...this will rock your socks right
off, ....these emails are the results of
the "Passion" being shown in
the Middle East; this was sent by a Campus
Crusade staff member to her mom, a
friend of mine....enjoy and Spread the
word.....
The Passion in the Middle East
Today very possibly was the most
significant day we have seen in nearly
12 years of living in the Middle East.
To everyone's shock and surprise,
"The Passion" was released
today here in Qatar. Just a few days ago when
N---
prayed for it to come to Qatar in our
prayer meeting (we knew it was opening
in the United Arab Emirates in about a
week), I honestly had no faith
whatsoever that her prayer would be
answered. You have to realize that until
now we have only been able to show the
Jesus film in Arabic to a handful of
Qataris in the secret of a home
setting. In the coming weeks, Potentially
10's of thousands of Arab Muslims will
see this powerful portrayal of
Christ's suffering and death.
Today at 4:30PM, our entire team went
to see the film. Since all of us have
heard many different reactions and
responses to the film, I won't add very
much to that discussion here.
However, I don't think anybody who has
seen this film saw it in a Theatre
which was full of Gulf Arab Muslims -
both men and women. In two short
hours, more Qataris heard the Gospel
than I have been able to reach in
nearly 5 years of living here. The
Arabic subtitles were completely accurate
- they didn't water ANYTHING down or
change any language that Muslims would
not agree with. All of us watched the
film in absolute amazement in what God
had done. The Muslims sitting around
us were being moved - gasping, crying
and reacting with disgust to the
brutality that Jesus faced.
Now - if you have heard anything about
why the Arab Muslims would want
To see the film, you know that it is
because they 'heard' it was anti-Jewish
and since they hate the Jews, they
want to see it. How interesting that God
is using this film to communicate the
Gospel and the very opposite spirit
that might be motivating them to go
and see it. The message to LOVE YOUR
ENEMIES, and Jesus praying for them to
be forgiven while on the Cross Would
hit the Muslim theatre-goer in a
powerful way.
Just as Satan surely felt that he was
winning when Christ began to suffer,
ultimately it was the plundering of
his house and his complete defeat.
Muslims are going to see this film
because of their hatred and in the
end, the message they will hear is to
LOVE. Is it not just like God to do
something like that? They mean it for
evil, and God means it for good!!
There is yet another motivation that
Qatar had in releasing this film
And that was to be "the first
country in the Middle East" to show the film.
Qatar is trying to change its image
and portray itself as a tolerant Muslim
country. Little do they know that this
film is exposing their people to many
truths that their faith categorically
denies. (The Sonship of Christ, the
Fatherhood of God, the Atoning Death
of Christ for the sins of the World,
and of course the commandment to
"Love your enemies".).
We are all still shell-shocked by what
has happened and what will happen
In the coming days. D--- and N----
P.S. Also mentioned in the article today:
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
watched the Passion of the Christ at a
private screening in the West Bank
city of Ramallah yesterday and said
it was not anti-Semitic. He watched
the film with Palestinian Muslim and
Christian leaders at his headquarters
in Ramallah."
I know I sent out the report of R.T.
Kendall sharing the Gospel Personally
with Yasser Arafat a few months ago.
May this film help him to come to Jesus
and learn to "love his
enemies" too!!
-----Original Message----- From: D
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004
10:51 AM To:
Subject: more about "The
Passion" in Qatar
Friends,
Since the last email, so much has
happened I simply do not know where to
begin. In all humility, we have to say
that in just a few short days, more
Arab Muslims have been able to clearly
hear (and see) the Gospel in Their
own language than we would be able to
reach in a lifetime of ministry in the
Middle East. We are just walking
around in our own version of a 'shock And
awe campaign'. Let me give you the
highlights and I'll try to write more of
the details later.
The film is so popular here in Qatar
that they have been canceling the Other
films to show "The Passion"
in all the theatres at a Cinema complex. I took
a former student the 2nd night, who
now works for the Ministry of Islamic
Affairs, and at the 7:30PM and 9:30PM
showing the film was running in all 3
theatres. I would estimate that well
over 50% of the people in the theatre
were local Muslims - women completely
veiled. I saw former students of mine
walking out. I saw one British woman
who converted to Islam walking out (I
prayed she would find her way back to
the faith she abandoned).
You could see how this film had
impacted everyone. After we saw the film, I
looked at my former student Mohammed
and said to him in Arabic, "Don't
you see that Jesus died for YOUR
sins". I then really took a bit of a risk
(seeing that he works for the Ministry
of Islamic Affairs" - I said, "you
know, Mohammed, you think that this
film is here because of 'freedom of
speech' or the 'new openness of your
government', but actually God Himself
has sent this film to CORRECT your
people's total misunderstanding about who
Jesus is, and why He came to earth'.
What followed was about a 2 hour
discussion/debate on many of the
differences between Islam and Christianity.
On the second day, several of the
local newspapers had the Advertisement
for the film ON THE FRONT PAGE. Here
is one of the links to an English
newspaper in case anybody is
interested to see.
<http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section>
http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section
Local_News&subsection Qatar+News&month
March2004&file
Local_News200403213279.xml
It appears that even Saudi Arabia is
getting a chance to see the film,
albeit through pirated DVD's -
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1098919/posts
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1098919/posts.
There are no movie
theatres in Saudi Arabia anyway. God
knows what He's doing. I was just
reminded what the Apostle Paul writes:
"It is true that some preach Christ
out of envy and rivalry, but others
out of goodwill. The latter do so in
love...The former preach Christ out of
selfish ambition, not sincerely...But
what does it matter? THE IMPORTANT
THING IS THAT IN EVERY WAY (pirated
DVDs?), whether false motives or True
CHRIST is PREACHED. And because of
this I rejoice". (Philippians
1:15-18)
Timing of the release. The killing of
Palestinian Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmad
Yassin happened the morning after the
film was released. The Arab
Response has been a whole new wave of
hatred for the Jews, which was
illustrated in a large public
demonstration/march yesterday. Again, God's
timing is so amazing. At a time when
the urge for Muslims to hate has been
renewed, the Lord has brought THE
PASSION telling them - NO, LOVE YOUR
ENEMIES! Forgive them! The contrast is
staggering.
Today, after class two of my Qatari
girl students came up to me and asked
me, "Do you have the New
Testament in Arabic"? "Me and ALL my friends want
to read it"! Another asked about
where to get the Arabic Bible on the
internet. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED! The
film is generating so much interest
in Jesus and the Scriptures. Every
Christian we are talking to seems to have
a story of two just like this one. May
it continue to increase.
Finally, I got a call from some good
friends who are now a part of the
International House of Prayer (IHOP)
ministry in Kansas City. 800 people
were gathered and he read my email
which then led into a time of
intercession for the impact of the
film in Qatar and the Middle East. Some
major Christian leaders were in the
meeting, and after the meeting one of
them came up to him and asked for a
copy of the email. She told him that she
was a personal friend of Mel Gibson's
and that she wanted to send it to him
to encourage him. He then told me that
as far as he knew Mel Gibson now
has a copy of the last email we sent
you.
If somehow this one gets to him, Mel,
we just want to say THANK YOU and
God Bless You! You have truly been
used by our Lord to change this Middle
Eastern country (and more in the days
to come) - to bring the message of
Jesus' atoning sacrifice, His Kingdom
of Love and His Divine Sonship to
A people who have categorically denied
every single one of them for more
than 1400 years. Be ENCOURAGED Mel.
Our lives and ministry have been changed
forever. Whenever the DVD is finally
released, PLEASE include Arabic
subtitles so that we can continue to
use this film, to the Glory of the
Lord for many years to come.
Watching God at work,
D and N
