ARRESTED IN MIDDLE EAST: Prison Was a Mission Field

Brother Nathan had a ministry sharing the gospel and praying with Muslims in the Middle East. He and other believers had been evangelizing for more than eight years. The responses were almost always positive. Then, out ministering with two others last year, they ran into a very different response. Nathan and his two friends found themselves in a police office, their hands behind their backs, facing a serious charge of “heralding Christianity.”

Nathan’s missionary journey started long before his arrest. At 19, Nathan joined YWAM to experience short-term mission work after deciding to give his entire life to be used by the Lord—wherever He asked Nathan to go. Nathan will share how Peter’s choice to step out of the boat onto the water with Jesus inspired him to be all in with Christ. As a young man and zealous missionary, Nathan didn’t think much about the risk of Christian persecution—until it happened.

Listen as he tells the story of his arrest and what he felt when as he realized he could be facing years in prison. Nathan will also share how the Lord relieved fear and anxiety when he and the other believers took their prison bread and the water and turned it into a sacred remembrance of Christ’s suffering: “It was almost as if Jesus just walked into the cell and took anxiety off our left shoulder, fear off our right shoulder. He gave us peace instead and then walked out…it was very supernatural.”

Nathan will share advice and encouragement to future missionaries and describe his missionary work in the Middle East. “Muslims are hungry for prayer,” Nathan shares. “They are real people with real issues who long for prayer.” Nathan had many opportunities to pray healing over Muslims and see the Lord at work.

Join us next week to hear more of Nathan’s experience in prison and how a prison cell became their mission field for Christ!

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