“And it shall come to pass afterward,
that I will pour out my spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
your old men shall dream dreams,
and your young men shall see visions.”
Joel 2:28 (RSV)
Jesus died for all people, and therefore desires all people to know Him. In nations where Islam is dominant, it is forbidden to become Christian. Christians may live discreetly among Muslims, but there are very few opportunities for open evangelism.
Statistics have shown that 25% of Muslims who do convert to Christianity, do so because of a dream or a vision they had, where Jesus or Isa, appeared to them, inviting them to follow Him. These converts have shared their stories with both Protestant and Catholic circles. When God is doing something marvelous, it crosses all denominations. How do such marvelous dreams and visions occur?
There is a “man in white” who has visited some Muslim men or women, either in a vision or in their dreams. He identifies Himself using the titles we know from scripture, but Muslims do not have access to bibles, and most know very little about Jesus or our scriptures. The man in white evangelizes them by Himself, appearing to them, engulfed in a bright white light wearing a pure white garment.
The prophet Joel wrote that these dream and vision phenomena would one day occur, and Peter quoted Joel’s prophetic words in his sermon in the book of Acts. It may sound hard to believe, but there are too many documented testimonies, that all share a common image of the man in white, inviting them to follow Him. These Muslim men and women converted to Christianity after the dream or vision of the man in white. I am going to share only a few of their encounters.
A Persian migrant who arrived at a refugee center from Iran, had a vision, while he was staying there. He saw a man surrounded by a bright light, dressed in white, extend his hand to him and say “Follow me.” The Persian man asked, “Who are you?” The man in white answered, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.”
The man from Iran never read a Bible and never heard of the title Alpha and Omega. He learned later from a Christian clergyman that it was a title of Jesus.
An Indonesian young Muslim woman was praying and promising to follow God in any way He shows her. She suddenly saw a man shining in bright white light, dressed in white, who walked up to her and said, “Follow Me.” She somehow knew instantly that it was Jesus.
Another Muslim woman dreamed that a shepherd was walking around an empty tomb with a staff in his hand. Then he turned and walked directly towards her, holding a loaf of bread in His hands, which He broke and offered to her, saying, “Take, eat, this is my body.” She never heard this scripture and knew nothing about Jesus or phrases related to communion. When she woke up from her vivid dream, she contacted the only Christian she knew, who gladly showed her where Jesus said those very words in scripture.
There are many more individuals like a Nigerian man, who had repeated dreams of figures in black trying to kill him, until a man in a bright white light approached him and the darkness left. The man in white took his hand and walked him safely home. In the seventh dream like this, the man in white told him he was Isa.(the Arabic name for Jesus)
Muslims believe in the prophet Isa, but He told the young man that He was the way, the truth and life, and his Lord and Savior.
He quickly told his father the dream, but his father was enraged. He gathered all the Muslim family members together, who decided to poison him, for being an infidel to the Muslim faith. The young man, was always respectful and submissive to his father’s will, yet completely trusted in Jesus. He took the poison they handed him, prayed to Jesus in front of all of them, and then drank it. He slept through the night but woke up alive and unharmed.
Jesus did many more awesome things for this same young man, who went to live with the few Christians he knew. One day, as his father was dying in a hospital, he sent for his son. When he arrived, his father asked his son’s forgiveness, and confessed his cruel treatment toward him, but he forgave his father a long time ago. Then he prayed with his father who had a change of heart and believed in Jesus, but passed away afterward.
Christians, who are underground missionaries, last year reported that more than 200 Muslim men in Gaza have converted to Christianity after reportedly seeing Isa (Jesus) in their dreams.
God knows best, how to spread the good news of His beloved son, in certain cultures and nations that ban Jesus from entering.
The man in white touched the heart of Muslims through a dream or a vision. He doesn’t need the permission of any government. He is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last. If Jesus calls us to follow Him, He will take care of us, every step of the journey.
Jesus said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He builds His church in many different ways. He uses us to show His love to the world, by doing things that Jesus would do. He also uses books, podcasts, movies, TV and radio to spread His truth to the world. Then there are the fortunate ones who get to meet Jesus in a dream or a vision.
Lord, thank you for the amazing ways that you reach out to people of other faiths these days, by appearing to them as a man in white. They are blessed to see you, but we believe even when we don’t see you. Amen