From Iran, with all its turmoil, unrest and repression, comes this amazing story. The story is not unique – there are many like it – but it is so wonderful that it’s well worth repeating. Joel Richardson of Kansas City, who has been involved in ministry to Muslims for many years, heard this account from a friend of his – we’ll call him Ali – who is an underground church planter in Iran.
Ali had learned that in a remote Iranian village, a man had become a believer in Jesus even though there were no other known Christ followers in his village. Wanting to find out how this man had come to believe in Jesus, Ali travelled to the village to meet with the man. The villager related how he had been visited by a figure wearing a white robe, with shoulder-length hair and a very commanding presence. The unknown man in white spoke at length to the villager and told him to write down his words. The villager agreed. The message spoken by the man in white convinced this villager to become a believer in Jesus, even though there were no other Christians in his village.
After hearing the villager’s story, Ali asked him if he could see the words that had convinced him to become a Christian. The villager showed Ali a large journal in which he had written down all the words spoken by the man in white. It was written in Farsi, but the English translation of the first line began with these words :
In the beginning was the word. The word was with God, and the word was God
The villager who had become a Christian was holding in his hands a hand written copy of the entire Gospel of John which he had transcribed into his journal. He told Ali that the man in white had related these words to him, verbatim.
How amazing is that? Even a tyrannical Islamic regime cannot prevent the good news of Jesus from being revealed to hungry hearts. Stories like this one motivate me to pray, for surely it is the prayers of God’s people that move His heart to send messengers to the lost.
Joel Richardson comments that such stories are actually quite common in Iran, where many new believers are coming to faith through divine encounters, dreams and visions.
beautiful and inspirational!!!
It is a wonderful and inspirational story. However, it also makes me think. Stories like that are common in the middle east right now. Perhaps part of it is all the turmoil that area is in right now but it also makes me ask questions about us (the west). Are we too complacent, to disconnected altogether from belief in a spiritual world and a God who loves us so much that He not only knows the number of hairs on our heads but He sent His son to die for our sins so that we might live in His abundance? Are we too comfortable in our own little worlds and with the prosperity we have to extend ourselves to look for more or accept knowledge of the one who gave it to us?
May the Lord forgive us and wake us all up to see, to hear, to believe the wonder of our living God and be obedient to His call on our lives. God bless the middle east and the rest of us.
Dale,
I believe the Lord is preparing His bride for His return. This is a process that will be accompanied by much testing and refinement for which the church in the West is largely unprepared.
Blessings
Peter.