Middle East (MNN) — Last week we told you about Muslim leaders warning Muslims about the danger presented by the "network of house churches" in the country. Despite threats, Christians aren't easing their desire to share the Gospel. Many young Iranian leaders met in a nearby country to receive training from a E3 Partners team.
Vice President of Church and Ministry Partnerships with E3, Tom Doyle, says those who receive the training were young. "Many of them 22 to 25 are pastoring churches throughout Iran. And the church is growing in Iran. Obviously, it's a very threatening existence for them."
From there the team traveled to Israel. "My buddy Jason Elam, who used to be a place kicker for the [Denver] Broncos, was also hosting with me. He's a wonderful Bible teacher. And he's getting involved."
The work in Israel focused on the city of Haifa. "Haifa is the place where Arab and Jews really get along in Israel, and they work together. We worked with a church there. [We] did some things in the West Bank and did Gospel outreach in Tel Aviv," which is a secular city.
E3 has a desire to see the Middle East turn to Christ. Doyle says many are turning to Christ. He says the way they're doing so is amazing. "We found that Muslim-background believers, many of them, in our informal surveys — maybe even as many as half of them — had a dream or a vision before they came to Christ. They became a 'seeker,' found a believer, heard a message on the radio, or found a Bible."
This phenomenon has created an idea for a book Doyle is writing titled, "Divine Intervention – God Rocks the Muslim World with Dreams and Visions." Doyle says this phenomenon has caused E3 to focus on it. "We'll ask people as we're talking. We'll say, 'Hey, we're Christians and you're Muslims, but there's this phenomenon happening about Muslims having dreams about Jesus. Do you know anybody. Have you had one?' We have met some people who have said, 'I did have a dream about Jesus, but I didn't know what it meant.' Then we go into the Gospel."
Doyle points to one story of a woman in Eqypt who stopped a Christian man on the street. The woman said, "You are the one!" The Christian man didn't understand what she was talking about. She told him, "[In my dream] you were walking with me and Jesus, and you had that same striped shirt on, those glasses, those pants and those shoes. Jesus was telling me He loves me and wants to have a relationship with me." In her dream she asked Jesus, "What do I do?" In her dream Jesus told her, "Ask this man tomorrow when you see him."
E3 Partners continues to train leaders in the Muslim world. You can support their work. Just click here for more information.
