One of the leaders of an organization working to spread the Gospel to Iranians reports that claims of Middle Easterners encountering Jesus in dreams are “quite common,” with the Lord using these interactions to draw individuals closer to Him.
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“God is using [dreams] to speak to Iranians all the time,” Lana Silk, U.S. director of Transform Iran, recently told CBN News. “He uses every method He can. … The Iranians are open to dreams; they are dreamers. They enjoy talking about their dreams, and they’re aware of their dreams, and God uses that to speak to them.”
While reports of Jesus appearing in dreams to Middle Easterners are prevalent, the same can’t be said for Americans more generally, as such anecdotal reports in the West seem far less rampant.
Silk explained why she believes there’s such a radical difference on this issue between the U.S. and the Middle East.
“I think we have become quite secular in the West, and we have wanted to rationalize and understand everything,” she said. “And when you’re in a place where it has to be within your frame of reference and something that you can explain away, then you end up taking away some of the exciting, creative ways in which God likes to speak.”
Silk continued, “So, there is a challenge to us here in the West to take off our need to be able to completely own the information and the process and fully grasp it, and just allow God to ‘wow’ us and do mysterious things.”
She also shared several powerful stories surrounding Jesus appearing to Iranians in dreams.
One such story involved a Muslim woman who was forced into marriage at age 13 and faced extreme trauma. She told Transform Iran Jesus began appearing to her in her doorway and then in dreams.
“[He would] hold out his hand to her and say, ‘Come and trust me; come and follow me,'” Silk said. “And then she would go to sleep, and he would appear to her in her dreams, and he would speak to her … it was a gentle call.”
The woman, shocked and assuming she needed to cling closer to her Muslim faith to stop the apparitions, started saying her Islamic prayers more reverently. But when she went to say the name of Muhammad one day, something shocking happened: “The name ‘Jesus’ would come out of her mouth.”
She eventually gave her life to Christ and now serves as a pastor on the Transform Iran ministry team. Her story, of course, is just one of many.
It’s no secret Iran’s extremist Islamic regime fervently cracks down on Christianity, with faith disallowed and even punished.
Jesus’ appearance in dreams is often attributed to God’s powerful method of breaking past human barriers. Sadly, conversion to Christianity can come at a great cost.
“It’s dangerous,” Silk said of practicing the Christian faith in Iran. “It’s a day-to-day risk. … It is very costly to them. The government is tracking. It is illegal for them to convert to Christianity, it’s illegal for them to own a Bible, learn share it with others, and talk about it — and the price they pay is a whole range.”
Silk said retribution for violating these restrictions could mean anything from a business being shut down to prison, torture — or worse.
“It could cost them everything,” she said.
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Iran currently ranks as the ninth worst place in the world for Christians, according to Open Doors’ World Watch List, which assesses countries where believes most suffer.
“Conversion from Islam to Christianity is illegal in Iran, and anyone caught as a convert can be arrested and imprisoned,” the Open Doors report reads. “The authorities view conversion as an attempt by the West to undermine Islam and the Islamic government of Iran. This means that anyone who is discovered to be a member of a house church can be charged with a crime against national security, which can lead to long prison sentences. Anyone arrested or detained can be tortured and abused while in jail.”
Read more about the persecution issues in Iran here.
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