Refreshed for Multiplication

Do you remember when a shaman met Jesus? The Lord is still at work in this family.

Ryan* and his local partner, Rio, felt the need to pray for boldness in a group of five young followers of Jesus they had discipled. These young disciples include Soleh’s daughter, Hajay, and his nephew, Dylan. They are university students and former Muslims who have followed Isa (Jesus) for the last few years.

Concerned about a lack of multiplication, Ryan and Rio began to pray that God would embolden these students, and that the Lord would bring them to people He had prepared. Wanting to revive their vision, Rio spent three days retraining them in God’s vision for kingdom multiplication from Matthew 28. He also reshared a few simple methods to start conversations that would lead to Isa. After their refresher, the students went out to apply what they’d heard.

Hajay went to visit Nuria, a friend she had been praying for. They immediately began speaking about spiritual things. Nuria stopped Hajay saying, “I’ve had two unforgettable dreams I want to tell you about.” In the first dream, a man wearing a white robe made from light reached out his hands to welcome Nuria into his arms. Nuria knew it was Isa al Masih from stories she’d heard. In her second dream, she saw the whole earth from outer space. It was dark, and there was no sun. Suddenly, a very small lantern was lit in one part of the world and then another and another. The light grew until a great light shone. From that light, a cross rose up from the earth, and a great star appeared at its head. The star cast its light throughout the whole universe.

“You’ve clearly been given guidance from God,” Hajay responded. “I would like to help you learn about Isa al Masih by reading through His holy book.” Nuria agreed, and they made a plan to begin later that night.

Another of the disciples, Kaji, called his friend Iyan. Months ago, he had told Iyan about his new understanding of Isa al Masih, but he’d never followed up. With this fresh encouragement, Kaji boldly said he wanted to get together to talk about something so important that only the Word of God could explain it. Iyan agreed, and they set a time to meet.

Hilar, another of the young disciples, had class immediately after their training — a religion class at the Muslim university she attended. In class that day, the professor taught that God had handed down four holy books: the Alquran (Qur’an), the Taurat (Genesis – Deuteronomy), the Zabur (Psalms), and the Injil (the New Testament). Then the professor built a case for why they only ever needed to read the Alquran.

After class, the girl sitting next to Hilar (Novi) asked her why God would give books they didn’t need to read. “I’ve read them,” Hilar quickly replied, “and they have greatly helped me.” Novi introduced herself to Hilar and asked if Hilar would teach her about the other three books. “Actually,” Novi said, “let’s go to the bookstore right now!”

After purchasing a Bible, Novi said she wanted to read it every day with Hilar. “I want to become a new person. I have a pile of sins from my past, but I want to go to heaven.” Hilar returned to her fellow disciples with a huge grin on her face and told them all that God had done.

Pray for Hajay, Kaji, and Hilar as they grow in boldness to proclaim and point to God’s word.

Pray for Nuria, Iyan, and Novi as they begin to grapple with new truths about God’s plan to rescue them from sin and darkness.