In an area where being Christian is a dangerous choice, missionaries are reporting that more Muslims are converting than what has been seen in over 1,400 years.
James Bradford, the lead pastor at Central Assembly in Springfield, Missouri, and missionary Dick Brogden told Assemblies of God News that God is working in Islamic countries through prophetic dreams.
While in Western culture, signs of God's existence is through miracles, typically of healing the sick; but in Islamic culture they are unphased by these moments of wonder.
In the Qur'an, the holy book of Islam, it speaks of Jesus and the miracles he performed, the difference is that it doesn't state Christ was crucified or that he's the son of God. So, when these miracles happen, it doesn't have much of an impact as they already believe Jesus can perform miracles.
They do find significance, however, in dreams and visions which is where the change is happening.
"I would even say it's the normal experience," says Brogden. "It would be accurate to say that Muslims are responding to Jesus in levels we have neer seen, not in 1,400 years."
Despite this growing conversion rate, the numbers are simply rising with the growing global population.
In 1982, there were 2.5 billion people in the world classified as ‘lost’ with 1.5 billion being classified as unreached. In 2022, the global population reached eight billion, with six billion classified as ‘lost’ and 3.15 billion being classified as unreached, according to Brogden.
The process of converting to Christianity is a difficult one, as Muslims know it will cost them everything and even possibly get them killed, but it's the visions and dreams of Jesus that calm their soul.
Bradford shares that he was in a Muslim country meeting with church leaders from several Muslim nations and one of the leaders talked of a woman who had a dream of Jesus.
"A woman had left the Muslim faith, but she was full of hatred and suspicion of Christians," says Bradford. "She didn’t know what to do—she asked God for help. One night she had a dream where she saw a shepherd, walking about an empty tomb with a staff. The shepherd walked round it a few times, and then He headed directly towards the woman. He had a loaf of bread in His hands, which He broke and offered it to her and as He did, He said, 'Take, eat, this is my body.'"
After experiencing this dream, it was told that this woman went to someone who she knew was a Christian and he showed her the Bible, specifically the part where Jesus says the very words she heard in her dream.
The women then accepted Jesus as her saviour and continues to serve him to this day.
Bradford and Brogden encourage believers across the world to continue praying for those who resist the gospel to have their eyes opened and have an encounter with Christ.