Raised up with Christ

‘And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.’ (Ephesians 2:6, NIV)

Amen! Our lives have been transformed by Jesus and we are not just saved—we have a seat of honor with Him!

Christ’s resurrection is central to our faith, so Easter is a key time to talk about it. Pray that this two-minute video, which tells the story of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, will reach millions of men and women in the Arab world.

Pray that people will watch to the end of the video and want to know more about Jesus. Pray that our follow-up team will have answers to their questions and evident love for each person who makes contact.

A small gift to our ministry could make a huge difference to people’s lives.

Fear did not stop me

In Algeria, Nazim* lived opposite a Catholic church and really wanted to go inside, but he was afraid of what his family would think. When he eventually did, the priest was welcoming and gave him a Bible, but he found the rituals odd and didn’t feel comfortable.

Nazim’s interest in Christianity continued, though, so he was reading his Bible and watching satellite TV. When he came across one of our programs, displaying an Algerian phone number, he had to call.

A member of our follow-up team answered and told Nazim about Jesus. It wasn’t long before he accepted Christ as his Lord and Savior. Nazim read almost all the Bible and memorized portions of Scripture. But problems arose when his older sister discovered his faith.

‘She was very unhappy about this,’ says Nazim. ‘She had sacrificed so much for me, taken such good care of me, and I had deeply hurt her.’

Nazim’s mother had died when he was young and his sister had looked after him, so it was a big blow when she made him choose between her and Jesus.

‘I was faced with the painful choice of leaving our home or returning to our family’s religion,’ Nazim shares. ‘I did not want to lose my sister, but neither did I want to lose Jesus.’

This wasn’t a problem for long, though, because the Holy Spirit spoke to Nazim’s sister, telling her repetitively to ‘release’ her brother.

‘I joyfully called Miracle to tell them the good news,’ Nazim says. He is now free to follow Christ and has even been baptized in the presence of some Christian brothers.

Stories to tell

We have many stories to tell of people’s journeys to faith in Jesus. He is healing broken hearts, restoring lives, and building His church across North Africa and the Middle East.

Check out our Stories section to read more.

This Easter, may each of us have a renewed understanding of all that’s been done to raise us up with Christ.