I've read books like "The Heavenly Man", "Even Greater" by Reinhard Bonke and many other great men of God who experienced God's supernatural, miraculous intervention in their lives.
Today was different. I didn't read about him. I met him, conversed with him, put my arms around him, took a picture with him and heard his story.
At first sight, he seemed like any other ordinary foreigner in Singapore working at some blue-collar job, eking out a living here.
He wasn't tall or extremely gorgeous. Neither did he possess a really attractive and charismatic aura (he did smell good though...his perfume smell was really strong. LOL). Here's who I'm trying to describe.
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| Brother Samuel :) |
His identity will shock you as it did me. And after hearing his story, shock turns into awe. His testimony is too good not to share and too titillating to not pen down.
This man is the son of the Vice-President of the ruling Yemen political party - General People's Congress. Yes, he comes from one of the most cataclysmic regions of the world - the Middle East.
If you're wondering "Yeah right, which Middle Eastern has a Biblical name 'Samuel'?" then your skepticism has led you the right way.
Lemme try to recall and pen his mind-blowing testimonies. Every word inked here henceforth is a recollection attempt of whatever he shared. Do read till the last part because the stories only get more and more exciting. If you can't bear reading too many words, do start from the back. Haha.
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Samuel was brought up in an Islamic household. His family was filthy rich. The car he rides in has to be of the same colour of his shirt. Let that sink in awhile...the colour of the car he rides in has to match his shirt colour!!
Yes, he has more than 40 over cars! His home, or rather, palace, has 6 floors! Luxurious was an understatement!
However, all these materialistic provisions didn't abate his spiritual hunger. He was growing up and learning about Islam and had questions.
He learned that according to the Islamic law, a man could have up to 4 wives. However, Prophet Muhammad had more than 12 wives!
Samuel's logic went "So why didn't the law apply to Prophet Muhammad? He was a mortal man like any other Muslim. He lived, he died and should be subject to the law! What more he was a PROPHET! He should be living out the laws religiously and showing other Muslims how to live it out instead of breaking it."
Puzzled, he went to ask his father. Upon hearing his question, his father flew into a rage and took a knife and chopped his left hand - near to his small finger - and his father infuriatingly warned him not to ask any more questions.
This hurt him deeply. He thought "How could Islam turn my dad against me physically? Instead of addressing the doubts, he lambasted the logic. If this is what Islam teaches, I would not want any part of it."
However, relationship with his dad wasn't strained that badly - as long as religious questions were not mentioned. They were still very close to each other.
From that experience, he figured that the Muslim god was not acceptable and went on his search for the one true God.
While growing up, Samuel had very little friends. Because the bodyguards won't let any kid near him. The only kids allowed to play with him were his neighbours' kids.
His neighbours were from England and they were either diplomats or ambassadors in Yemen and so his parents figured that not much harm could be done by interacting with them.
So every day after school, after washing up and eating at home, he'd go over to their place and play with their kids and watch TV, etc...
In his interaction with them, he felt something was missing in his own family. He then went to tell his dad that he felt something was missing.
The dad asked "What's different? We're much richer than them! Love? We do love each other as a family and we spend time together. Happy? Aren't we happy as a family?"
Samuel agreed to whatever his father mentioned but added 2 more points "They did not live in fear like us with security guards controlling everything and they prayed a lot everyday." The father then figured that they were Christians and reminded Samuel that all Christians are liars, bent on killing all Muslims.
The next thing Samuel knew, that English family were moved away. He was lonely and friendless again.
Yes, in the middle east, all the children are taught from young that all Christians are:
1) Liars
2) Bent on killing all Muslims
3) Therefore they support Israel in occupying their land and wanting them exterminated
Therefore Christianity wasn't an option. In fact, he very much wanted to meet a Christian and ask them why they were so bent on killing Muslims.
With his search for God still ongoing, he then tuned into radio to hear about other faiths and he found this radio station that had this guy preach about this God called "Jesus" in Arabic.
This Arabic preacher would read stories from the Old Testament and New Testament and talk about this God called "Jesus".
Samuel was captivated. Could this Jesus be the real God he was searching for? Samuel didn't know Jesus was the Christian God. Yes he was indoctrinated by the 3 poisonous lies every Middle Eastern kid is imbued with about Christianity but not against Jesus.
This preacher after each podcast would give his address and told his listeners "If you want a copy of the Bible, you could write me and I will mail it to you."
One day, Samuel wrote to that preacher and he mailed him a Bible. In those days, the Bible was very thick, like the Qur'an. The Arabic Bible also looked exactly like a Qur'an with beautiful Arabic wordings on the cover embedded in gold ink.
The thing about Qur'an delivery is - It's considered to be a sacred book and IS NEVER SENT BY POST. It is ALWAYS DELIVERED BY HAND. To send it by post is to dishonour the holy book.
When Qur'ans are imported or exported, they're packed very nicely in containers and the containers carrying the Qur'an CANNOT BE PLACED BELOW ANY OTHER CONTAINER. That would also be a dishonourable act.
That is how sacred the Qur'an is! Thus this method of delivery was unacceptable.
As such, the post office staff proceeded to open the parcel and to their further horror, they discovered it was A BIBLE!
One day, while having dinner together as a family, the dad's PA or staff alerted him that there were several secret police waiting outside to see him.
The first thought that came to their minds was "Something has happened to the president. Maybe he died and required his dad to take over. Or some political situation has went out of hand they needed to go into hiding...etc..."
The thing about his dad is, after office hours, he doesn't allow anyone to contact him about his work unless it's an emergency. After work, it's strictly family time. Thus, a visit from the secret police would mean an emergency.
Samuel then went out with his dad to see what the issue was about. And there the policemen handed him the Bible and said "Do you know someone is trying to get you killed? Someone mailed you a BIBLE! Thankfully the post office staff intervened and report the matter to us first. If this matter had leaked, you would be in serious trouble!"
His dad was enraged and said that the person who mailed this to him should be killed and chopped to many pieces.
Right there, Samuel was in cold sweat as he looked at the Bible that he had requested. He feared for his life and never did that again.
From there, Samuel figured that since Islam was the only faith available for him, he should study it. Maybe upon studying it more in-depth then he'll discover God.
However, upon more studying, more doubts just came in and the Mullahs will vehemently warn him not to ask any more questions.
He then gave up trying to find God and focused on his job. He worked in the secret police force that serves to protect the President and his aides.
The secret police force would get firsthand information updates about what's going on in the country and he'd be one of them receiving the updates.
One day, news came in that vaccines for newborn kids coming in from overseas required special fridges to store it at around -10 degrees celsius.
The hospitals in their rich town had such facilities to store the vaccines properly. However, the hospitals in the rural cities and towns did not have the proper amenities to store the vaccines and thus the vaccines would expire/spoil in those hospitals.
However, the vaccines were still administered, resulting in the deaths of nearly 3000+ babies!
The people there were very simple minded. Upon discovery that their kid died from some medical complication, they'd just go "Oh, it is Allah's will that my child has died."
This irked Samuel even further "How could all these religious Muslims do that? How could they just attribute it all to Allah?"
He then brought this issue up to the President and challenged him. This enraged the Yemeni President and he wanted Samuel dead.
Samuel had no choice but to escape to Sweden as a refugee. This was the beginning of his journey to Christianity.
Upon arrival in Sweden, there was a street evangelist who wanted to talk to him about God. And all Samuel wanted to speak to was to a Christian so he could ask why were they so bent to killing all Muslims.
To his surprise, that street evangelist claimed to be a Christian and handed him a pamphlet on the faith in Arabic. He was excited and wanted to read and study it to prove Christianity wrong and evil.
After reading this pamphlet, he was sure he didn't want the Christian faith. All that the pamphlet portrayed was death and destruction. The pamphlet however, was a pamphlet from the JEHOVAH WITNESSES - a cult. Hence the erroneous message.
He was still searching for God. Just that now, he was not only poor spiritually, he was also poor physically and financially because he has been banished from his homeland.
To him, that was the end. He wanted to take his life. He went to the internet to find ways of committing suicide and settled for eating rat poison.
So he told God "By tomorrow morning if you don't show yourself to me, I'll go to the mart buy rat poison and take my life." He had nothing to lose.
But God had a plan. While sleeping, God revealed Himself to Samuel in a dream. He saw God sitting on a big chair and his face was light - mesmerizing light that he was drawn to. God then told him "I am Jesus" and renamed him "Samuel" in his dream. Thus, he calls himself Samuel now.
Then God showed Samuel this old woman and told him her name and instructed him to find her because she was His daughter and would tell him more about Jesus.
Samuel awoke and went about trying to find this woman. He searched for days but couldn't find her and just when doubt settled in and he wanted to go back to his plan of taking his life, HE SAW HER and he followed her all the way back to her office.
There at her office, he confirmed her identity and told her to tell him more about Jesus. She refused because it was late and told him to come back next week because it was the weekends.
He refused and told her the story of how Jesus showed her who she was. The woman then cried and relented. She was actually a pastor of a church in Sweden.
She then taught him about Jesus for 8 months and he brought his other Muslim apartment friend with him and they were all saved.
God then told Samuel: You will stay in Sweden and no one will harm you here.
Right after this, his time in Sweden was up and had to be deported back to Yemen. In Sweden, they will give you 2 weeks notice by mail before they send police officers to facilitate your exit. And usually upon receiving this letter, all the refugees will flee and change addresses.
Samuel however, knew that if God wanted him to stay in Sweden, God'll make it happen; there's no need to flee. Isn't God greater than the authorities?
The first time he went back to the immigration centre to be extradited, the top police officer was too sick to sign the documentation for him to be deported back to Yemen. Thus, they told him to come back 2 weeks later.
2 weeks later, he went back and the authorities were totally surprised and asked him "Why didn't you run away? Go! Run away! You are a good man."
However, he did not for he believed if it was really God, he did not have to do things illegally. This time, his papers were signed BUT the airport was closed due to the heavy snow and he thus couldn't be flown back to Yemen. He was thus given ANOTHER 2 weeks of stay.
He reported back the 3rd time and this time, he was handcuffed and escorted by 2 police officers onto the plane. His faith was then shaken and he cried uncontrollably as he thought "Did God forget His promise to me to stay in Sweden?"
The police officers then consoled him for they knew that once he went back, he'd be dead. One of them even gave him his number saying "If you don't die, you can contact me for help."
Just as the plane was about to leave for Yemen, one of the plane engines went down and the flight was cancelled! Samuel then fell to his knees and thanked God profusely.
He was then asked to report in ANOTHER 2 WEEKS TIME.
The 4th and last time he went back, he was called to the top police officer's office. The top police officer asked him "How do you do this? Magic? The 1st time I had a terrible diarrhea and stomach flu that I HAD TO SLEEP IN THE TOILET! The 2nd time the airport had to close due to weather condition. The 3rd time the plane engine malfunctioned! Who knows what'll happen on your 4th try?"
After much conversation, he was granted PR status in Sweden by the top police officer or immigration officer or whatever. God is amazing!
The next out-of-this-world testimony was this: One night, God spoke to Samuel in a dream to share Christ to this drug-dealer who was working as a cleaner in this place.
Samuel was lazy and tried to make things difficult for God. He told God that if 150 krona was to be mailed to his mailbox to cover his train fees to and fro by 9am, he would go.
He then told his friend about this impending miracle that awaited. His friend then drove over to his place and they both kept vigil by the post box to see who'd God use to mail the 150 Swedish Krona to him miraculously.
They waited and they kept their eyes on the mailbox throughout till 9am AND NO ONE CAME! His friend was then pretty upset with God's performance and so was Samuel.
They both agreed to open the mailbox before he left. So they both went to mailbox and hesitated opening the mailbox. Samuel's faith was shaking! If he opened and discovered an empty mailbox, he would walk away from the faith!
However, upon opening the mailbox, they both found an envelope in the mailbox! On the envelope was Samuel's name written in gold and inside contained EXACTLY 150 SWEDISH KRONORS!!
His friend fell on his knees right at that moment and he was saved! He then travelled to share the gospel with that man and he too was saved!
Up till this day, he still keeps this envelope in the bank's safe deposit slot because his name was handwritten by God on the envelope in gold!
Every week, he'd go and take a look at the envelope at least once at that particular timeslot in the afternoon to just remind him of God's amazing hand in his life.
One day, the bank's deposit counter staff, a 25 year old young man asked him "What is in your deposit box? People come and deposit things here and don't come back for it after 4-5 years but you come back here almost everyday!"
From there, Samuel shared with him the story behind it and let the young man touch the envelope. Upon physical contact, it was as if electric current flowed through his body and his hands were thrown into convulsions.
The 25 year old young man was scared to death and concluded that Samuel was evil. The next time Samuel came to view his deposit, that young man would avoid him and walk away.
It wasn't until several weeks later that young man came to him again and pleaded with him to tell him more about Jesus because ever since he touched that envelope, there has been this voice telling him "I am Jesus".
WOW. From there, this man is saved and is now doing a great work for His kingdom!
If you think this is the best story, the next 2 will blow your mind away!
Having been exiled from Yemen, contact with his family was almost zero. His father would contact him once in awhile and tell him that he still loved him and he will always be his son.
It wasn't until his dad learned of his conversion to Christianity. Once his dad learned that he was a Christian, he disowned him as his son and was excommunicated. He is viewed as a traitor and can be killed by any Muslim.
His story got so famous that even the Muslims residing in Sweden wanted him dead. One day a few Muslims confronted him with knives and told him to renounce Christianity and tell the media that he has made a mistake and is now a Muslim again or else they'd take his life.
He was dripping cold sweat as his faith shook again "GOD! Didn't you say no one will harm me here?". With that he silently whispered the name of Jesus.
All of a sudden, his assailants dropped their knives and ran away! God is indeed amazing!
The next encounter was worst. As he was gym-ing one day, 2 huge Yemen assassins probably sent by his father paid him a visit.
They asked him about his conversion to Christianity with a brandished gun. "Was it because of a pretty girl? Or was it so that you could stay in Sweden that you converted?..."
When he told them his faith in Christ was genuine, the Yemen assassins told him "Then right now, I'm gonna shoot you! We'll see what your Christian God can do about this!"
At this juncture, he told them "My God will protect me and you will not even touch a hair on my head." At that very instance of confession, the 2 Yemen assassins retracted their weapons and retreated saying "Don't come after us! If you come after us we will kill you!"
Just nice, the gym staff walked into the room as well and walked past the 2 assassins who just exited. She then asked Samuel "What did you do to them? They were crying as they left."
God is indeed a promise-keeper. His intervention is indeed timely! So God saw him through 2 honour killing attempts.
The next 2 testimonies are the highlight of the whole meeting. This is what really left my jaw wide open.
His sister was terminally ill and she contacted him just before she was predicted to die. She was suffering from some incurable muscle disease that will cause the muscles to stop working. It will eventually spread to the heart - which is also a muscle. The doctor said she had only 24hours to live. And that doctor was their family doctor - he knew all of them from young.
She was bed-ridden as she MSN-ed him and he wanted her to pray to Jesus for healing but she wouldn't because that'd be blasphemy and she wanted to die a Muslim.
He didn't know how else to get it across to her when God gave him an idea. He told her "If praying in Jesus' name is blasphemy, then you don't pray in Jesus' name. You pray in the name of my brother's God. So in this way, you wouldn't call on the name of Jesus but you'll be calling on your brother's God. So if you were to blaspheme, the fault will be mine."
That gave her an idea and after that conversation, he thought she was dead because he heard no further news from her.
However, a few days later, she MSN-ed him back and wanted to meet him up and he was amazed as she related her story:
She prayed to "her brother's God" and she went flying. A hand print on her back is still visible. She went to the family doctor and when he saw her he remarked "You should be in the earth!"
After going through a checkup, the doctor confirmed she was healed. He kept asking her how it happened. What food she ate, what did she do, etc...He told her "Tell me what you did to get you healed and I will make you famous!"
She refused to say because if she did, she'll probably end up like her brother - excommunicated from the family. But upon relentless coercion, she divulged the truth to the doctor who was very shocked.
Samuel's sister and her best friend then went through Bible study lessons with her brother for the next 4 months before she suddenly cut contact with him...for 6 years and counting. Samuel never knew what had happened to her, but he knows that no one can take Jesus away from her. Not death, not anything in this life.
The last and most amazing testimony of his also took place on MSN chat. He would join the Yemen or Middle East chatroom and chat with random Muslims.
One day he chat with this devout Muslim who knew his stuff. After sharing Christ several times, that guy didn't accept. So Samuel decided to tell him that he was a Muslim from the Middle East like he is. That guy didn't believe him so they Skype-d.
That guy was shocked and ferociously berated him for his act of blasphemy. There and then God told Samuel to talk about that man's daughter who had 3 holes in her heart.
That guy was stunned "How do you know about my daughter?! I don't want to talk to you again!"
Samuel didn't hear from him until months later that guy Skype-d him again and wanted to meet him. "I thought you said you never wanted to talk to me again?" enquired Samuel.
That guy told him "After that conversation with you, I dreamt that there was a white figure sitting beside my daughter in bed and when I went to the room, that white figure disappeared. I immediately woke up and rushed to my daughter's room and true enough I saw the white figure and he disappeared! I then woke my daughter up and asked her if she saw him. She said 'Yes he was here and he healed me. He said his name is Jesus'. The doctors verified she was healed! The thing is, the white figure Jesus disappeared! That's why I've now come to find you."
Samuel was overjoyed! He asked for his name. That guy told him "If you know who I am, you will be shocked beyond measure." and proceeded to tell Samuel his name.
Samuel went to Google his name and to his utmost horror, he realized, that guy he was chatting with is one of Al Qaeda's top man!!
That Al Qaeda activist then left with his daughter to meet him at an area where security was very lax. There, he told Samuel that he posted the story of his daughter's miraculous healing and revelation on the Al Qaeda's website! Because of that post, 30 members left the Al Qaeda!
That member then asked Samuel for a fake passport. However, Samuel told him "With God, you don't have to do things illegally. Just go to the immigration counter and tell them the whole truth."
True enough, when he went to the immigration counter, the officer told him "You are wanted by Interpol!" Immediately he told the immigration officer his story and miraculously, that officer was a believer as well. He replied him "Welcome to the family" and approved his entry.
What an amazing God we serve!
Samuel was telling us, the Muslim world is undergoing revival. 10-20 years ago, you can preach to a Muslim community for years and if you can even get one convert, you'll throw a massive party. But today, scores of Muslims are coming to the faith.
In the middle east, the younger generation are not tolerant of Islam and many are turning away from it. A revival is coming as these Middle Easterners seek the One, true God.
Even while in Singapore, Samuel spoke to a local Mullah and converted him! A conversation ensued between him and the Mullah and when the Mullah found out that Samuel was a Middle Eastern from Yemen, he automatically assumed Samuel was a learned Muslim...that's because the Yemenis were believed to be the wisest people - the wise men came from Sheba (modern day Yemen).
Samuel did not reveal his faith in Christ yet but he simply asked the Mullah a question while referencing 2 verses in the Qur'an:
The first verse he referred the Mullah to was to the record that Prophet Muhammad died.
The second verse referred to was a verse in the Qur'an that said that God raised Jesus from the dead and his people will be the greatest people on the Earth.
He then asked the Mullah about this inconsistency. The Mullah could not answer his question and he referred this question to another learned Muslim friend who's also probably a Mullah.
He was then severely scolded and kicked out of his friend's house for asking such questions! That Mullah was then very disillusioned and hurt and when he met up with Samuel again, he was crying because he was so hurt by the reaction and he felt so cheated all this while that all he ever believed in was a lie.
Samuel then went on to tell him "I was in the exact same position as you - getting verbally abused for seeking truth in Islam..." and he went on to share his story of how he came to fall in love with Jesus Christ.
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This man is indeed an amazing man of God. His walk with God is ever so real, relevant and radical.
My dad then concluded with a short end times message reminding us that Jesus will return the second time only when the whole world hears about the Good News.
So now, which part of the world is most resistant to and have yet to hear the Good News? Middle East. But God is revealing Himself strong to many Middle Easterners.
Brother Samuel is just one of them. Books published by Mark. A. Gabriel and how he converted to Christianity and a book titled "Son of Hamas" all tells of stories of hardcore fundamentalist radical Islamists having supernatural encounters with Jesus Christ - someone whom they have never heard of or even if heard of have entirely embittered mindsets toward.
God indeed is rocking the Muslim community. As He pours out His spirit over all the earth, we must remain vigilant and walk with Him in the last days.
We are and will be part of this "last days" revival that will sweep across the world - especially Middle East - converting the Jews and Muslims who are anti-Jesus.
Hold fast to the faith as we see Christianity being challenged and persecuted on all fronts as it still spreads radically.
The more the persecution, the further the gospel spread because when His people get scattered, they bring the message across the globe just like in the Old Testament in Acts 8:1 "On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria."
Contrast this to Acts 1:8 "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
It is persecution that grows the church. Satan knows that thus he does not blatantly attack the church, he makes the church lose its focus and purpose by making it preoccupied with fights over theology, making it focus on making the church just a beautiful building, or reducing it to a prosperity gospel and easy-cheap-grace religion.
Above all, this talk reminded me that God is alive and kicking and is very much involved in individuals today. We serve a mighty God that will keep to His promises.
Matthew 16:18
"And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
His church will stand for all time, so hold fast to the faith and partner with the Holy Spirit to see more signs and wonders in the last days.
Please remove this post. It may endanger Samuel especially since his picture is here.
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