“Do you really want to pray for me?”
“Do you really want to ask the God of heaven to heal me? Do as you like, but I do not believe that God would ever look at a woman’s agony. It is His will for us to suffer.” This was Fatma’s first reaction when some Christians wanted to pray for her. Healing, according to her, was to expect too much from God.
Many Yemeni women have the same thoughts as Fatma. Not all their suffering comes from sickness – much comes from a wide variety of injustices. They suffer when they are denied education, and when they are married at a very early age and often against their will. Most work hard all day and endure abuses. Often they are divorced for the flimsiest reasons, and sometimes they become a second or third wife. They grow up without expectations, believing that it is their destiny to serve and please others even while they suffer. They have been made to believe that this is the will of God.
Most Yemeni women do not know God as a caring Father. They largely live in darkness away from the light of His great love. They cannot imagine Him sharing their pain and being aware of the injustices that they suffer. Yet there is hope: God is a God who longs to heal, comfort, and renew their lives. Fatma is now a Yemeni believer. And she is not the only one. Along with her there are a few other women who have received new life with God. (There are possibly as many as 200 Yemeni believers, although the majority are men.)
Flag of Yemen
Map of Yemen
Yemen (population 20 million) is the poorest of the Arab nations, and is also considered the most ‘backward’ country by her richer Arab neighbours. Yemenis are 95 per cent Arab living in 1,700 clans and tribes (62 per cent Sunni Muslim and 37 per cent Zaidi Shiite Muslim). Islam is the country’s official religion, and the legal system is based on Islamic sharia law. Has not God chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong? Doors to this nation are open. Many seeds have been sown, martyrs have given their lives. The harvest is getting riper.
“All those from Sheba (Yemen) will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord” (Isa 60:6).
Prayer points
* The Queen of Sheba (Yemen) came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Pray that the women of Yemen come to the One greater than Solomon, to hear His wisdom and receive life from Him (Matt 12:42).
* Pray that the converted Yemeni women grow in faith and maturity while building godly friendships (Eph 4:11;6:24). Often they have difficulties meeting together because of family responsibilities and safety issues.
* Pray for the converted Yemeni men as well. Pray for mature leaders to be raised up, leaders who can become fathers and shepherds for the rest of the flock.
* Pray for the Truth of Jesus to captivate the Yemeni people.
Question: “Is Jesus the only way to Heaven?”
Answer: “I’m basically a good person, so I’ll go to heaven.” “OK, so I do some bad things, but I do more good things, so I’ll go to heaven.” “God won’t send me to hell just because I don’t live by the Bible. Times have changed!” “Only really bad people like child molesters and murderers go to hell.”
These are all common rationalizations, but the truth is that they are all lies. Satan, the ruler of the world, plants these thoughts in our heads. He, and anyone who follows his ways, is an enemy of God (1Peter 5:8). Satan is a deceiver and often disguises himself as someone good (2 Corinthians 11:14), but he has control over all the minds that do not belong to God. “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4).
It is a lie to believe that God doesn’t care about small sins or that hell is reserved for “bad people.” All sin separates us from God, even a “little white lie.” Everyone has sinned, and no one is good enough to get to heaven on their own (Romans 3:23). Getting into heaven is not based on whether our good outweighs our bad; we will all lose out if that is the case. “And if by grace, then it is no longer by works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace” (Romans 11:6). We can do nothing good to earn our way to heaven (Titus 3:5).
“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it” (Matthew 7:13). Even if everyone else is living a life of sin in a culture where trusting in God is not popular, God will not excuse it. “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient” (Ephesians 2:1-2).
When God created the world, it was perfect and good. Then he made Adam and Eve and gave them their own free will, so they would have a choice whether to follow and obey God. But they were tempted by Satan to disobey God, and they sinned. This separated them (and everyone that came after them, including us) from being able to have a close relationship with God. He is perfect and holy and must judge sin. As sinners, we couldn’t reconcile ourselves to God on our own. So God made a way that we could be united with Him in heaven. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23). Jesus was born to die for our sins so that we would not have to. Three days after His death, He rose from the grave (Romans 4:25), proving Himself victorious over death. He bridged the gap between God and man so that we may have a personal relationship with Him if we only believe.
“Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent” (John 17:3). Most people believe in God, even Satan does. But to receive salvation, we must turn to God, form a personal relationship, turn away from our sins, and follow Him. We must trust in Jesus with everything we have and everything we do. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference” (Romans 3:22). The Bible teaches that there is no other way to salvation than through Christ. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Jesus is the only way of salvation because He is the only One who can pay our sin penalty (Romans 6:23). No other religion teaches the depth or seriousness of sin and its consequences. No other religion offers the infinite payment of sin that only Jesus Christ could provide. No other “religious founder” was God become man (John 1:1,14) – the only way an infinite debt could be paid. Jesus had to be God so that He could pay our debt. Jesus had to be man so He could die. Salvation is available only through faith in Jesus Christ! “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
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