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November 2004
Dear Friends,
Once again we are approaching the holiday season beginning with Thanksgiving. Traditionally at Thanksgiving I have taken the time for praise reports and testimony of special thanksgiving for the love and works of God during the previous year.
To begin this newsletter of special praise to God for what He has done and is continuing to do through World Outreach I want to first thank all of you who make it possible for us to continue in full time ministry. World Outreach has always been a shared ministry with giving as a vital part. In every Crusade, in every Conference, in every Bible College, Orphanage, and in every missions endeavor giving has been a major expression.
I have given everything away - placing others in my place. This has been made possible with the help of those who have supported World Outreach. At this season I am so grateful for those who have shared with World Outreach as partners in giving financially and in prayer.
I am especially grateful for you. I have made a covenant of prayer for you for multiplication as you continue to give.
Going to the Middle East at this time is one of the most important things I have done. Thank you for sharing with us in this privilege of going to the unreached millions who are under the veil of Islam.
To go we need our friends and partners more than ever.
As partners our covenant prayer is for multiplication for your continued faithful giving - that as you pour out, God would replenish and give back to you.
Luke 9:16-17
16 Then he took the five loaves and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed them, and brake, and gave to the disciples to set before the multitude.
17 And they did eat, and were all filled: and there was taken up of fragments that remained to them twelve baskets.
Luke 6:38
38 Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
1 Kings 17:16
16 And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the word of the LORD, which he spake by Elijah.
As the disciples distributed the loaves and fish the miracle of multiplication took place.
I am expecting God to bring specific multiplication for our partners this next year so that we can continue to send portions to whom nothing has been prepared.
Thank you for your gifts of love and support in prayer. This is God's purpose for World Outreach to be sent into the Middle East.
It is an exciting time as God is moving in the Islamic nations and many changes are taking place politically, spiritually, and culturally.
I am excited to see the hand of the Lord extended to touch Muslim people that have never had an adequate witness of Jesus Christ.
Already the impacts of the outreaches are pouring in. I have received some wonderful reports of the meetings in the Middle East.
I so appreciate your praying for these inroads in largely unreached regions of the world.
Below are some of the reports coming in from our last trip.
One of the coordinating pastors in one nation writes,
"Dear pastor,
I want to share with you some of the changes that have happened here.
I write this with deep joy and with tears of happiness.
Ever since you ministered to us, there has been substantial change in our Lives.
Faith has increased in us and we are now seeking God in full assurance that He will manifest His presence with power.
In the couple of services we have had, there has been a tremendous presence of God.
In one service, just after the first song, all the people went on their knees, some with faces on the floor. Songs and music could not continue, the preacher could not come to the pulpit, all the people were crying, sobbing, and groaning.... This went on for hours. It was very deep. Deep wells are bored in our hearts - glory to God.
People started to fall under the power of God. In one of the services, I was asked to pray for the people. Before I could pray, as I got near to everyone, they started being slain in the Spirit. There are now intimate encounters with the Lord.
There is a deep thirst and intensive hunger for the presence of God. Love and brotherly care have increased.
Sir, I want to thank you, for your kindness and warmness towards us. Your visit has been a great blessing to us. We literally enjoy, even thinking about it.
Your loving brother"
Another sister writes,
"Some wonderful things have been happening. One of my dear friends here in (country), is Jewish. Her mother was scheduled to have a total shoulder replacement, and I felt the Lord wanted to do something. To make a very long story short, she went for the operation, but the doctors found a healed shoulder. PTL!
My uncle just had a heart attack and 3 strokes. I felt if my sister went to see him he would be healed. Well she never even made it to see him and he was healed.
I know these are signs from HIM of what He wants to do here in this land for the Arabs."
I received another report of several leaders in an intercessory group from Saudi Arabia that are studying the notes from our Leadership Conference. They said, "The lights are coming on!"
PAKISTAN
God is releasing a great harvest with a fresh presence of His Holy Spirit through the largest Christian weekly meeting among Muslim people anywhere in the Islamic world.
What is happening here has the potential to change Pakistan.
Below are some pictures of the wonderful move of God taking place in Pakistan. I thought you would enjoy them.
Dr. Houtsma speaking
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Lady Totally Blind For 6 Years
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Head Mullah of Pakistan
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Dr. Houtsma speaking
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Crowd Reaching for Salvation
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Lady With paralyzed Left Arm
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Crowd Reaching for Salvation
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Boy With 2 Tumors That Disappeared
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Man Totally Deaf For Many Years
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Man Paralyzed by a Stroke
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Man Totally Deaf For Many Years
I will be returning in January and February to Pakistan and Middle East. We are planning more Leadership Conferences and some outreaches in the Middle East and a major Outreach in Lahore, Pakistan. There will be extended meetings, consultation, and help in establishing the new Christians in the faith.
IN AMERICA
God is moving in America touching people with His love and power. In a recent meeting I held with an Indian Church here in Atlanta we were privileged to see 32 Hindus come to Christ. This is the largest increase they have ever experienced for their church.
In another series of meetings God marvelously touched a little boy who had never walked and was never able to lift his legs. Because of Jesus' great love he is lifting his legs all the time, building strength and learning to find his balance so he can walk like a normal child.
THANKSGIVING DEVOTION
Psalm 92:1-4
1 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night,
3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
1) We Must Gratefully Appreciate God's Blessings Which Are Behind Us
The psalmist is taking a backward look and recounting how God had gladdened his heart through past blessings.
And who can fail to agree with the psalmist in this respect? Who among us can withhold praise to God as we Think of His work in our lives whereby God became our Father, the Lord Jesus became our Savior, the Holy Spirit became our Comforter, the Bible became our guide, the church became our fellowship, and heaven became our home?
Truly, we have to exclaim with the apostle Paul, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ" (Ephesians 1:3).
True worship is a person's spirit responding lovingly to an acute awareness of God. From birth to burial, a person will be confronted with this inner craving to relate to something far higher than himself.
The need to worship is inherent. In a broad sense, worship is inseparable from life and is an expression of life.
It is this eternal part of man that reaches beyond the physical, seeking contact with something higher and beyond himself. Spirit cries to spirit or Deep calls unto deep.
The foundational principle in worship is our restored relationship with God.
Worship demands recognition that ALL THINGS COME FROM GOD. None of us is a true owner of anything; we are merely trustees of a few things that Christ has granted us to use.
Bowing in worship is an acknowledgment of our complete subservience to and dependence upon God, who is the Proprietor of all things.
Secondly, worship demands that ALL THINGS MUST RETURN TO GOD.
Worship is more than embracing God's desires, it is celebrating God Himself. Christ's worthiness is constant, and where our attitude of dependence and celebration remain constant, Christ is worshipped in the very way we live.
Christ is worthy of the worship of submitted lives as well as of spoken and sung praises, but one cannot substitute for the other; they are like the two wings of a bird that work together making flight possible.
2) We Must Gratefully Anticipate God's Blessings Which Are Before Us
"…I will triumph in the works of Your hands. O Lord, how great are Your works! Your thoughts [more literally, designs and purposes] are very deep" (Psalm 92:5).
This is a thrilling statement! The psalmist has looked back with gladness and gratitude because of the blessings God has lavished upon his life, but now with expectation he rejoices in the possibilities of the future.
Psalm 50:23 - (literal translation)
23 Whoever offers the sacrifice of praise glorifies me and prepares a way whereby I shall show forth my victory.
As we develop a life of gratitude and praise we can expect God to open ways in our lives that will exhibit His victory!
Let our lives be filled with gratitude and thanksgiving for the goodness of God, both in the past and in the future!
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