 |
| In a word, YES! |
The story below about an ISIS jihadi converting to Christ serves as a sign for hope, that the Lord Himself can and does reach out to touch the hearts of Muslims, even among the most bloodthirsty zealots, and leads them to repentance. It proves the Lord's love truly extends to all people.
But this does not absolve Christians from doing all we can, both by presenting a vibrant witness through our grace-filled lives, as well as by sharing the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with our Muslim neighbors.
Notice how, in the story of this jihadi's conversion, it was not only the dreams, but it was also the witness of the Christian whom he killed, who gave him a Bible moments before he was martyred, which proved the truth of the Gospel to the ISIS jihadi.
Another powerful witness certainly having an effect on Muslims is how families of Christians martyred by Muslims are forgiving their attackers and praying for them to come to know Jesus Christ and be saved from hell. The witness, the prayers, and the dreams and visions are all combining to draw many to the Lord.
Fr. Daniel Byantoro provides some very helpful thoughts on how one may go about sharing the Gospel with Muslims in an excellent interview conducted with him by Road To Emmaus. We should also keep in mind the fervent example of New Priest-Martyr Daniel Sysoev of Moscow, who publicly debated Muslims and was eventually killed by an extremist Muslim group, because he had led over 80 Muslims into the Orthodox Church, including several hard-core Wahhabis.
Let us therefore have hope!
via REPORT: ISIS Jihadist converts to Christianity after seeing Jesus in his dreams
by Mary Chastain, Breitbart News — June 15, 2015
ISIS slaughters Christians and destroys churches while they establish their caliphate in Syria and Iraq. But one militant reportedly converted to Christianity after “a man in white” appeared in his dreams.
Gina Fadely, the director of Youth With A Mission Frontier Missions (YWAM), told The Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network one of their workers met a former ISIS fighter who murdered Christians, but converted after a dream:
“He told this YWAM leader that he had begun having dreams of this man in white who came to him and said, ‘You are killing my people.’ And he started to feel really sick and uneasy about what he was doing,” Fadely continued. “The fighter said just before he killed one Christian, the man said, ‘I know you will kill me, but I give to you my Bible.’ The Christian was killed and this ISIS fighter actually took the Bible and began to read it. In another dream, Jesus asked him to follow him and he was now asking to become a follower of Christ and to be discipled.”
“So who knows. Perhaps this man will be like Saul in the Bible that persecuted Christians and he turned from that persecution of the early church to become the Apostle Paul who led it,” Fadely added. “God can turn it around.”
Fadely is speaking about St. Paul the Apostle, who was known as Saul before he converted. He used to persecute the followers of Jesus and some texts claim he enjoyed it as much as the ISIS fighter enjoyed murdering Christians. On his way to Damascus to persecute more followers, he is blinded by a light and hears a voice. From Acts 9:1-9:
1 Meanwhile Saul was still breathing threats to slaughter the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest
2 and asked for letters addressed to the synagogues in Damascus, that would authorise him to arrest and take to Jerusalem any followers of the Way, men or women, that he might find.
3 It happened that while he was travelling to Damascus and approaching the city, suddenly a light from heaven shone all round him.
4 He fell to the ground, and then he heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’
5 ‘Who are you, Lord?’ he asked, and the answer came, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
6 Get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you are to do.’
7 The men travelling with Saul stood there speechless, for though they heard the voice they could see no one.
8 Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing at all, and they had to lead him into Damascus by the hand.
9 For three days he was without his sight and took neither food nor drink.
The jihadists cleanse areas within their caliphate of anything they deem un-Islamic. Tombs and shrines are wiped off the map while non-Muslims are forced from their homes. For the first time in 2,000 years, not a single Christian lives in Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city and one of the earliest homes of Christianity. They destroy libraries and implement strict Islamic curriculum in schools. People must follow Sharia law. The terrorists also post pictures and videos of beheadings and public executions. They recently beheaded 21 Coptic Christians in Libya.
Kevin Sutter, another YWAM leader, told the show that an Arab leader said many Muslims are losing faith in Islam.
“Many people are now following Jesus but they keep it quiet,” he explained. “They haven’t gone public about it. They even have church in their own home, they’re watching, they’ll serve communion to one another as they’re watching TV.”
In March, apologist Nabeel Qureshi told The Christian Post dreams are significant to Muslims:
“In Muslim cultures, generally speaking, people don’t see themselves as being able to commune with God. Communion is a very Christian concept and the idea that Christ has torn down the veil — in a lot of cultures the veil is still up. In Islam, for example, people don’t expect to have God talk back to them personally, as the Holy Spirit isn’t living in them. They ask God for guidance through dreams; that’s like the one way that Muslims expect to hear from God,” Qureshi explained.
“For someone to reach out and ask, ‘God, can you tell me about you?’ Or, ‘If you’re Jesus, can you show me a dream?’ That’s not strange at all… That’s kind of what Muslims do,” he added.
