This one had been 15 years in the making.
That’s how long Omer* had been hearing God’s voice, feeling the tug of the Holy Spirit on his heart, and even seeing Jesus in his dreams but had no idea who He was or what He was trying to tell him! He had questions about God that he couldn’t ignore but hadn’t found the answers to. Despite digging deeper into his Islamic roots, Omer felt like he was only moving further away from the truth and peace he was so desperate to find.
One day a question popped up in Omer’s mind that terrified him: What if he had been looking in the wrong place? The consequences of asking a question like this were dangerous: It would go against and challenge a very powerful authority over his world! It could potentially damage and destroy some of the most important relationships he had! Not to mention it would mean that he’d just wasted half his life!
Then an even more dangerous question entered his head: What if it was worth the risk? Was finding the truth worth putting all that he knew on the line to step out in a new search? There was only one way to find out.
Scrolling through the results of an internet search for resources about God, Omer came across a site that offered free Bibles. A few quick clicks and his order form was filled and sent. About two weeks later, he received the Bible and was amazed by what he read! Some of it was familiar, very similar to things he’d already heard and been taught. But it opened an entire new world for him – not that he was instantly getting all the answers he wanted from this Bible, but for the first time, Omer felt like he was in a place where he could encounter the real God for himself!
However, Omer still wanted to be cautious. This was new, foreign, and he didn’t want to get sucked into some lie. He’d been warned about that sort of thing his whole life! How could he know this was true?
Not long after receiving the bible, a Christian man from the organization who sent it contacted Omer wanting to know if he had any questions or would like to talk more about it. Omer and the Christian began writing messages back and forth, discussing verses, the validity of the Bible, and contrasts between this and the traditional Muslim religion that he had followed for most of his life.
“I’ll be in your city next week,” wrote the Christian man one day. “If you like, we could actually meet face to face and talk more.”
Omer agreed and almost right away started preparing all the questions he would ask his new Christian friend. Who exactly wrote the Bible? When was it written? Was it all true? Even these things about Jesus? Was He the man in white who Omer had had dreams about?
A few days before the Christian man was to arrive, Omer had another dream. It was a bit different this time, but there was no mistaking it had some meaning. He wrote his Christian friend the very next morning.
“I had a dream last night,” he typed, “that a tall man, about 180 cm, with blonde hair came to me and handed me a golden cross. He wasn’t the man in white, who I’ve seen before in dreams. This was someone different, someone I don’t know. Do you think it means something?”
But the Christian man didn’t reply right away. Omer could see that his message had been read, and a few times the three little dots would pop up signifying that his friend was typing, but it would always stop with no response sent. It wasn’t until later that day that the Christian finally replied.
“Let me think about this. I’ll see you in a couple of days. We can talk more then.”
The day came for their first meeting and Omer was ready! He put his Bible and Quran in his bag, plus a number of other questions he had prepared. He wasn’t planning on being aggressive or argumentative, but he also wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be easily tricked into accepting some fairy tale! He knew the Bible was different from the first time he opened it; he could feel it. But that also alerted him to be more cautious. Just because he was hungry for the truth didn’t mean he should devour just anything put in front of him!
Omer entered the coffee shop and scanned the room. The Christian man had told that he was a foreigner, plus the coffee shop wasn’t that crowded so it should be easy to spot…
Omer froze. He felt his limbs go weak and nearly dropped his bag when he looked across the room and saw the man on the other side. It felt like an eternity had passed before he was able to pull himself together enough to walk over to the table where he sat.
As he approached, the man looked up and stood to greet him. He was tall, almost six feet – about 180 cm…with blonde hair…
“Are you Omer?” The man asked.
“It’s you!” Omer gasped, still in shock. “You are the man I saw in my vision!”
The man, his Christian friend whom he had never met in person before, began to tear up and shake as well. Nodding in praise and reverence at this moment, he wiped his eyes and reached out to Omer.
“Well, I do not have gold or money, but what I do have is a calling. Jesus is calling you to Himself and into His Kingdom!” he said.
Omer gave his life to Jesus that day, and his search became a calling to live and share the Gospel with others.
Note: This story is not directly one of our own, however, we have had the privilege of hearing this testimony (and many others) from other workers who are involved with the Bible Correspondence Course in Turkey. This year – 2021 - we estimate over 20,000 Bibles were ordered and sent out in this country alone.
*Names have been changed.
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