are being persecuted for their faith and they stood strong. We I have a testimony of this in our scriptures. And today we see people being persecuted around the world. In fact, more believers are being persecuted today than ever before in our history. And there's a lot of reasons for that. One of them is is that we're closing in on all of these unreached, unengaged people groups where they're hearing the gospel for the first time and the enemy is trying to disrupt that. So just so you know, when Muslims come to faith in Christ in the Middle East and also here, our team, our uncharted team in the Middle East, there's about 70 of them, a bunch of volunteers. They ask him two questions like this couple, whist. >> Muhammad. That's right. Yeah. Muhammad and Wam uh they ask him two questions before they pray to receive Christ as a Muslim. Are you willing to suffer for Jesus? Yes, I am. Because it's probably going to happen. Okay. But it could get way worse than that. Before you pray to receive Jesus, are you willing to die for him? And if they say yes, then they're ready to pray with them to come to faith in Christ. Can you imagine that? Can you imagine, pastor, if we had that in our new members class right here in America? I thought about that when I was pastoring. Wow. And that's what life is like there. This is Muhammad and Wissom. Quick story on Muhammad. He was a bad guy. He's from Syria. He and his wife lived there. He had three businesses. He was a millionaire. And he was funding the Islamic State. Uh, and also uh he beat his wife almost every night. And then here's the really bad thing. He had 66 other wives. >> 66. I thought you can only have four in Islam. You can have four in Islam, but then you can have a mut, which is a arranged marriage, which is a marriage for higher, a temporary marriage. And if the imam signs the document for a price, you can marry a woman for a month, a day, or whatever, he had 66 wives. So, you've probably heard about Muslims having dreams and visions about Jesus. You've heard about that, right? Okay. If I'm Jesus, I'm probably coming to the wife because she's suffered enough, right? Jesus came to him in dreams. He started having dreams about Jesus and finally he snuck into a church in Syria and it was already partially blown up by the Islamic State and he found a Bible and Muhammad stole the Bible. you know, I mean, they would have just given it to him. But he he steals the Bible and he starts reading it at home, putting it under his mattress. Under his mattress, he connects with some believers. He comes to faith in Christ. He comes back to wisom and says, "I have great news. Jesus forgave my sins. I gave him my life and I've forgiven for all the evil things I've done." And what did Whist say, Joanne? >> Isn't that convenient? >> Do you think I'm going to forgive you? Not a chance. >> That's right. But over time, seeing the fruit of the spirit come through his life, she came to faith in Christ. A year later, they were in an underground church in Syria, but it's the Middle East, so it doesn't always have a happy ending. Both
Of their families put a fatwa on their life. They wanted to kill him. We met him in Lebanon. This guy was was sick what he had done to his wife. But Jesus blood covered his sins and she was able to forgive him. And I said, "I said, 'Whose 66 wives?' I mean, how could you forgive your husband for that?" And I know Jesus can do anything. And she said, "You know, I had to realize that I had sin in my heart. I wanted to kill him. I wanted to kill my husband." In fact, we write about them in our our book, "Women Who Risk." Oh, we had a bad thing happen. Well, it'll turn out good. Our books didn't make it. We had a big suitcase full of books to sell. They sent them to Philly. So, they didn't get here, but I don't know. We're going to do something, right, pastor? We'll figure out something. Okay.
Anyway, but when we met them, this couple, you could not believe it. They looked like they were on their honeymoon. They didn't walk by each other without doing a little sweet tap, a little touch of the head, a kiss on the cheek. And I mean, God did a miracle with their marriage. So, it's not only salvation, but it's it's restoration and and them growing in Christ. Okay, next one. If we could see the next one, please. CJ, next slide.
Okay, so we were able to go to Saudi Arabia. Did you know that Saudi Arabia is open now for people to go and visit? And um, they have cut 20% of their oil production and they're they're filling it with tourism. And so we were in a group that was, I think the second group to go in. And there was a young woman there named Nora. And Nora had come to faith in Christ through the internet. And she'd been a believer a year or two and had never met another believer ever. And so a friend knew her that had discipled her on the internet and said, "The Doyles are coming to Saudi Arabia. Would you like to meet some believers?" And she said, "Oh, I'm so nervous. I don't know. I've never met believers, other believers. I'm in Saudi Arabia. We don't, I don't know any believers around here. When are they coming this year?" And the and the friend said, "They're coming in two days." She said, "Oh my gosh, I'm nervous."
And so we landed in Riad, got to the hotel. She sends a WhatsApp to Joanne and says, "I'm coming to meet you and my heart is beating through my shirt. I'm so nervous." And I mean, she jumped out of that cab and burst through that front door. Look at her feet are off the ground. She's so excited. And tell about what happened when >> Oh, it was just precious. And this reminds me of this verse in Thessal in Thessalonians because how do you, how do you mix persecution with the joy of the Holy Spirit? They don't seem like they go together, right? But that's what we see over and over and over again with new believers in the Middle East, especially if they come from a Muslim background. So, we meet, you can see we're ready to hug. And we said, "Okay, you met us. Would you like to meet like 25 more believers?" So, we brought her in to a restaurant right there in the hotel in Saudi Arabia. Had dinner around this big table. It was the sweetest time as she's speaks beautiful English as she's getting to know everyone. Well, at the end of the meal, Tom says, "You know what? Let's pray together."
>> Well, how do you pray together out loud in Saudi Arabia, right? So, what we did is we just look like we're talking to you. No one closed their eyes. We just kind of popcorn around the table and prayed. It was the most beautiful time that all the people around us have no idea what was going on.
>> It's like a conversation.
>> Right? But the spirit of God descended in the most tangible, sweet way. And I'm sitting next to Nora and as she's listening to people pray, she grabs my arm. She goes, "I want to pray, too, but I have never prayed out loud in my life." Okay. Do y'all remember the first time as a believer you prayed out loud and how scary it was in front of other people? You know, you're not praying to the people, but yet you kind of feel like you're going to trip over your words. Well, that's what Norah did. She started praying, and initially, she kind of tripped over her words a little bit, but then all of the sudden, she began praying so beautifully. She was praying scripture. It was as if, again, the Holy Spirit descended on her. And after, you know, the whole thing was over, our whole team was in awe of seeing the depth of her faith after never meeting another believer in her life. She's never been to a church service. That's right. She's never been to a Bible study. Her faith has only been online. She didn't even have a Bible. We brought a Bible for her. Um, which she was thrilled to have. And then Tom and I said to each other afterwards >> as we were talking with our team, >> the Holy Spirit is true.
>> He truly is our teacher. All we need is the word of God.
>> That's right.
>> And the power of the Holy Spirit to teach us. He is our teacher. So Nora is your sister in Christ. She and I met for several years over the internet as I discipled and mentored her. And then she must have changed a phone number or something. We've lost track. Yeah.
>> But when that happens, maybe I've lost track or we've lost track, but they're never off God's radar. I know that he's bringing others into her life, too. But you'll get to meet her in heaven one day.
>> That's right. Okay, CJ, we're going to go forward a few slides, so let's just We're going to have to skip a few here. Let's go. Okay, this one we can't skip.
Okay, so we did we did a conference. We do a conference where we uh it's called a scene gathering where we talk to people on how to share with Muslims and >> that we see them.
>> Yeah. And so we do a little training then we go out to an area where there are Middle Eastern shops or mosques or whatever and just get people to talk to each other uh because so many have never had a chance to do it. And most people are afraid. And we don't tell them when they come to the seminar that they're actually going to go out meet Muslims because then nobody shows up. So, we just kind of break that news when they're in the middle of it and they go and there. Let's go back to that one with that one woman behind that. Just uh Yeah. Whoop. Keep going back. The other way. The other way. Okay. After that, if you would >> one more.
>> Oh.
>> Oh,
>> She was there a second ago.
>> She was there a minute ago.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah. She was shopping. She was in the store. If you can find out when the >> Oh, well. Oh yeah. Well, there she is. You got it. Great. Her name is is Stephanie. And Stephanie, we're going in the car and we're going to go to a Middle East restaurant. We're going to meet people. We're going to go to a shop. And this is when people are nervous. Nobody's talking in the car. They're just like this. They're scared to death. And so it ends up that Stephanie uh just started talking in the car and she just has volume to her voice, just loud. She said, "I'm just a redneck for Jesus, and I like to go to the catfish house." And she's naming all these things, and I'm thinking, "We're going to meet Muslims. This may not go over well." You know, and so we go into the shop, and it ends up that Stephanie meets all of the people shopping and is asking them, "How do you make this? And how do you how do you make falafel? I want to know how." And these Muslim women like she's getting her numbers. Hey, could we do a cooking class together? She was a natural. I couldn't believe it. When we left, it ended up that the owner of the shop and his wife came over the loudspeaker and said, "Is Stephanie still here?" And she goes, "I'm here." And he said, "I just want to thank you for coming in the shop." They came and gave her a big hug for coming. She was a natural just because she stepped out in faith and said, "Okay, Lord, use me."
All right, let's go forward if we can, CJ. And I'll tell you where to stop. Keep going if you would. Okay, let's start right here. Yeah. And the gospel, the gospel does not come in quietly. The gospel comes in with volume. The gospel shakes up the world. Uh for our gospel did not come to you in verse 5 in word only but in power in the Holy Spirit. Much as you know what kind of men we were among you. So it didn't come in quietly in Thessalonica. It doesn't today. You want to tell the story? This is Jamila and and we've met her in Jordan and her story was she was part, you know, she's from Syria. She was part of the war. She had really high blood pressure and sadly during war, oftentimes medicine doesn't get in, right? So she didn't have her blood pressure medicine. She had a massive stroke. She ended up in the hospital in a coma and paralyzed on one side of her body. And but she said it was so interesting, even though she was in a coma, she said she could hear everything that was going on around her. And actually, let me back up. Prior to that, she had been with a couple of friends hearing what we've talked about earlier and that Muslims were having dreams about Jesus. And she's listening to two friends talk about having dreams about Jesus. She did not say this out loud to them. She said, "I just thought in my heart, man, I sure would love to have a dream about Jesus." Well, time goes on and she's now in the hospital, has in this stroke, in a coma. Well, her parents are gathered around her. The doctor's there. She hears the doctor telling her parents, "We don't think she's going to survive the night. Um, her vitals are so low, you know, whatever the the medical stuff going was, they just didn't think he she was going to survive." She's hearing all this and she said, "I felt like I was underwater and I wanted to scream. I can hear you. I'm alive. I'm not going to die." And um >> but she couldn't communicate >> and said, "So that goes on. Her parents are sitting there. She hears this and all of the sudden at the foot of her bed she sees Jesus and he comes up to her. Do you know what he said to her? He said, "Jamila, I hear you've been looking for me." Isn't that funny? I love Jesus' sense of humor. She never voiced that to anyone. She just had >> remember when Jesus would read their mind like the Pharisees, why do you say in your heart that you know >> that's what he did? "I hear you've been looking for me." And she said, again, nobody else could see him. She's seen Jesus right before and he said, "Jamela, trust me. I'm going to heal you for my glory, but trust me." And so he touched her. I can't remember where he touched her first. We talk about her story and "Women Who Risk" as well, but he, every time he would touch her, that part of her body would be unparalyzed. And so the first thing I think he touched her arm and she said, "I lifted my arm as he was walking. He touched me and I wanted to reach out to," she said, "I don't know what to praise him. I don't know what, but I lifted up my hand, but I actually lifted up my hand." And she said, "I heard this big thud. Her mom had fainted because they saw her lift up her hand." And over the next few days, Jesus would come back, revisit her, and touch another part of her body until finally she came out of that coma.
You take the story from here because you tell it better. >> And when all of a sudden everything was ready to go, she just families were having Muslim prayers over her and she just bursts out and sits up and goes, "Jesus." And they said, "What did you say?" "Jesus. Jesus healed me." And right off the bat, she's telling them about who Jesus is and how he came to to her. This is a to her, this is a radical family. And it ends up that she meets some friends that that lead her to faith in Christ. And one by one, her family did come to faith in Christ. She says, "When you tell my story, just remind people that that doesn't happen a lot with radical families. It's like some do and some don't. But anyway, she is an incredible miracle and what a story that Jesus came to. She didn't even ask for him except thought a thought and he honored that thought.
Okay, next picture if you would CJ. So what happened um in 1979? Everything changed in the Middle East. Uh Afghanistan was invaded by Russia. Uh the Ayatollah takes over in Iran. Saddam Hussein goes to power in um in Iraq. Um Egypt and Israel sign a peace treaty. That didn't work out good for Saddat. But there's always a spiritual response. That was the year that Campus Crusade Lost launched the Jesus film. Been seen by more people around the world than anything else. Okay. Uh let's go to the next one.
So, new believers uh don't just survive persecution, they thrive. So, this one, is this on the internet by the way? Live? It is. Okay. So, this is my friend um and he is from the Gaza Strip originally. And when he came to faith in Christ out of a Muslim background, he started to read the book of Matthew. And he said it was glorious how he came to faith in Christ. He wanted to follow Jesus. He'd seen Islam. He just did not like how he was raised. He the darkness, the evil, the demonic stuff going on. And so he comes to faith in Christ. "Jesus, and this is in Gaza, I want to do whatever you did. Say whatever you said. I want to just follow you." And he would say, "I want to be a real disciple. >> A full disciple. Not just one that kind of says, I want to do this or that. A full disciple." So he starts reading Matthew and he's in the sermon on the mount and one of the things it says in the sermon on the mount is love your enemy. So he just stopped and thought, "Lord, who's my enemy?" So he grew up Muslim in Gaza. He said, "Well, my enemy are the Jews across the fence. I hate Israel. I hate them. Jesus says love your enemy. Okay. Well, I got to do what Jesus said. So God forgive me for hating Israel. And I repent of that. Please forgive me." And he said, "At that moment, it just rushed inside of him. It wasn't a tolerance for Jews and the state of Israel. A love filled his heart and he just thought, 'Oh my gosh, why do I hate these people? I've never met one Jewish person in my whole life.'" And so anyway, it ended up that he was able to get out of Gaza and to move into the the West Bank area. And he decided, "The Lord has called me as a missionary from Gaza to go reach Jewish people. That's what he wants me to do." So, this is what he did. He had the Shama printed in Hebrew and a tattoo on his arm. He showed this to me carefully and said, "This is what God's led me to do and I want to share with Jewish people." So the very first time he he sat on a bus in Jerusalem, he saw a rabbi, black coat, hat, and he goes, "I think that's, I think that's a religious man for Israel." So he went up and said, "Hey, my name is Muhammad and I'm from Gaza and I wanted to slit your throat before, but God saved me and now I love you and please forgive me for hating you. Hey, take a look at this." And he shows the Israel confession of faith on his arm in Hebrew. And the rabbi says, "I have never heard anything. What? What happened?" He goes, "It's Jesus, the Jewish Messiah. He changed me." And the rabbi says, "That sounds like the new peace plan or something. I can't believe it. What are you doing tonight?" And he said, "Nothing." He said, "It's Shabbat dinner. Will you come to my house and tell my family?" Cuz they won't believe this. They are not going to believe this. So when he told us, he said, "Tom, I'm so excited. My first time sharing with a Jew, I got to go to a rabbi's house on Shabbat. What do you think of that?" So that is an amazing thing that God did. Persecuted believers thrive in the midst of persecution. They don't just survive. And he's had a lot of hard things. Yeah, for sure. But God's using his life.
Okay, next one. If you would. Next slide. Uh let's go to the next one. Uh yes. Okay. This just happened two weeks ago. Uh see the woman on the right. You want to explain that to >> Nikob. So just her eyes showing. So this is took place in Egypt. We have incredible Egyptian team there. And one of our leaders, I won't say his name, um but one of our leaders um was getting was getting ready to go into a village to share the gospel. But first he has to go to the imam's house to get permission. Now he doesn't say he's going to share the gospel. So they're just going to go door to door, meet people, blah blah blah. But he has to go to the imam's house. So he knocks on the imam's front door and the imam opens the door, calls him by name, actually knew his name. He said, "I am so glad you're finally here." And our leader said, "What do you mean finally here? Um, we've never met before. How do you know my name?" He said, "Well, I had a dream two days ago, and you were in my dream. And in my dream, Jesus told me your name and that you were going to be coming to my house in two days with good news. What is this good news?" And so our leader came in. If you can imagine, can you imagine going to someone's house and they knew your name and you've never met them before? So he goes into her ha his house and the woman with the nab on is his wife. And so they sat down, had an incredible visit. They're so open to this good news. And and our leader opened the Bible, started sharing scripture with them. God had already been preparing the heart of this imam and his family. His whole household accepted Christ. Can you believe that? I mean, that really does not happen very often. And this was what needed the cloud. >> That was what, two weeks ago? >> Yeah. Just just weeks ago. And I mean, if you're in ministry in the Middle East and you're sharing the gospel with Muslims or you're a missionary, pastor, whatever, and someone says, "Hey, I've been waiting for you for two days." and names you and God told me you were coming. Boy, if you blow that one, you should be fired. Don't you think, pastor? I mean, it doesn't get any easier than that. God just set it up. Here's the imam in the village. He's going to influence others. Will he be persecuted? You better believe he will be because people are going to hear about it and they'll come after him. But that's what happens with believers. They thrive in persecution.
Next one, if you would. Next slide. Yes. Learning from persecuted believers. So this is our dear friends Muhammad and Iram. And 20 years ago, we went into Gaza and we're working in this refugee camp. And Iram uh was a young uh woman in college and we started talking to her, feeding the family and bringing them things that they need. We were allowed to go in the refugee camp. And I said to her, "Hey, what's what's your dream in life?" So, she's Muslim and she's uh just, you know, practicing Islam and shocked that there's a group called Christians that are feeding them. And I said, "What, what's your dream in life?" And she said, "Gosh, my goal in life is to own a laptop computer someday." I said, "Really?" She goes, "Yep, I'm going to finish uh Alazar University in Gaza, get a good job, save money. I want to have a laptop computer." And I remember thinking, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe that's so sad how limited it is for her." And so it ends up that I go home and someone gives us a computer. I was speaking in a church and I wasn't asking for one. I was just telling the story and a guy said, "I just got a brand new computer last night. Toshiba, top of the line." And he said, "Man, this thing's a fire-breathing monster. It does everything. Give it to a Crom." And we went, "Okay." So nine months later, we go back and we gave her this computer. And we walked into her village and it's so hard. There's no street signs. There's dead animals all over. Just think of the worst, the worst you've ever seen in a village. And there she is. And she couldn't believe we came back to see her. And I said to Crom, "Do you remember your dream? What you hope to have in life someday?" And she goes, "You mean a laptop computer?" And Joanne said, "Yep. Jesus made it happen." And gave it to her. And she looked at us like if I just gave you a set of car keys to a brand new car. She was in shock. She couldn't believe it. Why did you do this? Let's get the family, the cousins for dinner. And and of course we didn't want to miss this opportunity. She was a young Muslim girl. So we had loaded every Christian program on that computer before we gave it to her. Of course we did, you know, and so the Bible and Jesus video and all these things and worship. And so about a year later, we she's texting us back and forth. Why did you do this? >> And that was in those days she did instant message. You remember that? >> And yeah. And so it's amazingly she's just so excited about what happened. Well, later on, about a year later, it ends up that I get a chance to preach at the Gaza Baptist Church. She comes from a Muslim background, covered. If someone saw her in there, she could be in trouble. So, you can never go. So, I sent her an instant message and said, "We're going to be at this church. If you can come, that'd be great. I'm sure you can't." But, so anyway, we get there. Church is at 10:00. We get there at 9:30. She's sitting in the church, fully covered, Muslim, with her cousin, waiting for church to start. I couldn't believe it. She could get killed for this. And so the church service starts and I notice she's just singing the worship songs and I thought, "Oh my gosh." And so then I said, "Hey, I got to go up and do a sermon and then I'll be back." It's like what they do in the mosque on Friday except I won't be calling for the destruction of Israel. No, I didn't say that. But anyway, but it's it's kind of like that. And she goes, "Yeah, yeah." So I go up and and preach and then share the gospel at the end and I sit down and she pounds her fist on my leg and she goes, "Good job, Tom Doyle." And I said, "Oh, you like that?" And she goes, "Well, of course I do because I follow Jesus now. I gave him my heart last year." What? Are you kidding? And so it ends up she was the first in the refugee camp. She asked us to pray for her husband who was a hardened Muslim. He never bought her a gift. This later on she got married. They have four kids. Never got her birthday present, anniversary, not even a wedding gift. We wrote her story in "Women Who Risk" and she said, "You can tell my story, but have everybody pray for my husband that he'll come to faith in Christ." Two years later, he gloriously accepts the Lord. We get a call on the phone, WhatsApp. He wants to pray. He is ready to go. And guys, you know this pastor, you meet some believers that they kind of take off like this and you think, "Yeah, they're they're growing in Christ." He went like this. I mean, he was sending texts. He was sending Bible texts. He was sharing the gospel. And one text he sent to me over WhatsApp. It was just it was glorious. The word of God just so much from scripture and he's learning and growing. And I just said to him, I said, "Muhammad, where did where did you get these words you wrote?" And he said, "Well, I wrote them, Tom." He sent back. And I said, "You wrote them?" And he said, "Yeah." And I said, "Oh my gosh, I thought you got it off the internet." And he goes, "No, no." And he said, I said, "You're just growing in Christ so much." And he said, "Well, I hang out with my four best friends every day." And I said, "Oh, who are they?" Because he's leading so many Muslims to faith. And he goes, "My four best friends? Oh, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. I'm in the word, Tom." You know, and amen. And so on October 7th when Israel when the hostages are paraded into Gaza, Muhammad is texting me live and saying this should never happen to any human being. This is horrible. I'm crying. Hamas is making the Gazans cheer. But I am crying for what they've done to them. This is terrible. And then Muhammad says this, "Tell the IDF to look in the city below the city. That's where they're going to be. The city below the city." Now, we knew about tunnels, right? We knew about tunnels. We didn't know that the tunnels were longer than the subway system in London. We didn't know there was eight levels, but Muhammad did. And so we started sending messages to the IDF. And Muhammad would say, "Hey, I'm a former Muslim in Gaza. I love you. We're praying for you." And he'd say, "Send it to some of the the believers in the IDF." So I'd send they were sending messages back and forth. And I'm sitting there going, "Why can't this be on CNN?" Right? They would just freak out with this information. It's all because of what Jesus has done. So, please pray for them. Iram and Muhammad, they are in danger. It is, it is so difficult there. And they say this, tell about the tent. What they say >> In this picture, they just sent us this a few days ago. They're living in a, you know, they've been their home has been destroyed. They were living in a tent. We've actually rented for them a small little kind of like an apartment, but it's got no electricity, no running water. So, they're cooking outside over an open fire. And if you look at their eyes, I know it's hard to see it so far away. You just see the weariness on their faces, the sadness in their eyes. But before we rented this little apartment for them, Ekram said they were living in a tent and she said, "We have two enemies." And this was on the telephone. I was actually talking to her and she said, "Joanne, we have two enemies." And I thought she was going to say, "Hamas and Israel." She said, "The first enemy is Hamas. They are controlling everything. They're brutal. She she said, "I can't even let my children outside of the tent unless one of us is with them because Hamas is stealing the young people and pulling them into the army, forcing them into the army, into Hamas." Um, but she said the second enemy is anyone outside of our tent. She said, "We cannot leave our tent unoccupied or people will come in and steal everything we have. Life is so hard." They are. Her mother passed away recently in this just because she had burned her foot on one of the open fires and it went septic, no medical care. It's just, you know, you can't believe how hard it is. And where they live has been in Kunas, which is right where Hamas is. >> And yes, there's parts in Gaza where there's a lot of food getting in, but then where they live is right where Hamas is. And that's where the food wasn't. That's where the Hamas is stealing it. But one thing they did say as they sent this picture in is they were so thrilled because the IDF, as you know, is closing in on Gaza City. >> They right now are containing 40% of of Gaza City. And she said the IDF was guarding a supermarket and they were able to go into the grocery store protected by the IDF soldiers to buy food without Hamas either, you know, terrorizing them, fertilizing them, or hiking up the prices. So she said, "We were so excited to finally buy food." And you know what they do when they get food? They don't just cook for their family. They invite all the people they're sharing Jesus with and they make a meal for everyone. That's right. And I think they've led what we've asked, "How many people have you led to faith in Christ during this war?" And they said, "Well, >> at least a couple hundred, two to 300." >> Two to 300. We haven't really counted. Can you imagine? So what I love what Paul says, the gospel will not be true. It will not be bound. There is no place the gospel cannot reach.
>> Amen. We are almost finished. One more slide here in a story and then we're done. If we can see this, this is Leon. God's not only working with Muslims and what we are saying is this is the great awakening for Muslims. More Muslims have come to faith in Christ in the last 10 to 20 years than in the last 14 centuries. It's a revolution. You'll never hear about it on TV, but everywhere we go, they're having dreams. They're having visions. Christians are praying. They're getting healed. Underground churches, secret churches. This is Leon, Jewish Holocaust survivor. Came to faith in Christ after someone shared the gospel with him, one of our team leaders for 20 years and he rejected it every time. Nope. Don't want to hear about this. Nope. Nope. Nope. The Nazis were Christians, weren't they? The Russians that invaded, they call themselves Christians and they did this to us. Didn't want to hear. After 20 years at 98, Leon comes to faith in Christ. Jewish believer, Holocaust survivor. And this is what he did. He became instant evangelist in Israel. He said, "Look, I want to tell you about Yeshua Hamashiach, and I got to do it quick because I'm in 98. Don't know how long much how much time I've got. So, listen up." And this is probably the only time I'll tell you. Just a couple of weeks ago, Leon went to be with Jesus at 102. God gave him four years.
One more picture. If you would go to that one, CJ, and you've done amazing. This was his funeral. And his son came up to the man that led him to faith in Christ and said, "I've seen such a change in my father's life. Will you tell me about Jesus?" And he prayed to receive Christ on the day of his father's death. He's 72 years old. He's not a he's not like 30s, you know, his dad was 102. He came to faith in Christ. God is moving in the Muslim world. God is moving among Israelis today. They are humbled. They don't feel like they have a lot of friends. And as evangelicals, we should be their best friends and show them that we love them. We've had a chance to talk with troops that we've outfitted and different groups like that and tell them that as Jesus followers, we support them. We stand behind them. But one of the best ways we can love Israel is to reach their neighbors. And it's the Muslims. And everything you see on TV is terrorism, trail of blood. But God is saving some of them. They're having dreams and visions.
And I close with this. We moved to Dallas uh 13 years ago. And in the summer, we lived in Colorado. The mountains, it was like shorts and a sweatshirt. It was wonderful. We're in Dallas. It is so hot. Are you kidding me? And so one day I got out of this meeting and I got in my car. It's in August. Jump in the car and on the freeway and my little Honda says six miles till empty. Well, I was supposed to pick up Joanne for dinner and now we're going to be late. And I thought, "Oh man." So I pull off the freeway. There's three service stations. I'll take the FINA. I go up to the FINA station, put my card in, it says must see cashier. So I go, "Come on, Lord. Please, can I have a break? You know, I'm doing your work." No. Anyway, and so I I go in and there's a woman standing at the counter and she's Muslim. And so I give her the card and I just thought, "Wow, I need to have a conversation with her." And I said, "Tell me your name." And she does. And we start to visit and I said, "Hey, have you heard how God is honoring your people?" And she said, "What do you mean?" I said, "He's lifting them up. He's coming to them in dreams and visions. Jesus is coming in dreams and visions." And I, in fact, I wrote a book about that. I'd love to give it to you. And she said, "You wrote a book about that?" And I said, "Yeah, I did." And she goes, "That's so weird because I've been having dreams about Jesus." So I said, "Excuse me a minute. Forgive me God for that crack about my schedule, my time. This is arranged. I give her dreams and vision. Jesus is awakening the Muslim world." Starts flipping through it. We go I go off do the dinner a couple days later. Going through town. Oh, I got to get gas. I'm going to stop at that FINA station. I drive up. I'm going to go to that same pump. I put the card in. Worked perfectly. See, I don't think it was a card malfunction. It was an order from God. It didn't say please see cashier. It said, "Must see cashier." Okay. So, I went in, there she is, Rawia, reading "Dreams and Visions." She goes, "This book is like my life." And I said, "You're like your life? How many dreams have you had about Jesus?" And she said, "Jesus has been coming to me for over 30 years now." I said, "What?" And I said, "Didn't you ever ask a Christian or go to a church and ask questions?" And she said, "Plenty of times." But I don't know. Maybe because I'm Muslim, I think they were afraid of me and nobody would answer my questions. But I just knew this. Jesus told me he loved me so much in these dreams and he would walk with his arm around me. And I never felt so safe with a man in my life. And she said, "I knew if he loved me that much, he was coming for me one day." And I said, "Roia, today is the day. This is the day." And I just started to share from the scriptures just through Romans and she was Yes. Yes. And we held hands in the FINA gas station and prayed and she gave her life to Jesus gloriously. Nobody walked in and interrupted us, right? She prayed to receive Jesus and loves him today. And I think about this, how many RAS are out there or people from other religions that are just wanting to know the truth. Listen guys, the gospel is on a roll around the world, not only in the dark places, but in our country too. Step out, walk in faith, trust God, build relationships, and he might lead you to someone like Raia or someone like Leon, and you could have the privilege of leading him to faith in Christ.
Let's pray. Father, thank you for this great church. Thank you for the opportunity to just share how glorious you are, how powerful you are, and how much you love the lost people. And even the ones that we didn't feel like going to at first, you have a heart for them and you just nudge us and you push us. And so, Father, we pray we would be open. Many people say, "Are the Muslims open to the gospel?" I think the real question is, are we open to share it? So, make us bold. You call believers to die for Christ in the front lines. You're calling for us to live for Christ here in America. We want to do that and be faithful. We love you and we thank you in Jesus name. Amen. God bless you. Thanks for letting us be here today. [Applause] Tom and Joy are going to be out in the lobby. They would love to speak with you and they'll tell you about the different books that they have written. And if one strikes you, let them know because we're going to be ordering a number of them and they'll be here very, very soon. And so, we're so thankful what the Lord is doing. The team's going to play one more song and then we'll have our elders here in the altar. They would love to pray with you. I will be outside. I would love to pray with you. Joan, Joanne, and Tom would love to pray with you. But what a wonderful ministry, huh? What the Lord is doing. And you know what? They're ordinary people serving an extraordinary God. And when we take the step of faith like they have, you'll see God do extraordinary things. Amen. Let's stand and we'll sing this last song and then Tom and John, if you guys will go out into the lobby and just so people uh be able to greet you on their way out, we'll sing the song again. The ministry elders will be here to pray with you. I will be outside. God bless you and have a wonderful Lord's Day.