*Travis and *Lisa arrived at the party, which was already in full swing. Soon they were settled, Lisa inside with the women and Travis outside on the patio with the men.

When one of the Muslim men asked if he was a Christian, Travis answered, “I am a follower of Isa al Masih (Jesus the Messiah).” 

The man smiled and said, “I want to tell you about my dream: I was in a beautiful bright green field, walking towards a brilliant and sparkling light. It was so bright I could not look at it directly. As I approached, I looked down, shielding my eyes from the brightness, and I began weeping. 

“Then A Voice Said To Me, ‘I Am Jesus’”

“I could not hold back my tears. I stood with my head bowed and cried. They were not tears of sadness but of happiness and joy. Jesus is coming back. We might not recognize Him until He turns to look at us. But when He does, people of all religions will come together in Jesus.”

Travis felt the Lord gave him a response. “Your tears were worship.” 

The Muslim man sat back, smiled, and nodded his head. Another man nodded in agreement and translated worship into the local language for the others. The men continued speaking about Jesus’ return and how people from all religions will gather under and around Jesus. 

Glory to God for revealing His truth to this spiritually hungry man! For we know that “God exalted Jesus to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11)

But because we know that “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12), please pray as Travis arranges a time to visit this family so they can read the Bible and become true disciples of Jesus.

*pseudonym

Related Articles:
Bearing Fruit in a Radically Different Culture
Go Small to Go Big
Day 312 of Following Jesus
Empowered Disciples

The Night of Power, an especially holy night near the end of Ramadan (the Muslim month of fasting), had arrived for Rahmad.

His neighborhood mosque received many guest speakers on this auspicious night. As he waited for the next speaker, Rahmad wondered how his acts and prayers became exponentially more powerful on this one night.  

Strangely, his mind wandered to a foreign man he’d recently met. Weren’t all foreigners — especially Westerners — considered infidels? 

His mosque had instructed that infidels should never be allowed to enter the homes of the faithful. From his imam’s cautionary admonitions, Rahmad also understood that no teachings other than those from the Qu’ran (or other Islamic sources) were valid. Yet, when speaking with this foreigner and his Indonesian friend, Rahmad observed a distinct difference between what he had been taught and what he had seen. 

Rahmad remembered how the foreign man dared to broach an unthinkable topic: “Have you ever considered that God has revealed truths of His kingdom that He desires mankind to discover? I am praying that God will lead my friend and me to people who want to study the Taurat, Zabur, and Injil [roughly equivalent to the Torah (Pentateuch), the Psalms, and the New Testament] so they can know and understand God’s heart and His kingdom ways. Are you one of those people? Is your household searching for God’s path?” 

Rahmad’s soul tingled with the memory. He and his family had been meeting with the men for the last few weeks. They had discovered powerful truths while studying prophets from the Old and New Testaments. Perhaps on this holy night, God would guide him with divine wisdom to the truth.

*pseudonym

Grace* had recently returned to Southeast Asia when she was flagged down by a familiar face: Her house helper’s husband ran across a busy street to greet her. He insisted that Grace sit at his sugarcane booth to wait for his wife to arrive. Soon Grace and Bi Indah* were seated on a bench, talking about life, family, and gifts from God.

As they talked, many curious people came over to engage Grace in conversation. One man asked about her religion. When she answered that she followed Isa, Bi Indah spoke up and told him how that was different from their usual understanding of “being a Christian.” She explained what it means to follow Jesus, how Grace stayed pure, and how Grace’s faith looks different from that of other Christians Bi Indah had met.

“At that moment,” Grace says, “I realized that most of the things she said weren’t things I had told her, but rather things she had observed. I don’t get to choose how God uses me, but I delight in the fact that God can and will use our daily obedience to draw people to Himself.”

Grace obeys God’s word both in what she says and the way she lives. It shows her love for Him. As a witness, Bi Indah is already sharing what she has learned from Grace about following Jesus, even though she herself is not yet a disciple.

*pseudonym

Through your generosity, lives are being transformed each day as men, women and children encounter Jesus for the first time.
Following the Spirit’s leading, Rebecca and two friends she was discipling brought supplies to some poor communities after a flood. They asked God to multiply the harvest through their small outreach.

In most villages, God directed them to the homes of the community leaders. The team asked them to distribute the goods to the families in need. This allowed for more time to build relationships with each leader and his family. Each man welcomed a story about Isa (Jesus), allowed a prayer in His name, and invited Rebecca’s team to return.

In one community, however, they had a different entrance — their car ran into a ditch near a village of trash collectors. As they dealt with the car, they noticed a woman staring intently at them, so they stopped to visit. The woman and her sisters ushered them into their home and began talking about the flood. Suddenly, one of their daughters had a demonic manifestation. 
Rebecca and her team were allowed to pray for the girl in Isa’s name. When she calmed down, they asked if the women wanted to hear a story about Isa healing the sick. They listened eagerly, exclaiming “Amin!” at several points. As their conversation continued, the matriarch asked, “Are you the three mentioned in my dream?”

She explained that her husband had died four months previously, and each night she prayed that God would see her and her children. Then one night, she dreamed that a man stood before her. He told her God cared for her and her family and that three visitors would soon come whom she should welcome into her home. 

She was confused. Who would visit her home in the trash yard? She asked her son, a Muslim cleric, about the dream. He said to wait and see what happened.

When the widow saw Rebecca and her two friends get out of their car, she became very excited. “And there the three of you now sit in front of me. You are strangers, and you prayed over my daughter and brought a blessing. You must be the ones I have been waiting for.” 

Rebecca asked if they could return another day to share more stories about Isa. All the women agreed they should come again. “We will be waiting.”

In a city with scores of people groups, God led this team to their focal people group at each stop. The two newer disciple-makers were especially encouraged and excited by their first-hand encounter in ministering alongside our Father. 

On behalf of families like this one that have now witnessed the power of Jesus and the unstoppable gospel, thank you! 

For years, three Muslim-background followers of Jesus lived and ministered together in the same Muslim community. The three friends would gather large groups and share Bible stories, but they never had any fruit.

Then, about three years ago, God told them to separate. They obeyed, and each man gathered a smaller group in which they were the only follower of Jesus. It wasn’t long before they all began to see fruit.

The three friends realized that they used to spend a lot of time discussing what each knew about the Bible and what they had learned at some Christian conference or retreat. But when they separated, the new groups’ discussions became centered around what God was doing. The Lord began to use His Word and His Spirit to speak to and guide the Muslim seekers.

These groups have now become over 175 baptized followers in more than 29 house churches. The groups recently came together twice to baptize over 60 new followers, as their Muslim community watched from boats and the shore. These events have led to many conversations and some tensions within the community. Still, the disciples see this as an excellent opportunity to share their testimonies about what it means to follow Jesus with their friends and neighbors.