Reema Goode - Which None Can Shut: Remarkable True Stories of Gods Miraculous Work in the Muslim World

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Which None Can Shut: Remarkable True Stories of Gods Miraculous Work in the Muslim World

Copyright 2010 by Reema Goode. All rights reserved.

Cover concept by Ximena Urra

Cover photo of ancient doors copyright by Javaman/Shutterstock Images. All rights reserved.

Cover photo of metal door copyright by Martafr/Shutterstock Images. All rights reserved.

Cover photo of wooden door copyright by James Steidl/Shutterstock Images. All rights reserved.

Designed by Daniel Farrell

Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4143-3720-3

To GOD

Oh, that men would give thanks to the L ORD for His goodness,

Oh, that men would give thanks to the L ORD for His goodness,

And for His wonderful works to the children of men!

Psalm 107:8

Foreword

We need to hear stories.

Jesus told stories.

I tell stories.

There is no substitute for stories because each one includes echoes from your story, or mine, or that of our children.

The nomad in the desert, the kite flyer in Kabul, the street kid in New York, the terrorist on the mountains in Pakistan, the stone thrower in Gaza or Bethlehemevery one of them has a story, and it needs to be told.

Why? Because Jesus died for and still loves every one of them. Their stories help us connect them to the redeeming power of Jesus so we can love and pray for them until each of them, too, is transformed into a positive force to make the world a better place.

Why is it that we see their stories as so different from ours?

They were all born as innocent babies, not as terrorists.

Many were born in countries where the message of Gods love was not known. Does that mean they should not have a chance to hear it?

Why is it we have not yet spread the Good News among them?

Maybe we heard Gods call but did not go... did not tell, did not share, did not care...

Maybe we thought it was too dangerous. But not caring and sharing is far more dangerous!

Yes, each person has a story; in fact, this book is full of them. What these stories from the Arabian Peninsula tell us is what happens when they meet the love of Jesus.

And that is why I look forward to a hundred more books like this one.

Its not just their story; it is His story.

Brother Andrew

Acknowledgments

My husband, Mike, and I would like to acknowledge the many people who helped make this book, and even the stories in it, possible. Although we cannot mention names for reasons of privacy and safety, we want to publicly express our gratitude to the Body of Christ.

Thanks to our coworkers on the field. You all have stories like these, and we hope that this book well represents our mutual experience here in the Arabian Peninsula. Thanks to our dearly beloved teammates, who prayed and worked with us as these stories and events actually unfolded. Thanks to the quiet gentleman who first took an interest in bringing our stories to the public and planted the seed of faith that made me think I might actually write a book one day. Thanks to the dear couple who undergirded us with their prayerful support, inspiring us to believe God for great things.

Thanks to the servant leaders who saw the potential of the book. They connected us to others in the Body of Christ who are capable of doing what we arent and have held our hand through the entire process. Thanks to our field leadership who, on more than one occasion, allowed us the freedom to do what we felt God was leading us to do, even when it went a bit against the normal grain. Thanks to the many, many believers around the world whose enduring prayers and financial sacrifices have provided the power for all our lights to shine in this darkness. The Lords richest blessings upon each one of you. You know who you are, and so does He.

The Story behind the Storyteller

Meet Reema Goode

As a little girl, Reema remembers being very affected by Cecil B. DeMilles film The Ten Commandments . She believed in God and prayed to Him every night, even as a young adult. Still, she did not learn how to begin a personal relationship with God and find forgiveness for her sins until her early twenties, when she read a little Christian booklet someone had left lying around at work. It was the first explanation of the Gospel that Reema had ever understood. Immediately she gave her life to Christ and couldnt wait to tell others about Him.

Her first attempts to share the Good News probably confused people more than helped them. What were you supposed to say? How were you supposed to say it? Clearly not gifted to preach, Reema decided to think through what had happened to her and start by telling people that. As it turned out, many people could relate to her story and wanted to know more about a God who was so real and involved in ordinary peoples lives.

In an effort to meet other Christians, Reema went to a different church every Sunday she had off from work for an entire year. But when she asked about their faith, people would talk about when theyd begun attending services or how theyd become church members, deacons, or Sunday school teachers. None of them seemed to know what she meant by having a personal relationship with God or deciding to follow Christ. Reema realized that, like her, many people grew up believing they were Christians simply because they belonged to a denomination or went to meetings. But then, she wondered, where were all the Christians? Why were they so hard for her to find?

Tuning in to the radio one day, she heard a program that seemed to give her the answer. It was Moody Bible Institutes Stories of Great Christians , the dramatized testimonies of famous missionaries. Hearing how believers had left the comforts of home to bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth made Reema wonder: Had all the Christians already gone to other countries where the message of the Bible was unknown, unavailable, or even banned? Her humorous naivet served to draw her on to more serious thoughts. The revelation that there were still places in the world where people could live their entire lives and die without ever having heard the Gospel caused Reema to ask herself a question. With what she now knew, how could she stay in America, where there were Bibles in every bookstore and complete freedom to choose Christ? And so, although she finally did find other followers of Christ and became an active part of a church fellowship, Reema was now committed to going to an unevangelized field someday. It turned out she wouldnt be going alone.

Reema met Mike in a cafeteria. She happened to get in line next to him, and then he followed her to her seat and wouldnt go away. She was actually a little miffed, assuming that this obviously older man, who was also tall and handsome, must be married. It soon became clear he was not. He was a single Christian man who had committed himself to serving God on an unevangelized field, and he was looking for a like-minded wife to go with him. They were married within the year.

While Mike finished his final two years of Bible college, Reema wrote to a number of agencies asking for information that might help them narrow their missionary direction to a specific place or people group. Where were the most people who were the least reached? Before beginning their search, Mike and Reema had barely heard anything about Islam. Half anticipating that they would end up working with a remote jungle tribe, they were surprised when the Lord began to lay the Arab Muslim World on their hearts. But the more they learned about it, the more that burden grew.