“Simply stated, we make disciples in the darkest places.”
Mike Patino, COO of Global Catalytic Ministries (GCM), recently introduced American Family Radio listeners to the work of this incredible organization. He was a guest on the Hour of Intercession with Pastor Joseph Parker.
“It started in Iran, which is the fastest-growing church in the world right now. We spread over into Afghanistan, which is the second fastest growing church in the world.” Mike described GCM as the underground church in the Middle East and 14 other countries.
GCM exists to transform Muslims worldwide through Jesus Christ by means of disciple-making, church planting, and leadership development, as stated on their website.
In Afghanistan, there was a father of seven who faced the unthinkable. Because of the famine, he was on the brink of selling one of his children so he could purchase food for the rest of the family.
Mike Patino told how God used a GCM disciple-maker to help in this time of need. The disciple maker brought food to the family, and that act of kindness opened the door for a discussion about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Mike explained, “Food comes, the Spirit comes alive, and he sees the God of hope.”
In Iran, a woman was in a dreadful situation because her husband had abandoned her. Mike said, “Again, in these countries, women don’t have any rights, so now she’s needing to find food for her child. She gets a job, and the boss takes advantage of her.” Sadly, she was forced into prostitution as a means of putting food on the table, but her story doesn’t end there.
Mike explained, “She meets one of our disciple-makers, and within the process of conversation, she reveals her ‘God need’ of resources and depression and the prostitution.” The disciple maker asked if she wanted peace and provision from God. She said yes, and as Mike described it, “The Lord shows up the next day and gets her a job, and she stops prostitution.”
He said there are countless stories like these. “As a ‘God need’ is revealed, God shows up right away and then meets those ‘God needs.’ They have an encounter with Him personally and transformation happens dramatically.”
He added, “There are 99 names of Allah, and not one is ‘God is love,’ so when love is introduced, the Holy Spirit just comes with fire and is transforming lives across the Middle East. It’s a movement like the book of Acts if I can just say that.”
Hour of Intercession host Joseph Parker asked Mike how the church should pray for GCM and the spread of the gospel in Iran and Afghanistan.
- Pray for protection for the disciple makers against violence so that they can continue to do their vital work.
- Pray the disciple-makers can maximize the opportunity to evangelize.
- Pray for the technical challenges that hinder communication.
Those were the needs in a nutshell. I encourage you to listen to the podcast for more details. It’s available here. You can scroll forward to the 9-minute point to listen to the prayer requests.
Almighty God is advancing His kingdom in the Middle East in extraordinary ways. Let’s commit to faithfully pray for the church there, as well as the efforts of organizations like Global Catalytic Ministries. The true and living God is on the move.
(You can learn more about GCM here [https://catalyticministries.com/]. Hour of Intercession is heard Tuesday through Saturday at 3 a.m. Central on American Family Radio, or you can listen to the podcast here.)
