"Even from this, Christ can save you" - Read Part 1 of the miraculous testimony of Mohammed in BeirutThe Phantom Intercessor - 28 Jan 2015

Below is the first part of a story sent by friends of 24-7 in the Middle East. Stay tuned this week for parts two and three

Mohammed was praying one night when he saw a vision of Jesus approaching him over a wasteland.

Recognising his Syrian homeland he cried out "Lord, I don’t want to go back to Syria in the midst of this crisis." Mohammed knew that his new-found faith in Jesus could get him killed back home.

The Lord then extended an arm towards Mohammed and opened his hand. In his palm Mohammed could see endless fields of olive branches, each one exploding with olives. Then Jesus spoke. “Not your will be done, but mine!”  

Our friend Mohammed now ministers in one of the most dangerous mission fields on earth. It’s terrifying and exhausting work and yet he is seeing incredible answers to prayer. So thank you for all those who have been praying for Syria through this terrible crisis. The Lord is hearing our prayers!

One night, just before visiting a particular Syrian refugee camp for the first time, Mohammed had another dream. He was walking in Syria, in the midst of war. Bombs were falling, buildings burning. Women were screaming from the windows of their homes. And as Mohammed walked down the street, through this distressing scene, he called out in a loud voice “Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand!”  The women shouted back, “Who can save us from this carnage?” 

"Jesus can save you! Even from this, Christ can save you!” Mohammed called back.

In the refugee camp the next day, Mohammed began gathering groups of old men, little children and even whole families to study the bible. As a result we found ourselves sitting with a group of ten Syrian men drinking tea and smoking cigarettes, Mohammed pulled out the creation account from Genesis on a folded piece of paper and had one of the men read it. Then he guided the group through some simple questions about the story, finishing with a talk about how we could apply the story to our daily lives.

“It’s a nice story,” said one of the men, “but isn’t it from a Jewish book? Tell me Mohammed, why should we be reading it?”                                        
A heavy silence fell over the group. Mohammed took a drag on his cigarette. “I’ll tell you why we should read it. Someday we are going to have to go back to Syria and rebuild our country. How many of you want to rebuild it on the same foundation that got us to where we are today?”

More silence.

“Millions of people tell us this book can help our nation, help our families, help us have true relationships with God. Do you want to read it, and find out if that’s true? Or do you want to throw it away because somebody told you it’s a Jewish book?”

This time the silence lasted only a few seconds. “He’s right. We should read it” the men unanimously declared. 

It was, of course, great that those men for the first time looked at the Bible as a potential source of wisdom for their lives, but I knew, as we walked back to my van, that something even more significant had just happened. Mohammed had found his message. He was no longer merely a Syrian who wanted people to study the Bible. He was a man carrying hope for his nation.

But it was later, in the summer that followed, that Mohammed saw his greatest breakthrough...

Mohammed's story will continue later this week

All images are used by permission in accordance with commons copyright license terms: Feature image is a derivative of the images 'Syria Grunge Flag' by Nicolas Raymond, 'Sunset clouds' by Abdulsalam Haykal and 'Storm...' by Julia