“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”
“A seed shall serve him, it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall declare His righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that He hath done THIS.” (Psalm22)
Dearest brothers and sisters,
Greetings to you all in WONDERFUL name of Jesus. He is wonderful to all. He is the Glorious God and will not share His glory with any and we must give unto God what is His.
We thank you and are grateful for all your prayers, encouragements and assistance.
By God's grace, we continued to visit our brothers & sisters in the prison, who are increasing in number by God’s grace. The Lord has blessed us with monthly allowance from the City Hall, which is meant to be a temporary help to us until we become self-support completely, (for which we shall appreciate your prayer). We’ve been using it to also meet some of their material needs. However it would not cover their air fair. Some of them have no money to go back to their countries and we are praying with them for the Lord’s provision.
More people have come to the Lord and we thought it would be better to let you know about it in more details, separately.
During the week days, Esther continues to share the Good News, by passing out the tract sat the train station and Yousef uses the internet chat system to build up relationship first and then shares the Good News with those who show interest.
The first Sunday, before Yousef shared the word of God in a Brazilian church in Ibaraki, a brother from Brazil shared his testimony of how the Lord had changed his heart from loving money to loving Him and His work. It was so obvious that the Lord had visited him and given him revelation of His heart for the Lost. He shared that his father was a Pastor back in Brazil and almost all his family members were in the ministry. He had come to Japan leaving his wife behind in order to earn more money. We know that for a while he was making a fortune through food business and after that had been doing other jobs, until the Lord spoke to him through mark 2:22, asking him if he had the new wine in new bottle. .
God had blessed him and while Yousef was praying for God’s blessing on him, He gave Esther a word of prophecy for him. He said that it was the same prophecy given to him when he was eight years old and praised God for giving him the confirmation of the same.
Then Yousef shared God’s word, which encouraged us all to follow God no matter what the cost. He shared that when he was yet in Iran, he was questioning Peter's act of denying Jesus the night He’d been arrested, believing himself to stand for God if he were in the same situation. Then one day as he was taken to court for further interrogation for some business matters, he was accused of being converted to Christianity as well. He found himself so afraid & could not write “Christian” as he came to question about “religion” on the form he had to fill up. Then he really understood how Peter felt in his situation and prayed that the Lord would spare his life that time in order to serve him. The judge read the address and asked Yousef if he knew the man who owned a Super Market next to his address. Yousef just said that he was his friend and with that the judge’s attitude was changed and released him after few more questions. Yousef went to visit the owner of the S. Market and told him all that had happened asking him who he was! He said that he was the nephew of the highest religious leader in Iran. God saved him from the death and he understood that it was impossible to confess God on our human strength. We must keep growing in the strength of God the Holy Spirit. Then a sister came forward for prayer, who the Lord showed Esther that she’d burden to serve God. As Esther spoke it out she admitted that with much tears and committed herself to God and to His service. And another brother came to the Lord who Yousef prayed for. It was our blessing to see God touch His people’s lives and to raise new workers for the harvest, which is definitely one of our ministry goals.
The third Sunday, Esther had the privilege to share the message in the Brazilian church in Ibaraki pref. The Pastor of the church, brother Gilberto is a Spirit filled, gifted man of God, and some of the key elders, as Methodists were quite resistant to the baptism of the Holy Spirit in the Biblical terms. The Lord had told Esther that He’d give her souls that day. During the ministry time, a brother who had just believed in Jesus the night before, came forward to receive the baptism of the Holy Spirit. The Lord showed Esther that he was still under satanic influence and as she prayed for him he testified that he‘d experienced the warm touch of the Holy Spirit in himself. He was a drug addict for some years and said that at times he felt like something was moving on his body. Praise the Lord for giving us the authority over all powers of darkness. Then another brother came forward for the same reason for whom we prayed. But no one came to the Lord yet, so Esther was wondering. During the lunchtime, God told her, “Go sit next to the Japanese lady. Your ministry time is not yet finished.” Hence by God’s grace she shared the salvation message with her in Japanese and her Brazilian boy friend (ex-YWAMer) was praying for her while Esther was talking about Jesus with her. She gave her life to the Lord and there was much joy in the church because of what God had done in her life. Praise the Lord for the openness of hearts, which allows God to do what he wishes to do in His people’s hearts. Glory to God.
The last Saturday of the month, the Lord gave us the opportunity to share at a Brazilian church in Gunma pref. (a Church branch of Pr. & Mrs. Ricardo Basedin Nagano.) the meeting started at 8 PM and went on till about 4 A.M. Sunday. By now we know some Portuguese praise and worship songs and enjoyed our time of praise & worship together a lot. Before Esther shared the message, the Lord gave her a word of Prophecy, which the dear Pr. acknowledged that they had been praying about it and it was a confirmation from the Lord. God encouraged them through His word. She, by God’s leading shared on some Characteristics of the church found in revelation chapters 2&3. Then Yousef shared through one of His experiences, encouraging them to over come fear. God almighty used us to set His people free from fear of man and poverty, to give burden for His service to many young people and to heal His children spiritually. A day before the meeting, as Esther was praying, the Lord shifted one of the church member’s burden on her, without knowing the person. During the ministry time, among those who came forward was a sister, who the Lord showed Esther several things about her past and as God the Holy Spirit ministered to her she was set free of the personality complex in her childhood and the guilt of adultery before she’d come to the Lord. Esther felt the same feeling of the burden the Lord had given her the previous day & was amazed with the greatness of God’s love and compassion for His children. As Yousef was praying for a sister, she was filled with continuous joyful laughter and was set free of her burden. God touched many others as well.
Then we got ready for the crusade in first week of May where Yousef, Esther &Brother Philip from Malaysia were the guest speakers. God did great things there too which we’ll share in our next newsletter with you.
All Glory & Honor, Praise & Worship be unto Our God for evermore.
We love you all and praise the Lord for each one and the way He uses you.
Thank you for your prayer support in every way.
In His love
Yousef & Esther Eisa Khani (Pastors)