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Tigress
Registered Member
Date Joined Feb 2003
Total Posts : 1252
| Posted 4/15/2004 8:40 AM (GMT -6) |   | My mom sent me this WONDERFUL e-mail today!
Tigress
Hi friends and family,
This was sent to me by a woman from my church. Thought you might find it interesting. I never thought this movie would even be shown in the Middle East, but "the Lord works in mysterious ways...." Check out below and please pray accordingly.
Subject: The Passion in the middle east
This was sent to me by a friend. It is a very interesting read!
Mel Gibson may be quite an instrument for the Lord and his work may help Jesus solve our problems in the Middle East - at least this is an apostolic dream....
Subject: Muslims in Qatar and Kuwait flocking to see The Passion
I am forwarding this from a physician that does medical/missionary work in the middle east. Pretty exciting news!
Subject: Muslims in Qatar and Kuwait flocking to see The Passion
An update from Qatar:
Today very possibly was the most significant day we have seen in nearly 12 years of living in the Middle East. To everyone's shock and surprise, "The Passion" was released today here in Qatar. Until now we have only been able to show the Jesus film in Arabic to a handful of Qataris in the secret of a home setting. In the coming weeks, potentially 10's of thousands of Arab Muslims will see this powerful portrayal of Christ's suffering and death. In two short
hours, more Qataris heard the Gospel than I have been able to reach in nearly 5 years of living here. The Arabic subtitles were completely accurate - they didn't water ANYTHING down or change any language that Muslims would not agree with. All of us watched the film in absolute amazement in what God had done. The Muslims sitting around us were being moved - gasping, crying and reacting with disgust to the brutality that Jesus faced.
Now - if you have heard anything about why the Arab Muslims would want to see the film, you know that it is because they 'heard' it was anti-Jewish and since they hate the Jews, they want to see it. How interesting that God is using this film to communicate the Gospel and the very opposite spirit that might be motivating them to go and see it. The message to LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, and Jesus praying for them to be forgiven while on the Cross would hit the Muslim theatre-goer in a powerful way.
Below is an excerpt from the newspaper article that was run today in the local newspaper:
"INTERNATIONAL blockbuster film Passion of the Christ will have a multiple release in Doha today. Qatar is to be the first country in the Middle East to screen the film..."
We are all still shell-shocked by what has happened and what will happen in the coming days.
Please pray for these urgent requests:
1. That this film will be allowed to be shown for a significant period of time. It is being shown in 3 different theatres, up to 4 times a day. Fundamentalists will surely be in an uproar about this unprecedented event. Just when we thought Satellite television was going to be the most significant way for the Lord to sow the seeds of the Gospel, this film arrives in Muslim nations!!
2. That this film will cause a major shaking and stirring in the hearts of many Muslims leading them to salvation.
3. That God will lead us to men and women who have been/will be impacted by this powerful film.
P.S. Also mentioned in the article today: "Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat watched the Passion of the Christ at a private screening in the West Bank city of Ramallah yesterday and said it was not anti-Semitic. He watched the film with Palestinian Muslim and Christian leaders at his headquarters in Ramallah."
************
A report from Kuwait:
So much has happened I simply do not know where to begin. In all humility, we have to say that in just a few short days, more Arab Muslims have been able to clearly hear (and see) the Gospel in their own language than we would be able to reach in a lifetime of ministry in the Middle East. We are just walking around in our own version of a 'shock and awe campaign'.
- The film is so popular here that they have been canceling the other films to show "The Passion" in all the theatres at the cinema complex. I took a friend on the 2nd night. The film was running in all 3 theatres. I would estimate that well over 50% of the people in the theatre were local Muslims including women completely veiled.
- On the second day, several of the local newspapers had the advertisement for the film ON THE FRONT PAGE.
- It appears that even Saudi Arabia is getting a chance to see the film, albeit through pirated DVD's. There are no movie theatres in Saudi Arabia anyway. God knows what He's doing.
- Timing of the release. The killing of Palestinian Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin happened the morning after the film was released. The Arab response has been a whole new wave of hatred for the Jews, which was illustrated in a large public demonstration/march yesterday. Again, God's timing is so amazing! At a time when the urge for Muslims to hate has been renewed, the Lord has brought THE PASSION telling them - NO, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES! Forgive them! The
contrast is staggering.
- Just today a couple local women asked me, "Do you have the New Testament in Arabic? Me and ALL my friends want to read it!" Another asked about where to get the Arabic Bible on the internet. THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED! The film is generating so much interest in Jesus and the Scriptures. Every Christian we are talking to seems to have a story of two just like this one. May it continue to increase.
There have been several articles in the paper, all positive and surprisingly silent in terms of emphasizing the Islamic belief that Jesus did not die on the cross. People are talking about wanting to go and see it. Pray that many would watch this movie and that it would spark an interest and hunger to know more of Jesus and the Bible. Pray that hearts would be drawn by the love of Jesus. Pray that believers would make the most of this opportunity to talk with
their friends, to be available for those who will be impacted by what they see.
David
Tigress 
"Name a shrub after me. Preferably one that's prickly and difficult to eradicate."
-Captain Jack Aubrey
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Wahoo
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2004
Total Posts : 142
| Posted 4/15/2004 9:04 AM (GMT -6) | | "Just today a couple local women asked me, "Do you have the New Testament in Arabic? Me and ALL my friends want to read it!" "
Wow! 
I hope that all the intelligensia of the Muslim world will not be able to contain this.
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Wahoo
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2004
Total Posts : 142
| Posted 4/16/2004 5:01 AM (GMT -6) | | Hey Tigress,
Do you have any links reporting this and the response? I'll look too but I was wondering if you had any.
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Wahoo
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2004
Total Posts : 142
| Posted 4/16/2004 5:16 AM (GMT -6) | | I was waiting to see the response in the Middle East.
Braveheart is a film depicting the clan and tribal society of earlt Scotland. In many countires in the Middle East, this is still in recent memory if not still the norm. I think that Arabs, Kurds and others have alot of respect for Mel Gibson.
Secondly, the film was given front page press as being Anti-Semitic. That is prime fodder for the Palestinians and anyone else who is sympathetic to their cause. Yasser Arafat loves the film.
english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F1AA34B0-1DAA-4A97-BE65-BD54EB703B65.htm?GUID={1B89956B-CDCB-4552-BB3E-4A8AC2A2EAEC}
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F1AA34B0-1DAA-4A97-BE65-BD54EB703B65.htm?GUID={1B89956B-CDCB-4552-BB3E-4A8AC2A2EAEC}
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Wahoo
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2004
Total Posts : 142
| Posted 4/16/2004 5:20 AM (GMT -6) | | Link Alert
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/F1AA34B0-1DAA-4A97-BE65-BD54EB703B65.htm?GUID={1B89956B-CDCB-4552-BB3E-4A8AC2A2EAEC}
You are gonna have to copy and paste that URL into your address bar. For some reason the link will not open with the whole address.
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Wahoo
Registered Member
Date Joined Jan 2004
Total Posts : 142
| Posted 4/16/2004 5:27 AM (GMT -6) | | Here's a couple more links...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3604051.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/3598133.stm
"Anything Jews say is bad becomes interesting in this part of the world," said Alfred Mutua, a Dubai-based film director and university professor. "It sells easily."
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