>> On Thursday, an Israeli newsaper reports: Memoir of Hamas leader’s son who spied for Israel goes online [in Arabic]: ‘Son of Hamas,’ by Mosab Hassan Yousef, quickly become a best-seller after its U.S. release last year.

Posted Tuesday: Lynn and I and our boys had the joy of having Mosab Hassan Yousef and two of his friends at our house for dinner last night. Mosab — the eldest son of Sheikh Hassan Yousef, one of the founders of the Hamas terrorist organization — was in Washington yesterday to speak at the International Spy Museum and to release the paperback edition of his must-read book, Son of Hamas. We spent almost three hours catching up on how he’s doing and talking about his passion for exposing the evils of Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood, and his heart for reaching every Palestinian with the gospel of Jesus Christ. My kids were spellbound as he told stories and shared from his heart.

One  especially exciting new development: today on his website he is releasing a free downloadable version of his book in Arabic. Now every Palestinian or other Arabic speaker anywhere in the world who wants to can read his story of how he grew up in a leading family of devout Sunni Muslims in Ramallah, was arrested by Israeli forces for buying weapons and plotting attacks against Jews, was sentenced to an Israeli prison, witnessed unspeakable torture by Hamas leaders against Hamas members in that prison, eventually came to renounce Islam, began studying the Bible, became an admirer of Jesus Christ, then became a baptized follower of Jesus Christ, and demonstrated his love for Jesus in part by loving Israel, his neighbor and enemy, thwarting dozens of terrorists attacks and saving the lives of scores of Palestinians and Israelis in the process.

Over the last several years, I have come to love Mosab as my brother in Christ. I’m impressed by his deeply rooted convictions about how Christ has saved him from the lies of his culture. I’m impressed that has no fear about telling people what he believes and why. I love that he speaks against Radical Islam with authority. And I love that he deeply loves his people — the Palestinian people — yet he is not afraid to tell the world that he loves Israel, too. He is proud of what he did in serving as a double agent for the Israeli Shin Bet secret services against Hamas. He is not ashamed of this. Nor should he be. He’s a hero. Some Arab Christian leaders are criticizing him for this part of the story. But he isn’t backing down. If you haven’t read his story yet, please do. And please keep praying for Mosab, that the Lord would continue protecting him and giving him such remarkable courage. Pray, too, that the Lord would take him still deeper in his study of God’s Word and continue to train him and develop him as a bold evangelist and Christian leader among the Palestinian people.

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