Happy Mohammed-Mass

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Today around the Muslim world is the celebration of the Aid Mulud Annebi (The birthday of the prophet). Good Muslims will fast today, Tuesday, in order to obtain more favor from Allah. Suffian is traveling today, meeting contacts. He met two yesterday. One was actually a girl. She is the first girl contact we have met here. Pray for her and others to be saved. Thanks to all who gave to the MP3 project. We are in the midst of buying them all and loading them with songs, teachings, and the whole New Testament. It’s a blessing to the Christians and seekers alike.

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Doctor Update

Posted on by jefe40472

A week in a half after my procedure in Madrid, my doctors finally got together on the phone yesterday. The original surgeon, Dr. Miller from Dayton, who performed by “Lobectomy and sleeve resection” (lung surgery) passed on my complication from the surgery to Dr. Starnes in Cincinnati who has done three procedures to try to keep my bronchial tube open and my lungs functioning.

The third surgeon is Dr. Diaz. Other doctors in Spain tell us that he is the best thoracic surgeon in Spain. He did the bronchoscopy (stuck a camera in my lung to have a look) last week. When Starnes talked to Diaz she was pleasantly surprised that my bronchial tube was 6 mm (a normal tube is 12 mm) open four months after the last dilation (stretching of the bronchial tube). She expected that the tube would be completely closed off again by now. Not by scar tissue this time but by stenosis (kinking of the tube).
Where they disagree is that my surgeon is Spain thinks that I ought to have another surgery where they cut me open and fix that tube. He thinks further dilations won’t help. My surgeon in Cincinnati thinks that further dilations will help and that another surgery is unnecessary.
Where they DO agree is that for right now, if it stays at 6 mm then I am fine. Air is still flowing and the lungs are working. According to both doctor’s suggestion I will go back to Spain in four months and then we’ll see how open the tube is. If it’s still at 6 mm then we can thank God and hope that I never need another procedure again. We’ll see and thank God anyway whatever the outcome.
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One right, two rights, three rights

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I started this week taking Classical Arabic classes with a new teacher, Barak, who is Muslim but only in name. A few years ago he went to university, read Neitze and other philosophers, and became an practical atheist though it is really hard to get him to admit it. In the Western world to be an atheist is in vogue but here, well, it’s a dangerous thing to say. So, pray for him.

In our class we are going through a national education program for illiterate adults to teach them Classical Arabic. So that’s what I am now, an illiterate adult. In the book are portions of the Koran and Hadith (like commentaries).  Today we read one portion that says this:
“You have a neighbor that has one right. You have a neighbor that has two rights. You have a neighbor that has three rights. You non-Muslim neighbor has one right. Your Muslim neighbor has two rights: The right of the neighborhood, the right of Islam. Your Muslim neighbor for your family has three rights: The neighborhood right, the Islam right, and the family right. “
If that seems confusing you should try reading it in Arabic. Anyway, basically it says that you as a Kufar (infidel) have half the rights of a Muslim and one third the rights of a Muslim family member of your neighbor. Pretty comforting for the Muslim but not so much for the Christian surrounded by said Muslims. It really is a good thing that 99% of Muslims don’t know or follow the teachings if Islam. I shared with Barak the story of the Good Samaritan as told by Christ. He thought that sounded like a better plan in his pragmatic atheism.
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