Dreams, Visions and Miracles in the Middle East
Dreams and visions leading to salvation in Christ are common occurrences in many lands. It is an expression of God's sovereign and compassionate work in people's lives. This is beyond the realm of human control or doing. Below is just one story of how Christ touched a life through a dream or vision and as a result, others are entering the Kingdom of God.
There is a man named Muhammad that many people call affectionately "Papa" Muhammad. He is one of the most prominent and dignified people in his village. He was once the General Consul Ambassador to another kingdom for over 8 years. He was according to his words, the gate from this country to his own country. All transactions between the 2 countries, from political, business, religious to tourism passed via him. He was a devout Muslim in the way of Islam. Papa Muhammad has special relations with the king of this other country who invited him into the kaaba (the holiest place of Islam) on three separate occasions. This was a rare privilege granted only to the most privileged in the Muslim world. Whenever Papa Muhammad visited his homeland, crowds came to welcome and greet him. Many were touching him to receive the 'barakka' (blessing), he supported the running of many mosques and funded many 'dawas' (Islamic missions) - he was considered a holy man.
However, things began to dramatically change for Papa Muhammad. He had a series of dreams; someone wearing a bright white robe beckoning him. He was convinced that this was Isaa Almasihu (Jesus the Messiah) calling him. Each time he had the dream, it was puzzling to him as he knew he would have to answer and follow Jesus but the cost of the price to pay was unbearable as it could certainly cost his life. He decided on his own to make peace with God with no one knowing it and lived as such for three years; by then he was retired.
One day he decided to obey and follow Christ and 'live out loud' his faith after a series of meetings he arranged with a local Pastor. From there on out he endured a humiliating ordeal inflicted primarily by his wife as she dishonored him. She invited well known Muslims with mystic powers to curse him. He got cut off from the "umma" (Muslim community) and his own family turned against him. His wife managed through corruption to block his pension dossier and life became miserable for him. He went from the sublime to the ridiculous as he depended on help from kind souls.
Last Ramadan, Papa Muhammad was demanded by the leaders of the central mosque to appear at a special court hearing paneled by Muslim scholars. The grueling session lasted almost ten hours, praise God he came out a winner. This made news both locally and even nationally. Despite his situation Papa Muhammad led twenty seven people to Christ, all Muslim believers. I was privileged to train some of them in the Disciple Making Movements last April. He hopes, despite his age, to lead more people to Christ and for his team to make disciples and multiply. He requests prayers for himself for security and safety, for the salvation of his family and for the growth of his team as they evangelize.
*Names are changed to protect the privacy and security of those we serve.
The results have been amazing! Over the last 7.5 years we have seen the Lord raise up over 16,000 new churches with more than 600,000 new believers in 49 countries spread across 10 regions of the world.
To fulfill our mission in the Middle East we are focusing on training local leaders to both launch and sustain disciple making movements. The idea of a “movement” is to start something that can keep going without you. That is why our focus is not just to make disciples, it is to multiply disciple makers.
What we do does not revolve around professionals and programs. It is about giving ordinary people the vision to see that they are at the very center of God’s plan to win the world and then giving them the tools to start multiplying disciple makers where they live. One of the "tools" we are trying to provide our for our key leaders in the Middle East is Bibles.