I sat in utter amazement as these people shared their experiences of social and physical persecution, imprisonment and in one instance, death, all because of their witness of Christ and his power to change lives.
Gwen and I were in meetings last week for a consultation of ministries working in North Africa and the Middle East. I can tell you God is doing a very special work among the people of these nations! While radical religious ideas are motivating this persecution, for a multitude of others there is a spiritual hunger, which will not be denied!
What I was particularly pleased with through these reports was the repeated expressions of thanks for those doing media and broadcasting “the story that changes lives” into this region of the world. Time and again, references were made, by national leaders, of how media was making an impact. People are becoming open to hear the gospel of hope and love and salvation because the seeds of faith are reaching them via the Internet, satellite broadcast, and DVD distribution.
Samir Youssef, one of our media partners, used “The People Who Met Jesus”, “The Parable of Jesus” and “The Path of Jesus“ to illustrate 32 “It’s Time for Miracles” programs (Gospel focus). Currently, these programs and others are aired on four different channels over 40 times a week! Samir reported the following responses in 2009:
|
Response Type |
# of Responses |
|
Top 6 Countries |
# of Responses |
|
|
20,684 |
|
Egypt |
10,348 |
|
Phone |
10,892 |
|
Saudi Arabia |
8,416 |
|
SMS |
8,754 |
|
Algeria |
8,034 |
|
Letters |
6,071 |
|
Sweden |
5,034 |
|
MSN |
2,633 |
|
Tunisia |
4,709 |
|
|
|
|
Morocco |
4,297 |
|
|
|
|
Other |
8,196 |
|
Total |
49,034 |
|
Total |
49,034 |
We are thrilled to partner with people like Samir and we are grateful to God for the opportunity to work with a team here at IMM who are creating these video segments to “tell the story that changes lives.” We are also grateful to each of you who are standing with us in prayer and support. We simply could not do it without you!