Dreams and Visions: Is
Jesus Awakening the Muslim World? By Tom Doyle with Greg Webster
Pastor Tom Doyle, full time missionary in the Middle East
and Central Asia has spent over 11 years spreading the good news of Jesus
Christ among Muslims. In his time in
ministry, he has witnessed many Muslims who had specific dreams and visions of
Jesus. Despite the Muslim rule of law in
many countries that says that if you convert to Christianity, death will be
your end, many Muslims are pursuing Jesus after having these powerful dreams of
him. Yet, as Pastor Doyle attests, Jesus
is awakening Muslim culture in powerful ways.
One of the great things about this book is that you get a
glimpse of Muslim people getting glimpses of Jesus through dreams in many
different countries. The book is divided
by chapter but also by country, chronicling the work of God in such countries
as Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Syria. We get
a sense of the difficult situation in these Middle East countries through Doyle’s
description, he writes, “Because 1.5 billion Muslims look to Saudi Arabia as
home base for their faith, Saudi Arabia rises to the top when it comes to “zero
tolerance” toward other religions” (45).
Yet, as Doyle points out, there are some advantages to ministering in
these nations, as most Muslim governments do not allow converts to change their
religion on their ID, therefore allowing Christians to enter places like Mecca
at will, providing opportunities to pray, witness, and reach out to fellow
Saudis.
One of the great things about
this book is that it challenges us to check our preconceptions about Muslims at
the door and offer prayers to God on their behalf. No, not every Muslim is a terrorist, Doyle
makes an assertion that only about 10 % of Muslims align themselves with
extreme positions.
As Doyle recounts Aisha’s story, we get a glimpse of what
happens when a Muslim encounters Jesus in a dream. “She instantly knew He loved her deeply. And in that instant, she also knew who He
was. Jesus stood in her tent” (65). She slept that night in a tent near the Kaaba
stone, the holy place of Islam, and instead of following after Muhammad more
intently, she met Jesus. Having a sense
that her cousin Reem was having similar visions, she met with her and found out
that Reem was having similar dreams.
This contact was only the beginning of a ministry to bring Bibles from
Jordan into Saudi Arabia. What is so
powerful about these stories that are recounted in this book is that the
visions and dreams always lead to actions, always lead to a high measure of
faithful living to Jesus, no matter what the cost.
At one point, Pastor Doyle asks the question that many
believers ask when reading these amazing stories of Muslims becoming Christians
by writing, “How do you know that these people truly became believers?” “My
answer is simple: “Because they are willing to die for Jesus.” That’s a good litmus test, don’t you think”
(242). If this doesn’t cut you to the
heart about the plight of these believers, than what will? I was amazed and awestruck, challenged and
called to pray for these faithful followers of Jesus. Now, what can I and we do to help these
believers in their gospel witness? I
think this is where we need to step outside our comfortable lives and pray that
God would change us to stand in the gap for these brothers and sisters.
Much thanks to Thomas Nelson and the Book Sneeze program for
the complimentary copy of this book in exchange for review.
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