Yesterday I was surprised to receive a lengthy email from a brother in Christ I hardly ever hear from. (I am refraining from giving too many details regarding people’s identities in this true story for reasons that will soon be evident. Identities and corrected typos are the only changes made.) The email's subject line read: I Want to Tell You What Happened Today...
I wanted to take my wife, Tai-Yu, to an ESL [English as a Second Language] class, close to our home. It's been a few weeks that I found out that our local church offered free ESL classes. Today I decided to take Tai-Yu to ESL class, which was at a local coffee shop near where we live.
When we arrived at the coffee shop, we met two other women who were there—one was the teacher and the other woman was a first-timer like Tai-Yu. I soon found out that these women were believers in Christ.
The woman who was there for [the] first time, whose name was Sonya, was from Iran. Sonya was highly educated, as well as many members in her family. Sonya, decided to tell her story, about how she met Jesus Christ, while living in Iran. I have to tell you, I heard this was happening in Iran *, but not from anyone from Iran.
As you might know or not know, anyone that is a Christian in Iran gets persecuted for their belief, usually jail. The name of Jesus is not allowed to be mentioned in Iran for fear of being arrested and imprisoned. Sonya told us that she came to know the Lord nine years ago, secretly. She kept this to herself for some time until she moved to [the] United States, approximately 2-3 years ago.
I was fascinated to find out that Sonya came to know the Lord with visions of Jesus in her dreams. She told us the dreams. Years later, a Christian woman in [the] United States pointed out to Sonya that the dreams were actual events that took place in the Bible. Sonya also told us that her youngest son became deaf through an accident that happened about 5 years ago, and that everyone told her that he would never be able to speak again. In another dream, Sonya was told to take her son to Dubai and that her son would be able to speak. The miracle happened and her son began to speak, not only in his native language but two other languages including English. I found this out for the first time today, that many of the believers in Jesus in Iran were Jewish people.
I am not good at writing any stories, so for me to tell this is pretty awesome. I forgot to tell you, the woman I am writing about, her husband became a Christ follower upon finding out that his son was able to speak. Sonya visited Iran a little while back, and discovered that the secret home where she would meet other Christ followers has grown to over 1,000 people, much since only a few people from the time that Sonya began her journey.
I have changed Sonya's name as I did not get permission to relay this story.
*PS. my friend in Christ, J.T., from Texas, first told me of the many things that are happening in the Middle East through dreams and visions of Jesus Christ, almost a year ago. I truly believe now...
I too had heard similar stories via the internet, but this is the closest-to-home account I have shared with others. May you be as thrilled and encouraged as I am!
Thanks for sharing this encouraging testimony! Our Heavenly Father is surely doing a mighty work in all the earth to draw His children to His heart.
ReplyDeleteThere is a wonderful book called "Miracles of Miracles" you would probably enjoy. It is the testimony of Mina Nevisa. Here is an exerpt, "She was born into a family of Islamic fundamentalists. Her life was translated from the ordinary to the extraordinary through a dramatic supernatural encounter with Jesus Christ during her teenage years. That pivotal experience turned members of her family and the Islamic authorities of her nation against her. Over the course of the subsequent twenty-one years Muslim radicals pursued her from nation to nation. The accounts of God’s miraculous interventions in their lives will thrill and intrigue you."
She and her husband have a ministry based out of NoVa.
Bless you dear sister for your continued faithfulness and love!
Cindi
That is encouraging, and it's great to see your blog growing, too, Lyn.
ReplyDeleteMay God bless your endeavors.
Love,
Lisa
A big THANK YOU to all who wrote me about this post. I also received email comments, some of which said:
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about this dear lady. A key scripture about the End Times in Iran is Jeremiah 49:34-39. The nation "Elam" is modern day Iran, and the prophecy is about the L-rd establishing his throne there in the last days! R.B.
Yea! I have been hearing of this for years--He is preaching His own gospel! A.C.