Have you heard? Something big is happening across the Muslim world!
David Garrison conducted field research across majority-Muslim countries around the world and published the book “Wind in the House of Islam” in 2014. One of the findings from his book was that in Islam’s first 12 centuries, there is no known record of any movements to Christianity. Many Christians thought of the Islamic world as a lost cause and Muslim evangelism as impossible.
During the same time, tens of millions of Christians have converted to Islam around the world.
Yet in the past few decades, as David Garrison and many others have reported, millions of Muslims around the world have embraced Jesus! These Muslim background believers, many of whom have been cut off from their communities and families, are following Jesus and spreading the Good News. They face immense personal cost and risk to themselves and their loved ones. Praise the Lord, in the past decade, it appears that the rate of Muslims coming to Christ is actually increasing.
In Sheep Among Wolves, a documentary about the exploding underground church in Iran, an underground pastor leads off with the following statement:
“What if I told you Islam is dead? What if I told you the mosques are empty inside Iran? What if I told you no one follows Islam inside of Iran? Would you believe me? This is exactly what is happening inside of Iran. God is moving powerfully inside of Iran.”
Sheep Among Wolves Part 1 documentary, FAI
Iranian officials recently reported that 50,000 of the country’s 75,000 mosques have closed, and there are reports that over a million former Muslims in Iran have come to faith in Jesus in the 21st century. These Iranian Christians are praying not only for their own leaders, but also for Israel.
What is happening in Iran is just the tip of the iceberg, as similar movements to Christ are happening across the Muslim world. This week, as Part 1 of a three-part series, we will look at one aspect of this great Muslim awakening: dreams and visions of Jesus.
I: Dreams and Visions of the Lord Jesus Christ
It appears that God is sovereignly moving and touching individual Muslims through dreams. These are not rare or isolated phenomena. As the ministry More than Dreams reported in 2007,
For decades, a well-documented phenomenon has been occurring in the Muslim world—men and women who, without knowledge of the gospel, or contact among Christians in their community, have experienced dreams and visions of Jesus Christ. The reports of these supernatural occurrences often come from “closed countries” where there is no preaching of the good news and where converting to Christianity can invoke the death sentence. But these are more than just dreams. Setting them apart is the intense reality of the experience and the surrender of one’s heart and mind to Christ in the wake of the dream. A common denominator appears to be that the dreams come to those who are seeking—as best they can—to know and please God.
More than Dreams, 2007
Such reports rarely make it to the news, but recently, reports emerged from Gaza that 200 Muslims embraced Jesus after discovering that they all had the same dream of Jesus. To the mainstream media this may be shocking if not unbelievable. But testimonies like this, incredibly, are rather commonplace. There are countless personal testimonies on YouTube and other social media platforms of former Muslims, sometimes radical Muslims, even jihadists, who encountered the Lord in dreams and visions and are now faithfully following Him.
One similar story that jumps to mind is of a missionary family who had to flee their field during a time of persecution. Driving down the mountain with a car full of Bibles (considered to be illegal contraband), their car broke down and they pulled off to the side of the road, only to be met with a stranger who asked them for whatever was in their car. Thinking that their secret had been discovered, yet unwilling to deny an opportunity to share the Gospel, they opened their trunk and showed the stranger their stash of Bibles. To their surprise, this stranger was delighted. He and other villagers from up the mountains had recently all encountered the same dream about Jesus, whom they did not know. Realizing this could be a supernatural work of God, they asked for a second dream. This time, Jesus appeared to the man, instructing him to walk down the mountain, where he could receive further instruction. And so, the man started walking down the mountain, leading to the divine appointment!
There is one common thread across these testimonies of Jesus appearing to Muslims in dreams: the dreams by themselves do not immediately result in conversion. Rather, they are a step in the spiritual journey, where the Lord breaks down some of the barriers which were the result of growing up in the Islamic faith. After receiving these dreams, these Muslims are often led to believers who engage them relationally.
The Tide is active in many of these regions where Muslims are encountering the living God in dreams and visions. We pray that these precious souls would be supernaturally led to our ministry partners for follow-up. Please join us in praying. May even more Muslims be loved into the Kingdom!
Stay tuned for more on this topic in the upcoming weeks!