We bring you an exciting update from evangelists Syd and Liz Doyle, who have just spent nine days reaching out to refugees fleeing IS.

Syd and Liz Doyle have been working as international evangelists and church planters for many decades, pastoring in England and America and ministering in 54 nations, seeing tens of thousands come to Christ. In the past they planted a church in Ashford before settling in the USA, and have worked with Prophecy Today's Clifford and Monica Hill on projects such as the Zong slave ship, the Sharing Show and the Heal our Land musical.

This past nine days Syd and Liz have been serving in Jordan, ministering to refugees fleeing from ISIS – and have led over 700 people to Jesus! Their daily updates make for remarkable and exciting reading – so we are re-printing excerpts of them here for your encouragement.

Stories of Hope: Excerpts from the Doyles' Daily Updates

"Hi Praying Friends,

This trip has been successful as we partnered with different Pastors, workers and church groups who serve the Iraqi refugees. We delivered 200 40lb bags of groceries, clothing, dozens of blankets and about 30 heaters. We spoke at 6 meetings and at every house we visited - explained the Gospel and led over 700 to Christ.

Thanks for holding us up in prayer!

In the Field,
Syd and Liz"

Refugees from Nineveh

"We are very busy and already tired out after Day 1. We put our food and clothing packages together and set out to visit 9 families...all refugees from Iraq - leaving businesses, homes, cars, everything, running for their lives from ISIS. The first family had to leave their businesses, and a new house they were building, to save their lives. Walking, they had to carry their 83 year old grandma and her wheelchair all the way to Jordan!"

"We prayed with a widow, (she said Jesus saved her 2 sons and her from ISIS - Liz said, well now, let Jesus save you from your sins - and she did!) Syd prayed with a man and his son, and we all prayed with a family of 6, all refugees from Ninevah for salvation too! We prayed for a sweet little 6 year old boy to be healed from cancer. His mom is a young widow. Please keep all these dear new believers in prayer!"

"What a great day...41 men, women and children prayed today for salvation/assurance. 21 families from Ninevah. Driven out by ISIS because they refused to renounce Christ. We gave each family a bag of groceries, a blanket and clothes provided by you our supporters! We have now given out 30 bags."

"One girl shared how her brother crossed the sea in an inflatable boat that sunk. He was rescued with only the clothes on his back and a Bible! He walked to Germany and finally at the end of himself he crawled into a phone box falling asleep with the Bible as his pillow. He was wakened by a knock on the window and an Arab man asked him to follow him. The man took him to a church - he was a Pastor! He prayed with him and led him to Christ! He's serving the church today! Let's pray this happens over and over again to these refugees in Europe. Through this testimony his sister came to Christ!"

Salvation Near Mt Nebo

"Today, about 2 miles from Mt. Nebo, where Moses looked over the Promised land before he died, 60 men, women and children accepted Christ/received Assurance today! The courtyard of a small Roman Catholic Church in this Muslim country houses 20 Iraqi refugee families who live in 18 small container/trailer looking units provided by the Jordanian government...

...They all gathered in the hall after we visited some of the "homes" where we preached the Gospel using the Evangecube, our testimonies and gospel bracelets. As Liz sang Amazing Grace many began to cry as the Holy Spirit touched their hearts. After the time of prayer there was such excitement and joy!"

A Thanksgiving Like No Other

"What a day! In the evening we had a special Thanksgiving meal - we catered for 400 and over 500 attended - the church was packed. Syd and Liz preached and over 400 stood to receive Christ!"

"Thanks for praying...we are witnessing a remarkable thing...These people, nominal Christians, many professional people, having been stripped of everything, now realize that who they need is Jesus."

"Then we visited the home of a Sabean family. Nawal, our team member is originally from that religion. They follow John the Baptist. After directing their attention to the Gospel of John and John the Baptist identifying Jesus as the Lamb of God, this family, who lost their four year old son to murder by terrorists in Iraq because they refused to deny their religion, received Jesus as their Savior. Nawal was thrilled to pray with them for salvation!"

"Finally our evening ended with Syd and Liz preaching at another Iraqi church - 90 were in attendance and about 60 stood to receive Christ. We provided 2 Falafal sandwiches each and a drink after the service! They were so happy!"

For more information about Syd and Liz, see www.nationslight.org.

Germany's welcome to the refugees seems to go above and beyond the call of duty. What is driving it?

Europe is facing an unprecedented population influx of refugees and economic migrants. Increasingly, it is becoming a melting pot of race and culture as thousands flee to what they perceive to be a safe political and economic haven.

But what is the European Union? Is this increasingly uneasy grouping of nations a truly safe and welcoming haven for migrants? Perhaps the only common driver for governments and citizens (and migrants hoping to become citizens) is our relative economic security and a desire to live in peace, or at least the absence of war.

Is this increasingly uneasy grouping of nations a truly safe and welcoming haven for migrants?

Merkel's Faith

The country leading this federation has the worst track record when it comes to treatment of outsiders. Yet Germany is unquestionably Europe's leader and Angela Merkel its most influential premier, perhaps deservedly so. The former scientist with a doctorate in Physics is the daughter of a Lutheran pastor and has declared:

I am a member of the Evangelical Church. I believe in God, and religion is also my constant companion, and actually has been my entire life. I find it very liberating that as a Christian, one can make mistakes, that one knows there is something higher than just human beings, and that we are also called on to shape the world in responsibility for others. This is a framework for my life, which I consider very important.¹

Merkel may belong to the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party but public declarations of personal faith are rarely uttered by German politicians. However, Merkel's biographer, Volker Resing, called her life story The Protestant,² illustrating the centrality of faith for the German Chancellor. He reveals that in 2009, when Angela Merkel and Barack Obama met in Dresden they sat together in quiet prayer in the Frauenkirche, an event most Germans remained unaware of because Merkel did not allow pictures.³

Germany may have the worst track record when it comes to treating outsiders, but it is unquestionably Europe's leader and Merkel is its most influential premier – perhaps deservedly.

Attitude to Refugees

In September, speaking at the University of Bern, Switzerland, the German Chancellor was asked about the "dangers of the Islamisation of Europe". In response, she encouraged Christians to embrace their identity: "I would like to see more people who have the courage to say 'I am a Christian believer'. And more people who have the courage to enter into a dialogue".

In Germany where, as in most of Europe, church attendance has declined, Merkel suggested people should go back to the "tradition of attending a church service now and then, and having some biblical foundations". She pointed out that many do not have an understanding of Christian concepts like Pentecost. She suggested that the debate about Islam and the identity of Europe, "could lead us to deal again with our own roots and to know them better."⁴

Angela Merkel, the daughter of a Lutheran pastor, has been encouraging church attendance and calling for Christians to embrace their identity.

Commenting on those who have responded with trepidation to the numbers entering Germany, she said, "Fear was never a good advisor" and "Cultures that are marked by fear will not conquer their future."⁵

The Sins of the Past

Some fear is surely healthy, such as fear of repeating the sins of the past. Merkel has always been quick to own up to German responsibility for the Holocaust. "The Shoah fills us Germans with shame. I bow before the victims. I bow before the survivors and before all those who helped them survive," she said in her address to the Israeli Knesset (parliament) in 2008. "The mass murder of six million Jews, carried out in the name of Germany, has brought indescribable suffering to the Jewish people, Europe and the entire world."⁶

However, anti-Semitism is on the rise in Germany once again. According to one report, "Scrawling swastikas on synagogues, Jew-baiting during demonstrations, desecration of Jewish cemeteries", are taking place today. Apparently, the word 'Jew' is once again an insult and bullying of Jewish schoolchildren comes from Arab children but mainly from those influenced by the far right.⁷

Is it this history and re-emergence of intolerance in sections of German society that is encouraging Angela Merkel to take the lead in the migrant crisis and allowing huge numbers to enter Germany? Germany needs migrant workers, but the scale of immigration surely far exceeds its need. Germany is expecting 800,000 to 1 million by the end of 2015 and its Vice Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel has said Germany can take 500,000 a year for several years.⁸

In welcoming so many refugees, is Merkel seizing the chance to show that Germany has repented for the Holocaust and its past intolerance towards outsiders?

Repentant Democracy?

In the face of what many in the Jewish community today are likening to the Jewish flight from Nazi Germany, is this former dictatorship proving itself to be the kindest-hearted democracy of all? Is Germany being given a second chance? Angela Merkel is perhaps seizing the opportunity to show that Germany has learnt the lessons of its history of intolerance and hatred towards the outsider.

It may be that this openness, directly from the seat of power, is a result of the various acts of repentance over Germany's responsibility for the Holocaust initiated by German Christians, such as the Protestant community of nuns known as the Evangelical Sisters of Mary.⁹

Opportunity for the Gospel

European Christians have struggled to take the gospel to the Muslim world, but that world is now coming to Europe and Germany in particular: the former graveyard of Europe is yielding new life and spiritual hope for a wave of ethnic and religious outsiders, as German churches open their buildings to refugees amid reports of mass conversions to Christianity.¹⁰

European Christians have struggled to take the gospel to the Muslim world, but now that world is coming to us.

The pastor of a Berlin church has seen his congregation at the evangelical Trinity Church grow from 150 to more than 600 in just two years, describing the number of conversions as a miracle. Some have raised the concern that these conversions are not genuine but are made in hope of increasing their chances of staying in the country. In Afghanistan and Iran conversion from Islam is a capital offence and so they trust that the German government would not send them back to certain death. However, Angela Merkel has said that Islam "belongs in Germany" and that conversion is no guarantee of asylum.¹¹

Fear or Faith?

Many also fear a stealth or soft jihad, a sleeper population of Muslim insurgents who will in time out grow their host population. However, should we not see the current crisis as a God given opportunity to bring the gospel to those whose national borders have kept them as spiritual prisoners? We need to ask ourselves if God is more interested in preserving our national borders or in the salvation of people groups.

Is God more interested in preserving national borders or in saving people?

In Britain, we too have opportunities to show kindness to refugees and migrants. Do we retreat in fear or welcome in faith? Britain and Europe have squandered their Christian inheritance, but we, the remnant Church, must rise to the challenge to bring comfort and hope to the stranger in our land. Our nation offers prosperity, political freedom and cessation of war, but the Church now has the opportunity to offer true freedom and peace.

References

1 Angela Merkel Believes in God. Dialogue International, 29 November 2012.

2 Resing, V, 2009. Angela Merkel: Die Protestantin. St Benno, Auflage.

3 Warner, M B. Merkel raises eyebrows by raising religion. Global Post, 27 November 2012.

4 'Courageous Christians with biblical foundations' needed, says Merkel. Evangelical Focus, 7 September 2015. 

5 Ibid.

6 Tom Chivers and agencies. Germany is 'filled with shame' over Nazi holocaust, Angela Merkel tells Israel. The Daily Telegraph, 18 March 2008.

7 Asche, C. Anti-Semitism Is On The Rise In German Schools. Huffington Post Germany, 3 April 2015.

8 Migrant crisis: Germany 'can take 500,000 asylum seekers a year'. BBC News, 8 September 2015.

9 See Faithful, G, 2014. Mothering the Fatherland: A Protestant Sisterhood Repents for the Holocaust. OUP.

10 Huggler, J. German churches open the doors to refugees under protection of ancient custom. The Daily Telegraph, 15 March 2015.

11 Taylor, F. Hundreds of Muslim Refugees convert to Christianity in German church. Christianity Today, 7 September 2015.

We submit two historical prophecies to readers for weighing and testing.

This week we are re-publishing two historical prophecies given in Norway – one from 1968, the other from 1937. They concern events in Europe and their relation to the fulfilment of end times prophecy. Of particular interest and encouragement is point four in the 1968 prophecy, which appears to foresee the current refugee crisis.

These prophecies can be found elsewhere on the internet, but their authenticity has been verified to the best of our ability. We submit them to you for your prayerful testing.

1968 Prophecy by 90 Year Old Woman in Norway

An old woman of 90 from Valdres in Norway had a vision from God in 1968. The evangelist Emanuel Minos had meetings (services) where she lived. He had the opportunity to meet her, and she told him what she had seen. He wrote it down, but thought it to be so unintelligible that he put it in a drawer. Now, almost 30 years later, he understands he has to share the vision with others.

The woman from Valdres was a very alert, reliable, awake and credible Christian, with a good reputation among all who knew her. This is what she saw:

"I saw the time just before the coming of Jesus and the outbreak of the Third World War. I saw the events with my natural eyes. I saw the world like a kind of a globe and saw Europe, land by land. I saw Scandinavia. I saw Norway. I saw certain things that would take place just before the return of Jesus, and just before the last calamity happens, a calamity the likes of which we have never before experienced."

She mentioned four waves:

1. "First before Jesus comes and before the Third World War breaks out there will be a 'détente' like we have never had before. There will be peace between the super powers in the east and the west, and there will be a long peace. (Remember, that this was in 1968 when the cold war was at its highest. E. Minos) In this period of peace there will be disarmament in many countries, also in Norway and we are not prepared when it (the war) comes. The Third World War will begin in a way no one would have anticipated - and from an unexpected place."
2. "A lukewarmness without parallel will take hold of the Christians, a falling away from true, living Christianity. Christians will not be open for penetrating preaching. They will not, like in earlier times, want to hear of sin and grace, law and gospel, repentance and restoration. There will come a substitute instead: prosperity (happiness) Christianity."
   • "The important thing will be to have success, to be something; to have material things, things that God never promised us in this way. Churches and prayer houses will be emptier and emptier. Instead of the preaching we have been used to for generations -like, to take your cross up and follow Jesus, - entertainment, art and culture will invade the churches where there should have been gatherings for repentance and revival. This will increase markedly just before the return of Jesus."
3. "There will be a moral disintegration that old Norway has never experienced the likes of. People will live together like married without being married. (I do not believe the concept 'co-habitor'? existed in 1968 - E. Minos) Much uncleanness before marriage, and much infidelity in marriage will become the natural (the common), and it will be justified from every angle. It will even enter Christian circles and we pet it - even sin against nature. Just before Jesus return there will be TV- programs like we have never experienced." (TV had just arrived in Norway in 1968. E. Minos)
   • "TV will be filled with such horrible violence that it teaches people to murder and destroy each other, and it will be unsafe in our streets. People will copy what they see. There will not be only one 'station' on TV, it will be filled with 'stations.' (She did not know the word 'channel' which we use today. Therefore she called them stations. E. Minos) TV will be just like the radio where we have many 'stations,' and it will be filled with violence. People will use it for entertainment. We will see terrible scenes of murder and destruction one of the other, and this will spread in society. Sex scenes will also be shown on the screen, the most intimate things that takes place in a marriage." (I protested and said, we have a paragraph that forbids this kind of thing. E. Minos) There the old woman said: "It will happen, and you will see it. All we have had before will be broken down, and the most indecent things will pass before our eyes."
4. People from poor countries will stream to Europe. (In 1968 there was no such thing as immigration. E. Minos) They will also come to Scandinavia - and Norway. There will be so many of them that people will begin to dislike them and become hard with them. They will be treated like the Jews before the Second World War. Then the full measure of our sins will have been reached." (I protested at the issue of immigration. I did not understand it at the time. E. Minos)

The tears streamed from the old woman's eyes down her cheeks. "I will not see it, but you will. Then suddenly, Jesus will come and the Third World War breaks out. It will be a short war." (She saw it in the vision.)

"All that I have seen of war before is only child's play compared to this one, and it will be ended with a nuclear atom bomb. The air will be so polluted that one cannot draw one's breath. It will cover several continents, America, Japan, Australia and the wealthy nations. The water will be ruined (contaminated?). We can no longer till the soil. The result will be that only a remnant will remain. The remnant in the wealthy countries will try to flee to the poor countries, but they will be as hard on us as we were on them."

"I am so glad that I will not see it, but when the time draws near, you must take courage and tell this. I have received it from God, and nothing of it goes against what the Bible tells."

"The one who has his sin forgiven and has Jesus as Savior and Lord, is safe."

WHEN THE OIL FLOWS

An elder in the Pentecostal Church at Moss, Norway, Martin Andersen, heard the following prophecy in 1937, in Moss:

'When oil comes out of the North Sea and along the Norwegian coast, things will begin to happen, and the return of Jesus is approaching.'

When these words had been proclaimed, people stood up in the congregation and asked the man to sit down and not speak such nonsense. In 1937 it was indeed nonsense to talk about oil being pumped along the Norwegian coast. Today all the world's big oil companies are pumping oil along the coast of Norway. Norway is the world's second greatest exporter of oil - after Saudi Arabia.

The sum of it all is: Jesus is coming soon (suddenly).

Original source editor's note:

The above account was originally transmitted from Israel to friends in the US. It was sent by a Norwegian Christian worker by the name of Ragna Von Porat. Ragna states in a footnote that it was translated from Danish. She further states that Emanuel Minos, the evangelist mentioned in the account, was her friend's closest neighbor in Oslo. She says, "I heard him in my young days. My parents knew him."

Because of my fear of transmitting false prophecy, I have diligently inquired concerning the information in this letter. Publication has been delayed until permission could be secured from Ragna in Israel. In my contact with her, she has assured me that these accounts are true and reliable. In fact, she relates that the first account has already been published in one of Norway's Christian newspapers.

I have found in my own research that the first account was also published by the Christian Information Service in Germany. The website of Dr. Emanuel Minos is active today and can be accessed for verification [NOTE FROM PROPHECY TODAY: Emanuel Minos passed away in 2014 and his website is no longer live]. Although the language on this site is Norwegian, the very similar story of the woman and her vision is posted there in English. The above accounts are transmitted just as they were received.

Ragna took it upon herself to verify as much of the above information as she could. In contacting the Embassy of Norway she learned that Norway has now dropped to the world's third largest oil exporter. Ragna states, "I certainly have no objection to your going ahead [with publishing]. It must be now-if ever."