First off, it is neither soccer, nor football, nor futbal in Saudi Arabia. It is footvolley – which, you have to admit, makes sense.

Second, soccer is kind of a big deal. The ‘Brazil of the desert’ has surfaced a few times.

Third, in spite of enthusiasm displayed by both royalty and average Saudi men (and maybe women, but as of yet I don’t believe their even allowed in the stadium), no Saudi player (footvolley-er?) has even made an impact in Europe or any other big leagues. Probably not very surprising.

And then Naif Hazazi showed up…

He is 10 months and 11 days older than me – and makes infinitely more money, which is besides the point. Anyway, he’s young. And good.

And then he tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee. I don’t know what a cruciate ligament is, but I know that ‘tore’ and ‘knee’ in the same sentence is bad news. He’ll most likely miss at least the entire rest of the season.

Now, I know at this point you may be thinking this is a little strange. But just for a moment, bear with me…think this through again, only this get past the fact that he’s Saudi, Muslim, and a soccer player. What do you have left? A 20 year old boy who probably thought he had life all under control – and then, in a moment, life blows up in his face.

Sound familiar?

It probably should. All of us go through that same pattern of thinking we’re in control, painfully realizing we’re not and then – well, what does come next? For us, for Christians, we put our focus back where it should be, on God. But here’s the really exciting thing – once, you went through that pattern except that for the FIRST time, you turned to God. That was the moment God first showed you that He had put His seal on your life.

This isn’t everyone’s story, but for most of us, salvation came at a time when life spun out of control – for the worse.

See the connection yet?

Naif Hazazi – brilliant soccer player, young, probably good looking, rich – and now all of that doesn’t matter so much. Believe me, he doesn’t play soccer for the money. He’s also in the unique situation (for Saudi Arabia) of having – obviously – heavily exposed to Islam (being Muslim) but as a soccer player, he’s seen a more Western style religion as well. There’s even a chance he’s heard the gospel, though I wouldn’t count on it. He’s seen the best of both worlds, lived the best of at least one.

But now his cruciate ligament is torn and his life, his real god probably, has been taken away.

You know where I’m going with this.

So the real question is, do you feel silly praying for an injured soccer player from the other side of the world? Do you really believe that God is powerful and sovereign enough to use this injury to show one young man his need for Christ? Why can we so easily pray for dear Aunt Susie, but it’s so easy for us to think this boy is somehow beyond the power of prayer and therefore beyond he power of God? He needs to know that He is a sinner, and that Christ died and rose again for Him.

Never, ever feel silly praying for a specific someone’s salvation, no matter how far removed, or how far above (or below) they seem from your life. They are a human, a sinner, in need of a savior.

So pray for the soul of Naif Hazazi.

After all, why wouldn’t you?

“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.” And the Lord said to him, “Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.” But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.” But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name.”
Acts 9:10-16

It wasn’t quite as surprising as it would have been, because their daughter lived in my college dorm last year and I knew from her what her family did. But it still surprises me a little every time I hear it. Americans ministering to Arabs in France…

But how amazing is the way our God works?

These missionaries are in France, so they cannot help but be salt and light in the French culture, even if it isn’t their primary focus. They minister to Muslims, and former Muslims who in turn are a light to their family, some who are in France as well, but many are still in Algeria. Two nations, 3 different groups of people – all in one ministry.

Our God will build His church.

Pray:
-For the ministry in France. Many of the believers there are still young in the faith and surrounded by Muslim family. Pray that the testing they are constantly going through would not wear them down but instead strengthen them.
-Pray for continued outreach directly to the country of Algeria. This is a developing branch of their ministry, and many changes are happening.
-Pray for the assistant that is shortly to arrive in France to help them work out the details more widespread ministries within France itself.

“He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Matthew 16:15-18

When we pray impossible things, when we make enormous requests of God, do we speak with the impossibility of the request in mind, or do we intend to know only the power of our God?

God is so much bigger the the biggest prayer request you have. So many times I find myself not even bothering to pray, because I ‘know’ it won’t change things. As if I could know something like that. As if I have the authority to tell God what He can and cannot do.

Think of the most wonderful, impossible prayer request you have. Then remember what God has done…and remember that He has not asked, but commanded that we bring even the tiniest requests to Him. This, this is a God deserving of our lives.

But at larger state and secular private universities, that isn’t the case. And while there are probably still fewer students studying in the U.S. from restricted nations than, say, Europe, there are still massive amounts, and it’s only increasing.

And so you have a unique, preciously short, situation: students from restricted nations in an unrestricted environment – and better yet, they will eventually be going back as citizens and civilians to their own countries and families. What better way to evangelize and equip missionaries (who are already fluent) to preach the gospel in countries hostile to Christ?

There are missionaries in the universities across the U.S., but I don’t think they’re very common. I know of only one. But it’s such a good idea!

Just think, it’s much easier to support a missionary in the states, there isn’t really a need to speak anything other than English, and the ability to speak English is exactly what many international students want. If you’re willing to teach them, converse with them, in English, they will listen to you. Imagine how wonderful it would be to find people who were willing to be your family when your lived half way around the world from home! What better opportunity to exhibit the love of Christ!

If we preached the gospel to the international students, imagine the way they would impact the world! Every large religious or ethnic (and many that aren’t so large) are represented in the high education of America – and they are the most effective witness in their own countries! When they go, there is no cultural, language or ethnic barrier, the relationships are already formed, the mission field fully prepared.

Why do we not send more missionaries to the universities of America? It is a REAL mission field – and possibly the most open field. But the opportunity is closing, as our laws become more and more antagonistic towards Christianity. Why are we waiting, why are we not going now? You do not have to go far to impact the world.

Pray:
-For international students across the U.S. (concentrated most in places like NYC, Chicago, and LA), pray that they would find the outreach missions already there
-Pray that God would send His people as missionaries to college students, and that we in turn would be willing to go. Perhaps that is where He is calling you?

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching.”
I Timothy 4:12-13

“Iraq (MNN/OD) ― After a period of relative peace, the situation in Baghdad has become worse again. There have been explosions, and many people — Christians and Muslims — have been killed in the attacks.

The most recent attack claimed the lives of 95 people, while injuring more than 500 in the heart of Baghdad.

Unfortunately, hospitals and doctors are not able to cope with the injuries and with taking care of the wounded. As a result, many of the wounded survive the explosions but diein the hospitals. One of Open Doors’ co-workers in Baghdad has sent three e-mails writing about the chaos in Baghdad and his emotions about the escalating violence and loss of life.

E-mail I: “We watched a television report a few days ago about the explosions. It showed people crying, not because of the dead in the explosions but because of no bandages and other medical supplies for hundreds of injured persons who were taken to the hospital. Another day, my friend went with his friend to search for his mother in the hospital; he didn’t know if she was dead or alive. During the search in the hospital, they found a lot of blood on the floor. The doctor checked each body and when there was a lot of blood on it, he ordered the body moved directly to the fridge for the dead, saying, ‘We don’t have time and bandages enough for these cases. We just save and medicate the simple cases.’ Imagine how many people can be saved if there is enough doctors and medication. If you do not die in the explosion, you will die in the hospital. They (the Iraqi government) didn’t supply the hospitals with enough medical supplies. We watched television for more than six hours about the explosions and our eyes didn’t stop crying. Ohhh, my God, for how long will we suffer from these butcheries? Our two rivers — the Tigris and Euphrates — will be filled by blood! Jesus, we trust and believe in Your mercy and Your work to make revival, but when, and for how long?”

E-mail II: “Dear all, greetings in Christ. It is another bloody day but worse, with a lot of explosions. Many people were killed and injured: 350 killed reported in the news, but we guess about 1,500 killed. I called my best friend who works here in the foreign ministry, and I thought that he was killed. But the mercy of God saved him because he didn’t go to work today. But all of his friends were injured and dead. It looks like evil has no work except in Iraq; he (Satan) is free of other jobs and is now just destroying Iraq. Please, God, we beg You to save Iraq from the hand of evil!”

E-mail III: “We live in a miracle time and way. This morning we were in the hospita,l and hundreds of injured people entered because many explosions happened in many different places in Baghdad and Mosul. What life do we live in? I don’t know why all this is happening to the Iraqi people and especially Baghdad’s people. I love my country and my city of Baghdad, but I am thinking of leaving. Every day we live like in a horror city. Our wives cry all the time and are scared that we won’t come back alive when we leave the house. For how long can I stand it? I don’t know if I am right or wrong if we stay in the blood city of Baghdad. How can we enter our family in a very bad hospital? How can we drive in the worst street in the world? I know we have a great Protector, but I want to tell you that we will be alone because many Christians are still leaving Baghdad. I am sorry. I am very depressed from the situation and living over here. So please excuse me and pray for us to always do the right thing.”

Signed – “From the tearful man in his city.”

More than 600,000 Christians in Iraq have been displaced since 2003 with 100,000 living in the Kurdish-controlled region in northern Iraq. Around 400,000 have fled to countries such as Syria, Jordan and Lebanon because of the security breakdown in the country and the increased persecution following the start of the Iraq war in 2003. Prior to the Gulf War in 1991, there were almost one million Christians in Iraq; now there are less than 400,000.

Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller says despite the lower number of Christians, “The church is growing. And one of the great testimonies to the power of the Holy Spirit and the witness of Jesus Christ is that He is actually appearing to many ‘seeking Muslims’ in dreams and visions. This is happening all over Iraq.”

“Please pray with me for the Christians in Iraq,” says Moeller. “As these powerful e-mails from our grieving Open Doors co-worker indicate, the violence inside Iraq, especially around Baghdad, is escalating. They don’t see a light at the end of the tunnel. Media attention now is being drawn to Afghanistan, but we must not forget our brothers and sisters in Iraq.”

Pray:
-For medical supplies to reach hospitals in Iraq
-For Christians still in Iraq, and those considering leaving, for wisdom and safety

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, for your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
Romans 8:35-37

Washington — International Christian Concern (ICC) has learned that an 18-year-old Christian has been falsely accused of blasphemy, beaten, and imprisoned in Gujranwala, Pakistan.

The young man, Safian Masih, lived in a mixed neighborhood of both Christians and Muslims. On August 8, the young daughter of one of his Muslim neighbors demanded that Safian bring her items from the grocery store. Safian refused, and she slapped him. Safian slapped her back, and the argument escalated to include both families.

After the altercation, the girl’s parents accused Safian of trying to rape their daughter. When other Muslims heard this, they gathered and severely beat him. After beating him, they submitted a report to the police accusing Safian of rape, and had him handed over to police custody and jail.

Two days later, on August 10, the Muslims changed their story and accused Safian of blasphemy instead of rape. They claimed that the girl was attending a madrassa to learn about the Qur’an, and that when Safian encountered her he took her Qur’an and tore out its pages. After hearing this accusation, some Muslims attacked Safian again and beat him so badly that they forced him to “admit” that he had “blasphemed” the Qur’an. They then handed him over to the police again.

On August 14, a Muslim mob gathered and demanded that Safian be put to death for blasphemy.

Safian is currently in police custody, but his family has fled their home because they fear for their safety. The mob also threatened to kill anyone who helped Safian or his family.

ICC’s Jonathan Racho said, “In Pakistan, Christians live as second-class citizens and repeatedly face violence from the Muslims majority. Muslims easily exacerbate small disagreements and call for the execution or even murder of Christians. While ICC does not condone Safian’s slapping of a Muslim girl, it is unconscionable for Muslims to call for his death.”
(International Christian Concern)

Pray:
-For Safian Masih to be released and his family’s safety. Pray for Safian to be a courageous witness of Christ in prison.
-For the family of the girl Safian got in an argument, pray they would be convicted of their lies and their own condemnation before the true God
-Pray that blasphemy laws in Pakistan would be repealed, and until they are, that they would only provide greater motivation for Christians to spread the Gospel

““Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Matthew 5:11-12

“Converts such as Gohary “should be killed by authorities,” says Abdul Aziz Zakareya, a cleric and former professor at Al Azhar University. “Public conversions can lead to very dangerous consequences. The spreading of a phenomenon like this in a Muslim society can cause many unwanted results and tensions between Muslims and non-Muslims.”

“I’ve always felt Christian,” says Dina, a lithe 15-year-old who doesn’t look away when she speaks. “But my mom has taken me to sheiks to convince me of Islam. She made me wear the hijab and go to the mosque against my will. My father and I are in danger. A man with a beard once grabbed me and told me that ‘if you and your dad don’t stop, I’ll kill you both.’

“Islam is the only thing Egyptians are 150% sure of. If you reject Islam, you shake their belief and you are an apostate, an infidel,” he says. “I can see in the eyes of Muslims how much my conversion has really hurt them.”

But Maher El Gohary and his daughter Dina aren’t giving in. They move apartments every few months, have to be careful of neighbors, and live with their suitcases packed.

How many of us would live out of a suitcase and trust God to protect our loved ones to keep from compromising the name of Christ?

Pray:
-For Maher el Gohary and Dina and their safety. Obviously their story has gotten some press, pray that their lives cause others to seek after Christ.
-Pray for Dina. The article says nothing more than she ‘feels Christian.’ Newspaper article are harshly cut, so the context may have made it clear that she is a Christian, but it isn’t as definite as her father. Also, pray for her as a 15 year old girl who has essentially had her life taken away from her, pray she will be content and fulfilled in Christ alone.
-Pray for Abdul Aziz Zakareya who so vehemently hates Christians – remember, the Apostle Paul was once a persecutor.

“As they were going along the road, someone said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” To another he said, “Follow me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” And Jesus said to him, “Leave the dead to bury their own dead. But as for you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God.” Yet another said, “I will follow you, Lord, but let me first say farewell to those at my home.” Jesus said to him, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.”
Luke 9:58

Sadly but not surprisingly, the seriousness of the situation in Somalia gets lost among Americanized images of bandana-wearing buccaneers seeking plunder on the open seas.

After all, if Johnny Depp is your biggest problem, how bad can it be?

Piracy certainly adds to Somalia’s problems, but it is the savagery happening away from the water, especially toward Christians, that makes this east African nation one of the most brutal places on earth.

The reports are horrific. In one, Islamic extremists pulled three children from a mother and beheaded two of them. The third escaped, screaming all the way home.

“I watched my three boys dragged away helplessly. I knew they were going to be slaughtered,” said Batula Ali Arbow, whose husband, Musa Mohammed Yusuf, refused to provide the extremists with information about a Christian church leader.

Yusuf, himself a leader of an underground church, had already fled to a Kenyan refugee camp, where his wife and family later joined him. Even in the Kenyan camp, however, the persecution continues. The reach of the extremist group Al-Shabaab continues to expand far and wide.

Quite simply, Somalia is a mess. But enough of a mess for the U.S. to mess with? While Darfur attracts our sympathies, Somalia has attracted only indifference. And yet the pot continues to boil.

After 19 years of political unrest, the political and religious situation in Somalia is getting worse. Al-Shabaab militants are hammering away at the fragile government of Somali President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed. The militants already have power in the outlying regions, but now are focusing on the capital city of Mogadishu, where Islamic insurgents are seeking to establish strict sharia law. To prove their point, last month they recently sentenced four men each to amputation of a hand and a foot for robbery.

More recently, militants reportedly beheaded seven Somalis for being Christians and “spies,” according to Reuters News Agency.

Muslims dominate Somalia, which has a 99.95 percent Islamic following. The relative handful of Somali Christians – only a few hundred – have been forced underground, while others have sought refuge in neighboring countries.

Somalia is ranked No. 5 on this year’s Open Doors World Watch List, which ranks the top persecutors of Christians. The previous year Somalia was ranked No. 12, and next year it will likely jump closer to the top.

“Those who come to Christ in Somalia do so at a huge risk. Most of them are Muslim background believers who face unbelievable pressure and persecution, even death,” said Open Doors USA President/CEO Carl Moeller.

Paul Estabrooks, Open Doors Minister-At-Large, explained that while the majority of Somalis are moderate Muslims, they are drowned out by the militants who seek both religious and political rule. It’s not enough that the extremists want to influence what and how Somalis should believe. They also want to enforce it.

No wonder Al-Shabaab is being compared to Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden’s network of terror.

“Certainly if not linked to al Qaeda economically or politically, they have the same agendas and are willing to use the same kinds of tactics,” Estabrooks said.

Similarly, Estabrooks supposes a working arrangement exists between Al-Shabaab and the Somali pirates, who continue to cause trouble along major shipping routes.

“The piracy is perceived as an economic issue – poor people just trying to make money,” Estabrooks said. “One press review even sided with the pirates … that the country is so bad that people are simply taking things into their own hands.”

Estabrooks takes a different slant.

“I can’t prove it, but I suspect there is a connection (between pirates and Al-Shabaab). These (militant groups) don’t all depend on Osama’s millions.”

Al-Shabaab is not just a Somali problem, say those who follow the situation closely.

“Al-Shabaab is a threat to the whole world,” Somali Information Minister Farhan Ali Mohamoud told CNN last week. “Somalia’s problems are not for Somalia alone to solve. Not only for the African Union to solve. It is a global and regional issue.”

Regionally, there is deep concern that Al-Shabaab is not content to gain power only in Somalia. The group has threatened an attack on the Kenyan capital of Nairobi if Somalia does not cease asking for international help.

Kenyan government spokesman Alfred Mutua told CNN his country does not fear direct attacks, but is alarmed about foreign jihadists imposing their ideas into the region. The danger appears to be Al-Shabaab linking with foreign terrorist networks.

“We do believe that Al-Shabaab poses a threat, not only to Kenya but to all neighboring countries such as Ethiopia and Eritrea,” Mutua said.

Still, the immediate emergency is in Somalia, where kidnappings, militant recruitment drives and murder is becoming almost the norm.

So it is not actual piracy but the symbol of piracy – skull and crossbones – that strikes fear into Christian Somalis. They know the horror of headless skeletons.

“KIRKUK, Iraq — A Christian doctor was kidnapped and two people were killed in attacks by armed gunmen in the restive northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Tuesday, police said.

The doctor, a paediatrician, was abducted from his car by unidentified gunmen as he drove home in the oil-rich city, a local police official told AFP, requesting anonymity.

A bystander, also a Christian, was shot dead by the men during the kidnapping, the official said.

Another man was also shot dead by gunmen in a separate attack in the city.
Kirkuk, a mixed city of Arabs, Kurds and Turkmen, is the capital of the province of the same name and has a Christian population of 10,000. A Christian man and woman were shot dead in the city on April 28.

There are fears that tensions between the national government in Baghdad and the autonomous northern Kurdistan region over control of the disputed province could spill into conflict.

Despite a reduction in violence in recent months, attacks on security forces and civilians remain common in Baghdad, Mosul and in the ethnically divided northern oil city of Kirkuk.

The number of violent deaths fell by a third last month to 275 from 437 in June, following the pullout of US forces from urban areas.
The figure for May was 155, the lowest of any month since the US-led invasion of 2003.”

Pray:
-For for the Christian doctor kidnapped, that he would be a witness to His captors of his freedom in Christ Jesus, and that he would be released.
-For the family’s of the two men killed. One of them was just a bystander, ‘wrong place wrong time’ though our God is more sovereign than that. Their family’s expected them to come home that night. Instead, they will never see them again. Pray for their comfort and courage.
-Pray for the tension in Kirkuk, Baghdad, and Mosul not to lead to Christian-Muslim conflict as it so often does. Pray that the Christians in these cities would shine out with the peace of Christ.

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33