GOD STORIES

In her dream, Fatma* saw herself in the Old City of Damascus, walking on a long dark street. At the end of that street, there was a bright light. She saw a very gentle man with light shining from his face.

What happens when an Egyptian scholar of Islamic law watches ‘The Passion of the Christ’ movie?

Everyone knew a man would only enter the Indian village of Acha Nagar for one reason, and an honourable man would not. But to a church planter like Sanjay, the village’s reputation drew him to action.

For two young men in northern Nigeria God’s Word suddenly spoke clearly and personally to their hearts.

In the Netherlands, the fruit and joy of disciple-making is evident in the lives of three women who were connected through their love for Jesus and obedience to Him.

What is Christ worth to you? A missionary couple in the Central African Republic had to answer this for themselves.

When we persevere in prayer and are faithful witnesses for Christ, the Lord will bring forth the fruit. This was the case in Derrick’s transformation.

The witness of faithful Christians who obeyed Christ even to the point of death inspires every generation. Philip and Hermes, who suffered persecution under the Roman Empire in the fourth century, are two such witnesses.

She left the Middle East in pursuit of a new life in Europe. She found it in ways she had never expected.

After an injury and infection left her crippled and dying, a woman in Burkina Faso heard what she believed was the Lord’s voice. Today, she helps others hear the precious Word of God.

Walid hated his Christian co-worker so much that he planned to kill him. But a bold act of love set this Egyptian on a new course — directly to Christ.

Loyalty to tradition is woven into Arab family life in ways that leave little room for questions or doubt. Yet Luke began searching quietly online, reading widely and examining for himself the beliefs he had inherited.

God is at work and He knows the perfect time to draw people to Himself.

Winna grew up surrounded by people who viewed voodoo rituals as necessities for success. In such a community it is not easy to walk away from these practices.

When Yusuf read the Bible, parts of the Gospel unsettled him. When he reached passages about Christ’s sacrifice, he paused. The idea that God would choose to carry suffering challenged everything he expected of faith.

In Albania, the unfortunate reality is that many citizens feel hopeless about their country and its economic prospects. But, there is a coffee shop that offers more than just a brew of coffee. They aim at transforming lives!

In a letter to his wife, an imprisoned Eritrean pastor wrote how God has made him a prisoner of His indescribable love and grace.

Gospel workers in Italy have an approach that bears fruit: “We don’t force people into faith but rather provide them with opportunities to seek and learn what God says in his Word.”

As an Imam was preaching his normal Friday sermon in his mosque, he was stopped dead in his tracks with the realisation that the verse he read just could not be right and yet, here he was not only believing this himself but teaching it to others.

Maulana, an Islamic terrorist from Indonesia cried out to God and then a man appeared to him. There was fresh blood spattered at the bottom of his white robe. He greeted Maulana with “Salaam Al I Kum,” (Peace be with you!) .

Iranian prisons like Evin are designed to cause visible signs of decline in their victims. Yet Farshid Fathi looks and sounds like someone who has seen Jesus fulfilling His promise: “I will be with you even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

His holy book urged him to kill other people, but he wondered if other religions also encourage their followers to kill. After his release from prison, he searched online to see what other religions say about the true God.

Even a child in the Himalayas can be an evangelist, declaring God’s love and forgiveness to others.

“A miracle happened! My husband heard God’s voice,” exclaimed Syrian Muslim Sana* when she phoned Janine* from OM. The following Thursday Janine and a friend met Sana so she could tell them the full story.

A YWAM Frontier Missions trainer from South Asia was living in an Islamic community. She did prayer walks in that area of their city and prayed that God would one day bring a Christian kindergarten to that area.

When it did not rain during the rainy season in a region in West Africa, a tribal woman decided to pray until it rains. People camping nearby came to her camp and saw her. They had never heard or seen anything like this before. They thought she must be crazy!

A missionary’s mother was praying when she felt she should look through the garbage. She ignored it and went to bed. But she woke around 2.45 am with the same feeling and couldn’t go back to sleep. Again, an unmistakable sense came to her that she should look through the trash.

A Bodaado Fulani travels across Niger to preach to the Fulani and encourage new believers. His life is a testimony to how God answered a prayer that was prayed for him at birth.

Many short-term outreach teams came to Moldova and shared God in word and action. Sara told them about a dream she had had where Jesus had asked to come to her house.

In northern Nigeria, confessing Christ by word of mouth is not the only test of a believer’s sincere submission to the authority of Christ—particularly one coming to Christ from Islam.

In God’s perfect plan, a pastor’s faithful witness to one condemned murderer granted eternal freedom to many.

Lavanya had health and developmental problems from birth. Like most people in India, her parents were Hindu, but no prayers or rituals improved her health or the family’s other problems. Then a family member became a Christian.

“I want people to know: Keep sharing the Gospel, don’t give up,” Alyssa says. “Perseverance is the number one thing. Just keep sharing.”

Abdul knows that there are still ISIS fighters in the area, but he has a boldness to proclaim the gospel. He knows it is better to fear Him who can destroy body and soul in hell, rather than man.

An Egyptian mother was plunged into despair by her son’s sudden death. But in her darkest moments, Jesus comforted her in the most powerful way.

The Alze tribe live in an Asian country where few speak their language. They wondered how God could understand Alze, because no one else could.

After the disciples shared their personal testimonies for a while with a family in North India, the wife finally looked at her visitors and said, “You are outsiders. You’re not like me. Your words are no help to me.”

Mirna, an Egyptian woman, always struggled to have a relationship with God. She had to learn how to spend time with Him daily, to meditate on His Word and make time for worship. Now she shares, “I feel His light in the darkness, telling me to keep going.”

When the truth about Jesus grips a heart, it overflows and spreads to others. And even more lives are changed!

Noi was a practising Buddhist and animist, like many Shan people in Northern Thailand. She did not know this God that her daughter spoke of and could not take any chances of upsetting her idols.

Mary-Vonn had always had a love-hate relationship with the Catholic Church. She always seemed withdrawn and preoccupied. But one day she showed up at church and her eyes sparkled, her countenance had brightened and she radiated joy!

Where does a person in Libya find the life-saving message of the Gospel that Christians have? Reem had a long journey to finding and understanding the message of salvation, but she did not give up.

Church planting in a Buddhist country is no easier than anywhere else religious intolerance raises its head.

Zahid was a student of a great sheikh. But in his mind, he had many doubts about a lot of things in Islam – especially the hadiths, which are the sayings and actions of Mohammed the prophet.

When they approached a building with a fluorescent cross on it, Halima thought they were going to a Red Cross centre. What she heard inside changed her entire life!

The more Hady studied Islam, the more his eyes were opened to issues that disturbed his beliefs. But as a respected imam, he was not meant to have questions about his faith and he felt unable to share his confusion with anyone.

When we pray for people around the world to find faith in Jesus, God answers our prayers in miraculous ways. One such example is Malik’s story.

Olya and Lira found hope and healing in Prague—with a surprise ending that only God could have orchestrated.

When Andriana learned that the Scamporlinos were Christians who had come to her town to start a church, her eyes lit up. “What, really? I’ve been searching for a church!”

One morning at the YWAM Multipliers Global meeting I sat next to my Sudanese friend and fellow YWAM-FM co-worker, Kris*. The time came to help those of us desiring to see more healings when we pray for people. This was my desire.

Habib asked his Christian friend, “What makes you treat me so kindly? You allow me to stay here for free. And I’m a Muslim, and you accept me as I am.” It did not make sense to him.

Things do not happen by chance. Even though a missionary couple could not see the big picture in the same way God was seeing it, by trusting Him with their future they were able to follow His lead.

Nigel Keur grew up in Cape Town, where he became immersed in a gang and got into trouble with the law. Despite having money and being able to afford many pleasantries, feelings of inadequacy kept flooding him. There was a void that he desperately wanted to fill.

Nabil and his family were refugees. He had a dream in which he was told, “A great sign—a beautiful message—is coming to you tomorrow. The sign is so great that it must be shared all over the world and with every person.”

Eric Liddell’s athletic achievement at the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris, was not his greatest life’s work. His race of faith – particularly in China – was his greatest work, and it was the most important to him.

Sports coach Dickens grew up in a slum on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya. As his home life turned sour, he decided the streets were a better option for him. There he became a common thug and eventually a deadly criminal.

Marcelino is a member of the Sertanejo community in Brazil where most people are oral learners. As they listened to the audio Scriptures, something remarkable happened.

A sheikh from the local mosque issued a fatwa, a legal opinion from an Islamic religious leader, demanding that Haytham and Mary be expelled from the community they went to serve with the gospel.

Out of six months in prison, Nehad spent 55 days in solitary confinement. He regards them as the best days of his life because in that place he was comforted and knew the Lord.

For many years a Romanian believer was beaten twice a week by the secret police. It is easy to become bitter, but a true Christian always seeks another person’s highest good—even when mistreated.

Ellen told us she would pray for our ministry on the mission field. Ellen came and visited us in our new country four times. On each visit, she brought more people to come and pray in our Muslim neighbourhood.

Two very different women attended a bilingual women’s Bible study group in Europe and over time God changed both of them in ways that did not seem possible at the start.

Rashid had nothing for his children, not even bread. He remembered in the JESUS-film Jesus fed a crowd with fish and bread. So Rashid prayed under the stars. “God, I believe you fed the crowd. Would you please feed my family? I ask in Jesus’ name.”

A missionary to South Asia and his wife looked back on their 13 years there and didn’t think they had made any difference at all. That was until years later their daughter Jennifer shared what happened at the dentist’s office.

They had set up this film showing about the life of Isa (Jesus). Tariq wasn’t sure he could trust them, but he was curious. About 15 minutes into the movie, someone appeared on the screen he never expected to see.

He knows a lot of tricks the Muslims used to use to twist the truth of the Bible, but now he can defend the Gospel even better and help Muslims understand the eternal truth of God’s Word.

“Islam says that faith is the greatest,” Danyal comments, “but in the pages of the Quran I mostly encountered torment and fear.” Hearing that the New Testament puts love at the summit, Danyal wanted to read more about the Bible.

Joshua’s life has been a constant stream of miracles where God accomplished the seemingly impossible.

After all the years of preparation and language learning by a missionary couple, they feared that they would fail to make it through more than a single day in the African desert.

If Jesus asks us to forgive our enemies, then it can be done.

We can all rejoice in understanding that God can bring forth fruit for eternity through our simple and unremarkable acts.

An unfamiliar man slipped into the room and sat on a bench at the back. Respect in this culture means handing the microphone to anyone with social standing. But who is this man?

“God gave His Son for me, and the Action Bible brought my son back to me!”

In a Bible study with Muslim women discussing the deity of Christ, Maryam asked, “But how can Jesus also be God?” The study leader suggested, “Maybe you should ask God to show you the truth of who Jesus is.”

Two men in north India found a family interested in hearing about the God who made the world. The meetings became regular. The neighbours began to notice and liked the stories too.

When we step out in faith and share God’s Word with others, change can happen.

Moon fought anyone and was afraid of no one. He even drank the blood of goats when they were butchered in the market. What kind of person was this? And what would become of him?

We know that God answers prayer and sometimes He answers quickly! What a privilege to witness how He purposefully connects us with the right person at the right time.

A house key in a fish’s belly became a key to the kingdom of God for a Muslim man in Liberia.

Everywhere she turned, Munmun felt like the evils of the world were trying to claw their way into her heart and her mind. She lived in this state for 10 years before the plight of her anxiety came to a head.

God values every person and can use unusual situations to reach people with His Gospel.

In a North African country God uses a multiplication strategy to build His kingdom.

A missionary “home” staff member had prayed many times for God to provide, but her funds were not growing fast enough. She believed, but her inner battle was doubting whether God would miraculously provide for her.

Aulton was placed in a cold, dark jail cell – completely alone, with no bright future. He didn’t know anything about Jesus and didn’t want to know anything. But in that moment in that cell, he said, “God, if You are real, come into my life.”

The love of a brother is a love many take for granted. Akshad would learn this heartbreaking reality in a bitter way.

Discover Navin’s dramatic story of healing from disability that changed him into a living testimony of Jesus’ message of hope and transformation.

Bira discovered that we can’t know everything. “There is no point asking ‘why’ because the whys become a mire in which we might drown. We should trust the Lord.”

Being a church-planter in India is risky, but Nadimah is so grateful for how God has impacted her life and how He is using her to share the Gospel, she is willing to accept the risks that come with it.

For Christians in West African countries like Benin, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast and Ghana, forgiveness is hard and many have strained relationships. Yet God has forgiven us and calls followers of Jesus to do the same.

An Iranian woman confessed: “I read a copy of the Quran from cover to cover. When I finished, I closed it and decided there was nothing in this book for me. There is no hope and no love in this book.”