Letters to the Editormom there.) When leaving, Mairbek said,‘May God keep/protect you’, <strong>and</strong> I toldhim that Jesus loved him; Mairbek alsoreminded me not to open the door at night.Please pray for:• God’s blessing on the English, guitar,<strong>and</strong> Bible-reading times I’m leading• The Lord to comfort Vika <strong>and</strong> her dad,Tamik, on the loss of Zina (Vika’s mom<strong>and</strong> Tamik’s wife)• Svyeta <strong>and</strong> her husb<strong>and</strong>,Valiko thatGod will draw them to Jesus, <strong>and</strong> comfort them with His love• And please pray for my cousins, the Nicolette family. My 18 year-old cousin, John,was killed in a skateboarding accident onthe morning of his last day of high school.John was holding on to the side of a Jeepwhen he fell off his board <strong>and</strong> sufferedsevere damage to his head. Please prayfor his mom <strong>and</strong> dad, <strong>and</strong> his youngersister. Please also pray for the studentwho was driving the Jeep, as he now has tolive the rest of his life with this on his conscience. This is especially tragic for the Nicolette family since the father (also namedJohn) lost his own father not too long ago.Thank you for all of your prayers, love,<strong>and</strong> support in this ministry,In Jesus our Hope <strong>and</strong> Peace,jason, jalazone7@yahoo.comTrust in YHWH with all your heart.Proverbs 3:5Dear Friends:Ebyown Childrens Home is situatedin South Africa 65 km outside Johannesburg,currently we have 9 children but thiswill increase shortly to 15 children shortly.All the children have special needs<strong>and</strong> range in age from 1-10, while Lyn isexperienced with pre-school she is in needof someone to help with the older children.The curriculum used :KonosLaltlMathsuseeFootprints over AfricaWe are looking for an energeticperson who is zelous for the Lord,has teaching experience <strong>and</strong> willingto give at least 2 years to the children.The missionary must be sponsoredalthough we can provide accommodation,food <strong>and</strong> a friendlyfamily working environment.If anyone is interested please applyto Dave Royle at thelion@mweb.co.za44 <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly • June 2007Baghdad, IraqYour Letters ...-I have been working in Iraq for 3 1/2years. A friend asks, “Any hope in Iraq; isit any different”?Shia killing Suni <strong>and</strong> vise versa; justmore pronounced. Where there is Islam,there are problems. Consider most of thewars & conflicts in the world have Islamdirectly or indirectly related to them. Themost blessed countries are God honoringcountries. The Middle East had to haveWestern knowledge <strong>and</strong> technology to remove& refine oil products <strong>and</strong> bring themfrom the Stone Age to the jet age. Islam,though peaceful in the US will not continueto be peaceful. Eventually, they willgrow in number <strong>and</strong> start to influence legislation<strong>and</strong> take over government activities.Islam will try to enslave Americans& Europeans into its deceptive, oppressiverules <strong>and</strong> interpretations. They willattempt to take freedom from every countrythey inhabit. Islam’s end goal is worlddomination <strong>and</strong> conversion of this world’sinhabitants. Muhammad started Islamwith the sword <strong>and</strong> Islam WILL End withthe sword at the “Battle of Armageddon”.After reading 2/3 of the Koran, it becameclear it is a book full of war <strong>and</strong> comm<strong>and</strong>s<strong>and</strong> examples to kill, expel or oppressnon-Muslims. They have taken theTestament of the Jews (Christians call theOld Testament) <strong>and</strong> incorporated there interpretationto accommodate their beliefsin the Koran; “There is a way that seemsright to a man but the end is the way ofdestruction; eternal loss (Proverbs 14:12).They have peaceful verses that keepthe ignorant <strong>and</strong> unlearned off balance,therefore, unaware of its true intents.Muslims say the Koran is a holy book thatmust be kept in the original language forthe true meaning. The only book that isholy is the Word of God who “became aman <strong>and</strong> dwelt among us” (John 1:10-14),“Who died once, for all” (1 Peter 3:18)<strong>and</strong> “Without the shedding of His Blood,there is no remission (forgiveness) of sins”(Hebrews 9:22). Without Jesus, this worldis “Lost <strong>and</strong> without hope” (Ephesians2:12) <strong>and</strong> that includes Muslims, Europeans<strong>and</strong> Americans claiming Christianitywith-out asking Jesus to come into theirlives (Romans 10:9-10). In the book ofRevelation, the saints/Christians are be-headed for their faith (Revelation 20:4).The Middle East still practices this formof the death penalty <strong>and</strong> they will continueit during the time of the Tribulation.Is this offensive to the Muslim community?This applies to anyone, anywherein the world. How many times did Jesus& John call the “Religious” leaders,scribes...etc, snakes, vipers, graves full ofdead men’s bones, hiding the truth fromthose who are seeking it, Jesus saying theyare children of the devil, who was a liarfrom the beginning <strong>and</strong> a murder (John8:44). Every person, not matter what theirbeliefs are, that has lived throughout eternitypast, present <strong>and</strong> future will have oneevent in common, “Every knee shall bow& every tongue shall confess that JesusChrist is Lord” (Romans 14:11). For thesaved, they will bow to Christ as theirsavior, the lost will bow to Christ as theirJudge at the Great White Throne Judgment(Revelation 20:11-14). God gave all a freewill. Judas was not predestined to betrayChrist <strong>and</strong> be lost; he became a trader, hemade his choice (Luke 6:16. NKJ version).The only “Predestination” taughtin the Bible is “Whoever shall call on thename of the Lord shall be saved. Thosewho call on Jesus are predestined foreternal life. The decision for Christ is anINDIVIDUAL choice.The USA had its battle for independence& <strong>and</strong> more than 500,000 died in theCivil War that eventually made the USA“One Nation under GOD”. The price washigh but out of that destruction came thegreatest nation to ever exist. The US is themost powerful <strong>and</strong> advanced country thatcontributes more than any nation to makethis world a better place. If Iraq has a CivilWar that results in freedom, then theirchildren will enjoy the freedoms their parentsfought <strong>and</strong> sacrificed their lives for.H.International Zone, Baghdad, IraqL e t t e r s t o t h eE D I T O R
Letters & CommentsFeedback AustraliaYour letters <strong>and</strong> CommentsDear Marg,Thank you for putting together theintercessors’ prayer list. There certainlyis enough to say grace over, as FatherTim says in the Mitford series. Thereare lots of hurting people out there.What I’ve done - perhaps it may helpyour other readers - is put half the pagesof the prayer list in the New Testamentwhich I read in the morning, <strong>and</strong> the otherhalf in the Old Testament which I read atnight. So that helps me to remember tobe faithful praying in depth for one personon each list every day. I also have writtenout a quote from Ephesians 3:20-21 on abookmark kept there too, to remind mewhen daunted that it’s not my prayers butthe One to whom I’m praying that’s effective,<strong>and</strong> that He is not limited in any way.One can become discouraged whenprayers don’t get the quick answers wewant. I remember my pastor from Americasaying that time is part of God’s answeredprayers, something difficult for usin this day of quick fixes (Jacob preachedabout that in South Africa in 1994 or‘95; that we Christians have adopted theworld’s mindset with the expectation thateverything has to be done pronto). ButI’m not in any particular hurry to prayfor patience, because I know from experiencehow the Lord answers that one! :)But just to provide encouragement toothers: about five years ago the Americanpastor above - he was a church planter -left South Africa to go back to his country,<strong>and</strong> he’d decided it was just too expensiveto ship out his furniture once again. Heasked us to pray for him <strong>and</strong> his wife; thatthe Lord provide whatever they neededto replace what they were going to giveaway in South Africa. Well, later fromAmerica he said to me: ‘I think you canstop praying now; all the furniture wecould ever need, <strong>and</strong> more, has been provided;it just came in from everywhere!’.I have lots of answered prayers likethat in a notebook; reflecting on God’spast faithfulness strengthens my beliefin present <strong>and</strong> future help; thoughone has to resist the worldly mercantilenotion that one can exhaust one’scredit with God. I write ‘Ebenezer’on the cover of each, after Samuel, aswell as this poem by John Newton:“I will trust <strong>and</strong> be notafraid” - Olney Hymn 37By John NewtonBegone, unbelief,My Savior is near,And for my reliefWill surely appear;By prayer let me wrestle,And He will perform;With Christ in the vessel,I smile at the storm.Though dark be my way,Since He is my Guide,‘Tis mine to obey,‘Tis His to provide;Though cisterns be broken,And creatures all fail,The word He hath spokenShall surely prevail.His love, in time past,Forbids me to thinkHe’ll leave me at lastIn trouble to sink:Each sweet EbenezerI have in reviewConfirms His good pleasureTo help me quite through.Determined to save,He watched o’er my path,When Satan’s blind slave,I sported with death;And can he have taught meTo trust in his name,And thus far have brought me,To put me to shame?Why should I complainOf want or distress,Temptation or pain?He told me no less.The heirs of salvation,I know from His Word,Through much tribulationMust follow their Lord.How bitter that cupNo heart can conceive,Which He drank quite up,That sinners might live!His way was much rougherAnd darker than mine;Did Christ, my Lord, suffer,And shall I repine?Since all that I meetShall work for my good,The bitter is sweet,The medicine, food;Though painful at present,‘Twill cease before long,And then, oh, how pleasantThe conqueror’s song!Isn’t that hymn just so strengtheningto one’s spirit <strong>and</strong> so full of goodtheology? A vast improvement onthe advertising jingles passing themselvesoff as worship nowadays.May God bless you <strong>and</strong> <strong>Moriel</strong><strong>and</strong> all the <strong>Moriel</strong> supporters too,<strong>and</strong> may all our problems last aslong as our New Year’s resolutions!In ChristDenise of New South WalesAustraliaConsider these two facts:1. The Purpose Driven Church byRick Warren has sold over 1 millioncopies in 20 languages <strong>and</strong> is a st<strong>and</strong>ardtextbook in hundreds of Bible Colleges.2. Over 400,000 pastors from 162 countrieshave been trained under Rick Warren’schurch growth seminar material. Is it anywonder that Warren calls his philosophy a“stealth movement flying beneath the radarthat’s changing literally thous<strong>and</strong>s ofchurches around the world”? Yet despitethe incredible popularity of Rick Warren<strong>and</strong> others like him, there are numerousserious problems with the church growthmovement. For a new critique of Warren’sdangerous book see www.webtruth.orgJune 2007 • <strong>Moriel</strong> Quarterly 45