The following story happened in Turkey in October 2004. This is one of my favorite stories from our work.
We began the day walking and praying in a city of around 100,000 people in which there are only two known believers. We were asking God to lead us to people of peace that we could share with. We were asking God to lead us to people whom could open doors of opportunities for future work in this city.
As we walked we were drawn to a music store. We went in and noticed an unusual musical instrument for sale and we asked if anyone could show us how it was played. The guy running the store said that the owner could show us if we could come back that afternoon. We agreed and moved on.
Later that afternoon we went back to the music store and the owner was waiting. We sat down and he gave a performance that lasted about 30 minutes. It was great. Someone asked if it would be OK for me to play one of his guitars that he had for sale. He agreed and we played and sang two praise and worship songs. Even though he couldn’t understand our words he told us that the songs made him feel peaceful. He asked if we could come back the next day and we agreed.
The next morning we went back and our new friend was waiting. We continued our conversation from the previous day and reached a point where we were ready to give him a gift. We gave him a copy of the New Testament and a couple of videos, including the Jesus Film. We talked briefly about the gift and how it would help him to better understand and know who Jesus was. He was touched and pleased that we gave him the gift.
We decided to go to lunch and spend a little more time together. We ordered our meal and continued to talk as we waited. After the food arrived we bowed our heads and asked God to bless the meal. As we finished, our friend told us something that absolutely blew us away!
He said that he had a dream four nights earlier. In his dream he saw each of our faces. He saw us sitting at a table just as we were. He saw us praying for a meal. He said that in his culture dreams and visions are very common and they are often thought to be from God. He said that he believes that God gave him the dream so that he would know to accept the information from us. He said that he believed that God sent us to him for a reason. We were blown away! This was an answer to prayer. We had been praying that God would lead us to people who had experienced dreams and visions of this kind.
Our friend hasn’t reached the point of accepting the gospel. In fact, what he heard this past week would have been the very first time for him to hear the gospel. However, we believe that he will. We also believe he will be a true man of peace for this unreached city. He is someone that many people know. He will have a great impact and will be able to open many doors for the gospel.
Pray with us for his salvation. Pray with us for the follow-up that will be done by the workers. Pray with us that God will use our dreaming friend to plant many churches in this unreached city!
The last word we have from our friend is that he is still open and interested in walking in the kingdom. We continue to pray for his salvation and that God will use him to make many disciples in this small Turkish city. We are also praying for God to call out workers to go to this city full-time. Please pray with us for the Kingdom to come in this man's life, his family and his community.
Until ALL Have Heard,
jeg
