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Brother Andrew Brought Gospel To Arafat
‘I Had Been Praying For Him For Many Years That He Might Be Saved’
SANTA ANA, CA (Nov. 11, 2004) – Brother Andrew, founder of Open Doors - an international Christian ministry to the Persecuted Church, says Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, who died today in Paris, was "someone who badly needed Jesus, like so many others.
"I had the opportunity to meet with Arafat many times and bring the Gospel to him and tell him of Jesus' love….just like I have done for others in many countries for almost 50 years. The Bible says to pray for those in high places…they have such a huge responsibility. I had been praying for him for many years that he might be saved."
Brother Andrew, in a recent interview with ASSIST Ministries, says Arafat was always open to accepting Arabic Bibles and copies of Andrew's bestselling autobiography God's Smuggler.
"I had visited him many times and given him an Arabic Bible and an Arabic copy of God's Smuggler. It was one of Arafat's favorite books, incidentally. He always asked for more copies. He would tell me, 'Bring a dozen more, Andrew. I want all my officers to read God's Smuggler;’ so he was one of the book's distributors."
When asked how he first was introduced to Arafat, Brother Andrew replied, "That happened in the Hague in my own country (The Netherlands) when an old gentleman, the former headmaster of the Christian school in Nazareth, was dying. He couldn't find anyone to visit him or to bury him.
"There was a Baptist pastor running the Baptist church in the Hague and he was asked to come and visit the sick man. He contacted me to go with him, so we went there. It was a very profitable visit. We prayed with him and read scriptures and even had a communion service with the old man.
"There was a gentleman there who was so helpful. I asked him who he was and he told me that he was Arafat's right-hand man. So I said to him, 'Could you get in touch with your boss?' He said, 'He's only a phone call away.' So I said, 'Make that call.' And a few days later, I was with Arafat and I have been to see him many times in Algeria, in Tunisia and in Gaza."
Brother Andrew adds: "I never go alone on these trips to the Middle East, but I bring people (Christians) with me. I show them that they can approach Muslims; you can speak to fundamentalists and you can give them the Scriptures. We got permission from Arafat to open a Bible shop in Gaza and hundreds of Muslim fundamentalists, especially those from Hamas, because they know me, come to the shop and get Scriptures and JESUS videos. Thousands have now read or seen the Gospel because of this."
Brother Andrew writes about his ministry in the Middle East in his new book Light Force: A Stirring Account of the Church Caught in the Middle East Crossfire. The message of the book, written with Al Janssen, is that there is a radical Christian approach to the stalemate of the Middle East conflict - the Gospel of love.
The book is available to order by going to the Open Doors USA web site at www.odusa.org or calling 888-5-BIBLE-5 (524-2535).
An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors serves and strengthens the Persecuted Church in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development and prayer and presence ministry. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (524-2535) or go to our USA web site at www.odusa.org. To request a complimentary six-month subscription to our monthly newsletter Frontline Faith, call 888-5-BIBLE-5 or register on-line.
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