Mohammed and Jazira become followers of Jesus.
Tajikistan
I received an email this month from friends who are church planting in a remote area in
Tajikistan. Recently, a crime was committed by a local person which involved them. A courtcase
ensued. The local defendant hired two witches to do conjuring on their behalf in order to bring
about the desired outcome. These witches came to the hearing and sat in the back. Our friends
prayed in Jesus name against whatever spiritual influences might be coming from these two.
Thankfully, the culpable party was found guilty and justice was served.
Dreams are held to have deep significance in Arab, Persian and Turkish societies. It is believed
that God gives guidance in dreams. Over the last fourteen years many Iranian, Tajik and Uzbek
Muslims have told me that Jesus has appeared to them in dreams. Also, on a number of
occasions Muslim converts in Tajikistan have told me of significant spiritual dreams and asked
me what they meant. These are people deeply concerned that God is speaking to them and
sincerely wanting to understand what he is saying. How does one respond in such a situation?
Because of the worldview assumptions, people in such societies must find out what dreams
mean. Based on cases like the one from Nigeria mentioned above, if the Western missionaries
and Bible teachers tell them to go home and not worry about it, then people in the church will
go to the local shaman to find out what it means.
In another set of circumstance in Tajikistan in the summer of 1994, I found myself discipling a
young Tajik believer whom I will call Hossein. Hossein had a newborn son, Reza, who was
three weeks old. Reza was born along with thirteen other babies in that same maternity ward.
Within one week of the birth eleven of the babies had died of an illness which the doctors could
not diagnose. During Rezas third week of life he contracted the same illness. Hossein took Reza
to the hospital and we began to fast and pray. Reza continued to worsen. Three days later the
doctor told Hossein to take the baby home because there was nothing more they could do.
Rezas bowels had ceased functioning, he was blue and barely breathing. I went Hosseins house
with my wife and another colleague. The house was filled with unsaved Muslim relatives. We
prayed through the evening. Near midnight I feel asleep. When I awoke at 6.00 A.M. all was
quite (unusual for a Muslim household when a loved one dies). I went to find Hossein. He had
Reza in his arms. Normal color had returned to his skin, he was breathing easily, and soon his
bowels began functioning again. We raced the baby to the hospital and the doctor was
nonplused. "This is the first time I have ever sent a baby home dead and have it come back
alive."
Two days later Reza told me that every day in the maternity ward numerous babies die due to
lack of medicine and supplies (a civil war had been ravaging the country for two years at that
point in time and the countrys infrastructure was devastated). He told me that he was confident
that if God could heal his son, then he could heal others as well. He asked me if I would go with
him to the hospital to pray for healing for the babies.