[Apologetics] the 'Passion' in Qatar

[Stuart D. Gathman]

Dear Friends,

Down below is a report of the film being released in Qatar in the Arabian
Penisula. We were wondering how the Lord would use the film in the Muslim
world. 

The report down below gives us something of an indication. Let us pray that
many in the Muslim world will turn to the Lord and be saved. It is there
(Muslims) turn.

Every Blessing,

Frank


The Passion in the Middle East

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. Just a few days ago when
N---prayed for it to come to Qatar in our prayer meeting (we knew it was
opening in the United Arab Emirates in about a week), I honestly had no
faith whatsoever that her prayer would be answered. You have to realize
that 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.

Today at 4:30PM, our entire team went to see the film.

Since all of us have heard many different reactions and responses to the 
film, I won't add very much to that discussion here.

However, I don't think anybody who has seen this film saw it in a theatre
which was full of Gulf Arab Muslims - both men and women. 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.

Just as Satan surely felt that he was winning when Christ began to suffer,
ultimately it was the plundering of his house and his complete defeat.
Muslims are going to see this film because of their hatred and in the end,
the message they will hear is to LOVE. Is it not just like God to do
something like that? They mean it for evil, and God means it for good!!

There is yet another motivation that Qatar had in releasing this film and
that was to be "the first country in the Middle East" to show the film.
Qatar is trying to change its image and portray itself as a tolerant
Muslim country. Little do they know that this film is exposing their
people to many truths that their faith categorically denies.

(The Sonship of Christ, the Fatherhood of God, the Atoning Death of
Christfor the sins of the World, and of course the commandment to "Love
your enemies").


We are all still shell-shocked by what has happened and what will happen in 
the coming days. D--- and N---- 
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."

I know I sent out the report of R.T. Kendall sharing the Gospel personally 
with Yasser Arafat a few months ago.

May this film help him to come to Jesus and learn to "love his enemies" too!! 

-----Original Message----- 
From: D 
Sent: Wednesday, March 24, 2004 10:51 AM 
Subject: more about "The Passion" in Qatar

Friends,

Since the last email, 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'.

Let me give you the highlights and I'll try to write more of the details 
later.

The film is so popular here in Qatar that they have been canceling the
other films to show "The Passion" in all the theatres at a Cinema complex.
I took a former student the 2nd night, who now works for the Ministry of
Islamic Affairs, and at the 7:30PM and 9:30PM showing the film was running
in all 3 theatres. I would estimate that well over 50% of the people in
the theatre were local Muslims - women completely veiled. I saw former
students of mine walking out. I saw one British woman who converted to
Islam walking out (I prayed she would find her way back to the faith she
abandoned).

You could see how this film had impacted everyone. After we saw the film,
I looked at my former student Mohammed and said to him in Arabic, "Don't
you see that Jesus died for YOUR sins". I then really took a bit of a risk
(seeing that he works for the Ministry of Islamic Affairs" - I said, "you
know, Mohammed, you think that this film is here because of 'freedom of
speech' or the 'new openness of your government', but actually God Himself
has sent this film to CORRECT your people's total misunderstanding about
who Jesus is, and why He came to earth'. What followed was about a 2 hour
discussion/debate on many of the differences between Islam and
Christianity.

On the second day, several of the local newspapers had the advertisement
for the film ON THE FRONT PAGE. Here is one of the links to an English
newspaper in case anybody is interested to see.

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section Local_News&
subsection
Qatar+News&month
March2004&file
Local_News200403213279.xml

It appears that even Saudi Arabia is getting a chance to see the film,
albeit through pirated DVD's -

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1098919/posts. 

There are no movie theatres in Saudi Arabia anyway. God knows what He's 
doing. I was just reminded what the Apostle Paul writes:

"It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others
out of goodwill. The latter do so in love...The former preach Christ out
of selfish ambition, not sincerely...But what does it matter? THE
IMPORTANT THING IS THAT IN EVERY WAY (pirated DVDs?), whether false
motives or true CHRIST is PREACHED. And because of this I rejoice".
(Philippians 1:15-18)

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.

Today, after class two of my Qatari girl students came up to me and 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.

Finally, I got a call from some good friends who are now a part of the
International House of Prayer (IHOP) ministry in Kansas City. 800 people
were gathered and he read my email which then led into a time of
intercession for the impact of the film in Qatar and the Middle East. Some
major Christian leaders were in the meeting, and after the meeting one of
them came up to him and asked for a copy of the email. She told him that
she was a personal friend of Mel Gibson's and that she wanted to send it
to him to encourage him. He then told me that as far as he knew Mel Gibson
now has a copy of the last email we sent you.

If somehow this one gets to him, Mel, we just want to say THANK YOU and
God Bless You! You have truly been used by our Lord to change this Middle
Eastern country (and more in the days to come) - to bring the message of
Jesus' atoning sacrifice, His Kingdom of Love and His Divine Sonship to a
people who have categorically denied every single one of them for more
than 1400 years. Be ENCOURAGED Mel. Our lives and ministry have been
changed forever. Whenever the DVD is finally released, PLEASE include
Arabic subtitles so that we can continue to use this film, to the Glory of
the Lord for many years to come.

Watching God at work, 

One working in Qatar


Frank Dietz
Minister at Large with OM International
www.menwithfaith.com 

-- 
			Stuart D. Gathman <stuart at bmsi.com>
      Business Management Systems Inc.  Phone: 703 591-0911 Fax: 703 591-6154
      "Very few of our customers are going to have a pure Unix
      or pure Windows environment." - Dennis Oldroyd, Microsoft Corporation