Christian Triumph Honors a Beloved Missionary,

“Gone Home.”

Nasser Salib Farag

May 27, 1939 to

November 18, 2013

Nasser was born in

Alexandria, Egypt

in 1939 to pioneer

Church of God

family who came

out of the Coptic

Orthodox Church

after finding

salvation through

Christ and being

baptized by early

COG missionary,

Dr. John Crose.

Father Salib was the printer for Christian

materials in Arabic for all denominations in the

Middle East, and the printer/publisher of the

Gospel Trumpet in Arabic. He was the translator

from English to Arabic for the early COG

missionaries and served his church locally as

well as nationally, being on the government level

court which handled Protestant legal issues.

Mama Raymonda found time and energy in

addition to raising eight children to make the

Farag home a center of hospitality for Christians

and missionaries, and to make it a welfare center

to help needy families with their needs -- be it

food, clothing, and/or spiritual guidance.

Nasser found Christ as his Savior while in his

teens and later dedicated his life for the Lord’s

service, whatever that might be. He studied

social work in Alexandria and did graduate

study in social policy in Holland, returning in

1964 to work with Church World Service in

Cairo and then with the Near East Council of

Churches’ Refugee program in Gaza which

besides providing relief, assisted young

Palestinians with vocational training.

It was in Gaza that he met his wife, Marilyn

Sheaffer, who was directing the Baptist Hospital

School of Nursing which was preparing young

Palestinian nurses. They were married in Gaza

one week before the June 1967 war between

Israel and Egypt and continued serving there

until July 1968. From Gaza they were sent to the

Baptist Hospital in Yemen where Nasser served

as the business manager and chaplain and

Marilyn served in nursing. It was while serving

as chaplain that Nasser found the joy of sharing

stories of Christ’s miracles with Moslem

patients. They had many questions for him as

they had never known that an Arabic-speaking

man could be a Christian.

Continued on Page 2

Contents:

Missionary Gone Home……………1-4

Christian Triumph News…..……… 4-5

Update from Walking Man….………..5

January 2014 News from India…….6-7

*Volume 78 *No. 3 *Published by Christian Triumph Co. *Permit # 695 * MAR 2014

2

Upon experiencing God’s call to Christian

ministry, Nasser and Marilyn traveled to the

States for his theological education, and that is

where Steve was born in 1970. Nasser earned the

Master’s Degree in Religious Education from

Anderson, IN University, School of Theology in

1971, and the Doctor of Ministry Degree from

Midwestern Baptist Seminary in Kansas City,

Mo., and did post-doctoral studies in missions at

Asbury Seminary in Wilmore, KY.

After completion of seminary, The Missionary

Board of the COG asked Nasser in 1971 to

become the first national to oversee the COG

work in Egypt where he served until the next

Egyptian-Israeli war (1973). At that time the

Missionary Board sent the Farags to Kenya

where during their first five years (1973-78) he

worked with untrained pastors serving in the

field. This was one of Nasser’s most enjoyable

ministries as he loved the simple elderly men,

some still walking barefoot and carrying their

one pair of shoes (if they had one) under their

arm as they walked through the mud, shallow

streams, rocks and thorns to evangelize and

plant new churches. They did not yet have the

Old Testament in their tribal language and many

of them could not read or write. They had been

taught the basic Christian doctrines and the plan

of salvation, so their same sermon was preached

Sunday after Sunday. This was effective for

evangelism but did not stimulate Christian

growth, and did not keep the attention of the

newly educated youth. Nasser was challenged to

teach the pastors many of the stories of Jesus’

life and teachings which they learned from

memory and were able to teach the spiritual

meanings to their people utilizing their youth to

read to the congregation the stories from the

New Testament books that were available.

Nasser continued training pastors during the

second five years of ministry in Kenya (1983-88),

but this time in the four-year theological college

which accepted only secondary school graduates

with a passable standard of English. Besides

classroom teaching he developed the field work

program where students spent week-ends

assisting congregations with Sunday Schools,

youth meetings, women’s ministry, etc. Every

three-month term he would take a different

group of students to a new mission area where

they would evangelize house-to-house and invite

people to meetings where students would provide

Christian drama, music, and at times films on

the life of Christ, training of Sunday school

teachers and women’s leaders, etc. He placed

and supervised the senior students as they served

under the successful older pastors in the field

and opened new preaching points under the trees

where the Word of God was given to those who

had never heard.

In between these two terms in Kenya, Nasser

served as the Missionary Board’s Fraternal

Representative in northeastern Mexico (1979-

82), assisting the pastors in planting new

churches and teaching at the Bible school. The

Mexican government refused visas for

missionaries, so the Farags had to live across the

border in Texas while Nasser spent most of his

time in Mexico. When Nasser’s oldest brother

traveled to the States for medical treatment in

California, the Farags moved there for one year.

Continued on Page 3

Faith Messenger

Permit #695

Published monthly, except July and August.

POSTMASTER SEND ADDRESS CHANGES

TO: Christian Triumph Company

P.O. Box 5187

Corpus Christi, Texas 78405

L.Y. Janes, Founder (deceased); Israel Hernandez,

President; William Anderson, Vice-President;

Fred Pena, 2nd

Vice-President; Diana Beletic,

Secretary/Treasurer; Una Collins, Asst. Sec./Treas.

This periodical is issued without charge in the name

of the Lord Jesus to help inspire child-like faith and

maintain Christ-like simplicity among the people of

God. To send donations or for your FREE

SUBSCRIPTION, write to the address above or

contact Christian Triumph Co. at

christiantriumph@yahoo.com. Or see us on the web

at ChristianTriumph.org

3

Unfortunately his brother passed away soon

after the move to California, but Nasser then

took the opportunity of taking chaplaincy

training and also earned a certificate in drug and

alcohol counseling.

This school year (1982-83) was difficult for Steve

to adjust after having had a very positive

experience studying in a boarding school for

missionary children in Kenya, so the Farags’

prayers led them to return to their ministry in

Kenya where Steve could finish his 8th

grade

through high school education in a Christian

environment. This turned out to be a turning

point in Steve’s life and a fruitful ministry for

Nasser and Marilyn.

The Farags terminated their missionary service

when Steve entered Anderson University in 1988

in order to be of support for him who as a third

culture kid adjusted to American life. Steve did

well and graduated with a B.S. in Social Work,

and later with an M.S. and certification as a

Licensed Clinical Social Worker.

From 1989-91 Nasser served as Associate

Professor of Missions at Warner Southern

University and director of the H.E.A.R.T.

program in Lake Wales, FL. where he helped to

prepare future missionaries and development

workers for cross-cultural service. He was

anxious to get back to the field and spent the

next year assisting Eben-Ezer Mission in Haiti in

developing their post-secondary college

curriculum. While evangelizing in Mexico, Belize

and other Central American countries (1993-96)

Nasser noted the proliferation of cults such as

Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons. He began

teaching evangelical congregations and pastors

in these countries to be aware of these false

teachings and be prepared to share the truth in

love. In 1996 upon seeing this great need and

nothing being done about it, Nasser, Marilyn,

and Steve started the non-profit 501 c 3

corporation, Truth in Love Ministry, to solicit

assistance from U.S. churches to help the weak

congregations from multi-denominations with

teaching/evangelizing and construction work

camps. In 1997 the Lord provided land and a

large home in Bacalar, Mexico, to become the

venue for hosting these work camps and a place

where Mexican and Belizean churches could

conduct their spiritual retreats and youth camps,

etc. The Lord also opened up ministry with

children in the local orphanage, with men in a

nearby drug and alcohol rehab center, and with

prisoners in the Belizean government prison.

After September 11, 2001, pastors and

congregations began asking Nasser, because of

his background, about the religion of those

terrorists responsible for this disaster; thus

began his teaching ministry on Islam awareness

which was very timely as Islamic followers were

entering Mexico and Central America in larger

numbers, not just for business opportunities but

with the goal of spreading their false teachings.

After many opportunities to provide Islam

awareness and to share opportunities of reaching

Muslims for Christ, the Farags developed a DVD

course to be shared with small groups in

churches and later put much of this same

material into his book, God Almighty! His WORD

for Christians, Jews, and Moslems, under the

pseudonym of Lester Fleenor. This book became

a teaching tool in the States and abroad and was

ultimately translated into French, Arabic,

Spanish, Turkish, Hindi, Oriya, and has recently

been translated, but not yet printed, into Farsi.

With permission of the author, Dr. Labib

Mikhail (Nasser’s childhood pastor in Egypt),

Nasser translated from Arabic to English the

book The Virgin Mary in the Light of the Word of

God and adapted it, changing its emphasis from

the Coptic Orthodox beliefs in Egypt to the

Roman Catholic teachings found in Mexico and

Latin America. The English version adaptation

of this book was published by a Christian

publishing company in California, the Spanish

version was printed by Nasser’s brother Amin’s

press in California and the Arabic version

printed in Alexandria, Egypt, under the

direction of Nasser’ nephew Emil Farag.

Seminars based on this book were conducted by

Nasser in Africa and Mexico, and copies given

freely to seminar participants.

After Nasser’s first surgery for cancer in 2002,

Continued on Page 4

4

the Farags moved back from Mexico to south

Texas where they continued to lead work camps

to help the Mexican congregations. Starting in

2003, they have returned every year except one

to Africa at the invitation of former students and

various multi-denominational missionaries to

give seminars and to teach in Bible colleges. He

returned also several times to Central America

and Mexico, the last opportunity was in July

2013 when he spoke to pastors and laymen at the

COG annual convention in Chetumal, Mexico,

where he had the opportunity of seeing firsthand

the growth of the church he had helped to plant

in 2001. Nasser traveled to teach COG pastors in

Eastern India in 2008 and upon arrival at New

Delhi airport suffered a fractured leg, but at the

time thought it was only a torn muscle or tendon.

He continued teaching pastors for five days and

holding evangelistic services every night having

to lean on the pulpit or on his translator due to

the pain. Upon his return home it was discovered

the cancer had metastasized to the bone, and this

began five more years of radiation and

chemotherapy – with his last treatment being on

October 4 of this year.

Nasser was basically a very optimistic man,

having learned from experience that difficult

things can at times be overcome by faith in God

plus persistent effort. He pursued cancer

treatment even though the side-effects were

drastic at times. When Marilyn would ask him to

stop the treatments he replied that he believed it

would not be pleasing to God to refuse to try all

possible means to treasure the life God had given

him. He has been anxious to get printed – it is

finished except for the final formatting – his

latest book, What Account will we give HIM? In

which he encourages Christian leaders, including

himself, to live each day in a way to be found

pleasing to Christ to whom we are all

accountable. As he studied this subject he has

been going through self-examination, trying to

restore broken relationships, make amends for

past sins and failures, and give appreciation to

those who have been good examples for his life.

He believed that once we have accepted by faith

Christ’s salvation from the penalty of sin, we

must actively work with the indwelling Holy

Spirit to glorify God in our lives as faithful

servants.

Marilyn Farag, November 21, 2013

+ + +

Christian Triumph has worked with Nasser

and Marilyn for several years, distributing

both books: God Almighty! His WORD for

Christians, Jews, and Moslems, as well as

The Virgin Mary in the Light of the Word of

God.

In 2012, this missionary ministry, along with

friends and missionary partners, sent many

books of The Virgin Mary to Mexico and

more than 100 copies to Peru. +

Christian Triumph News: The local Spanish

Bible Institute will reopen its doors this

month (March). The Church is excited about

this as well as their Sunday services. Brother

Israel has two spirit-filled, assistant speakers

to help when needed; an accomplished

interpreter translates during the service;

dedicated Sunday school teachers are

enjoying the many children who are now

coming, and God is answering those many

prayers which continue Wednesday night,

Friday night, and early Saturday morning.

Further developments are in process on the

construction of the new church. Volunteers

are ready to help when needed.

The two-day per week radio ministry is

going strong with blessings from the Lord.

Email and online requests for literature and

correspondence courses have exceeded

postal requests. One recent request from

Cuba simply asked for a Bible, wondering if

it was possible to receive one. Page 5

5

Another email request came from Spain,

asking for tracts, which are already steadily

sent to that country.

Spanish Bible course requests come from

Colombia, Honduras, Chile, Bolivia,

Ecuador, and Argentina as well as other

countries. Approximately 30 to 40 emails

are received per week.

“Thank you” to each person who has

prayed for and helped with Christian

Triumph. We appreciate your faithful

Sunday school class, the women’s ministry,

the Church congregations, and each

individual who loves missions and believes

in the power of God’s Word, as it is spread

in the USA, South America, Mexico, and

many other countries.

May God bless you, each one!

“As the rain and the snow come

down from heaven, and do not

return to it without watering

the earth and making it bud and

flourish so that it yields seed

for the sower and bread for

the eater, so is My Word that

goes out from My mouth:

It will not return to me

empty, but will accomplish

what I desire and achieve the

purpose for which I sent it.”

Isaiah 55: 10-11 NIV

Update Update Update Update ffffrom Walking Manrom Walking Manrom Walking Manrom Walking Man

Narciso Zamora

Peru

We traveled to a small town called Jaen and

conducted a Bible training course to prepare

leaders for the churches that God is calling

together in that area. We had 25 taking the

course. Now we are back in Cajamarca where

each Monday I wake in the middle of the night to

make it up to the Porcon community and preach

a 6 a.m. service that these dedicated Christians

attend before starting their work week.

Then on Tuesday of this week, we begin a

vacation Bible school. A public school teacher

from Lima came with some other sisters to help

us in this work.

Next up is another Bible training course with the

church leaders in the Cajamarca region. We

need to prepare workers to plant new works and

make disciples. We appreciate your prayers and

support. (Below is a group of participants in the

Bible training course at Jaen.)

6

JANUARY 2014 NEWS FROM INDIA

David Jerald, who Outreach Coordinator Donna

Schillinger met on her trip to India was able to

visit the United States in December 2013. He was

hosted by William Anderson and family and

spoke at a few churches in Houston, Texas, as

well as at the Christian Triumph Church of God.

Brother Jerald finally was able to get a visa

(after three unsuccessful attempts) and it is good

for 10 years, so he plans to use this time to raise

awareness and support of the work of the

Church in India.

He plans to visit the U.S. again, perhaps in

October. If your church would like to learn first-

hand more about the Church in India, its

struggles and successes, please let us know. We

would love to coordinate a visit to your church

by Brother David Jerald.

And now the report by David Jerald:

In the month of January, we traveled to 10

villages and 4 small towns from the 7th

to the 17th

– 10 days. Our team consisted of 3 missionaries,

along with me and Dr. Jayanandan, our medical

missionary.

With an opening prayer, we started our journey

towards Karur, Erode and the Dindugal district

of Tamil Nadu State. We traveled with 10,000

Gospel tracts, 700 New Testaments, 120 Bibles,

all in the Tamil language. We traveled 650

Kilometers and started our mission in Banari, a

village which has never heard the Gospel. We

looked around and saw a big crowd of more than

500

people

walking

on

burning

charcoal

to please

their

Hindu

false god.

The

parents pushed the children and many people

were crying in pain from fire burns. The priest

commanded them to walk across the coals, one

by one.

We started playing Gospel music and switched

on the microphone and invited the people with

these words: “Come unto Me, all ye that labor

and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

All people turned towards us. The Hindu priest

got angry and took a big stick to beat us. The

crowd supported us and said, “We need rest so

we need to hear this message. We are tired of

walking in the fire.”

We preached the Gospel to them: “No pain! No

walking in the fire! Nothing needed from you –

just open your hearts and believe in Jesus Christ.

He will save you and give you eternal life.” All

the people shouted, “We need free salvation; we

are living with fear every day under pressure.”

I preached plainly the Gospel with Bible verses

and asked the whole crowd to say the sinner’s

prayer. 241 people, with tears, accepted Jesus

Christ as Lord and personal Savior. We sung

“At the Cross” in Tamil. With tears, we saw

souls saved by the grace of Jesus when they

surrendered and called to Him.

Dr. Jayanandan treated their fire wounds with

ointments and put on bandages. We got all the

addresses of the people and in March will send a

missionary to start a house church.

Our next turn, we went to 3 villages and

preached the Gospel. In all these villages, we

stayed each day, finding it very hard. Only 23

people believed in all these 3 villages. In the 3rd

village we stayed, they cooked food and fed our

team. We had a medical campaign there and

passed out Gospel tracts to each and every

house.

On these 4 days, we traveled to a Muslim village

in Dindugal. I began preaching and giving out

tracts, but they told me to get out of the village,

as the women in the village are so eager to hear

the Gospel. We said it is our right to propagate

the truth. One man punched us, but older people

opposed this and said we could preach for 30

7

minutes which we did and handed out Gospel

tracts. No one openly said they believed in Jesus

Christ, but secretly, 14 people called us and

asked for Bibles. We passed Bibles (secretly) to

those hungry souls. We are praying this Islamic

people will get saved through the Word of God.

The 5th

, 6th

, and 7th

days, we traveled through 2

small towns and 3 villages, preaching in 5 places.

One man said he would kill us if we preached.

We went out from that village to another one. A

college student who was saved at his college saw

us and joined our team. He took us to remote

hamlets, and we preached and helped the sick

with medicine. We stayed in a bus station for 2

nights where the beggars, lepers, and outcasts

there got saved. We gave new cloths, medicine

and cooked food for them.

On the 8th

, 9th

, and 10th

days, we had a great

opening to preach in 2 Hindu festivals which had

thousands. We distributed 8000 Gospel tracts

and many women heard the Gospel, and many

gave their lives to Christ. We collected almost

927 people’s addresses and are doing follow up

work.

We are committed to take the Gospel to millions

in India. We need your prayers and support.

Soul winning is the great thing we do for Jesus in

this world. Please lend our team a hand with

your love to get Gospel tracts, Bibles, food,

medicines, and a good sound system.

Yours in Christ,

David Jerald & Gospel Team

LOVING ONE ANOTHER By Editor

Loving and selfless giving to others, whether at

home or on the mission field, is an attribute of our

Father God. In sharing what little we have, we

discover His approval, His blessings and the

sweetness of His Presence.

In I John 3:17, John, the disciple of Christ,

questions the choice of clutching tightly to one’s

belongings. If anyone has material possessions and

sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how

can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us

not love with words or tongue but with actions and

in truth. NIV

In 2014, I see many persons helping others. For

some of us, however, the economy presents a

challenge, making it difficult to keep up with

heating bills, groceries, gas and the list goes on.

This is reality! Thankfully, God is in control of our

world, and the promise found in the Biblical letter

to the Philippians is as true for us today, as it was in

the Apostle Paul’s time: “My God will meet all

your needs according to his glorious riches in

Christ Jesus.” These words are for each person

who loves God and has accepted Jesus as Savior. Deuteronomy 30 and Philippians

Giving from a loving heart embraces more than

financial donations. In truth, one of the most

powerful gifts of all is compassionate prayer.

Financial resources are very effective in helping

others; however, sincere, believing prayer presented

before God with a humble, trusting heart will work

miracles and will change things in amazing ways!

In summary, God’s word says it all: The world and

its desires pass away, but the man who does the will

God lives forever. Do not love the world or

anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the

love of the Father is not in him. For everything in

the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of

his eyes, and the boasting of what he has and does –

comes not from the Father but from the world. The

world and its desires pass away, but the man who

does the will of God lives forever. I John 2:15-17NIV

God bless your precious life!

8

Faith Messenger

A publication of Christian Triumph Company

PO BOX 5187

Corpus Christi, TX 78465

Address Service Requested

This is how God showed

His love…He sent His

one and only Son into

the world that we might

live through Him. I John 4:9

Non-Profit Organization

U.S. Postage Paid

Corpus Christi, Texas

Permit # 695