Two pastors and two new believers in the Middle East who were sent
to prison for their faith received favor from a jail officer whom Jesus
visited four times in a dream.
The two pastors were reportedly giving Bible lessons to the two new
believers when police barged into their room and beat them all before
taking them into custody.
The new believers had started attending the underground church just
six months before the arrest. The pastors were working with Bibles for
Mideast, a ministry that operates in the Middle East, Asia and Africa by
giving away Bibles, evangelizing the lost and planting churches.
Bibles for Mideast has helped establish 176 underground churches, 103
of which are in the Middle East. These churches have been turned over
to the newly formed church called Assembly of Loving God.
The two pastors and the two new believers were charged with
“blasphemy of the prophet” and “misguiding Muslims into a false
religion.” They were found guilty in a sharia court.
When they were sent to prison, they were again brutally beaten for
two days while their hands were tied to a steel bar and their backs were
bent forward. The jailers gave them just one piece of a local bread
called kuboos each day. The experience was agonizing.
One of the pastors said none of them thought they would still come
out of prison alive and that they were already anticipating a death
sentence. Yet, though they were tortured, they found comfort in
remembering what Jesus went through and they began to confess, “The
blood of Jesus is our victory!”
Bibles for Mideast, which was unable to get information regarding the
condition of the four Christians since they were taken into custody,
sent out an urgent call for prayer and fasting for the protection and
release of the four Christians.
Unknown to them, God was already moving behind the scenes. On their
third day in prison, the four Christians were visited by a high-ranking
jail officer. He treated them well and ordered the jailer to untie their
hands and give them good food. After that, he left and disappeared into
his office.
The four Christian prisoners were baffled by the officer’s kind treatment.
“We thought, he came with a decision of finishing our life of this
world. That’s why treating us like this,” one of the pastors said.
The officer came to their cell again in the evening — and surprised them all when he asked them to pray for him.
As it turned out, he had a dream about Jesus the previous week. The
Lord visited him in a dream, appearing in glory and seated on a throne.
Bright light surrounded Him, and millions of angels were at His bidding.
Jesus raised His nail-pierced hand and showed it to the jail officer.
The officer had the same dream again the following night, and the
night after that. His dreams drew him to know more about Jesus so he
read about Him on the Internet.
The next evening, he had another dream. Jesus appeared to him once
more and told him, “My children are being tortured in your jail. I leave
them before you. My children are the apple of my eyes.”
That was when he decided to visit the jail and see the four
believers. He stayed there three days, spending most of his time talking
to them about Jesus. They shared the gospel to him and he received
Jesus as his Lord and Savior.
The jail officer wrote an order to release the four Christians. It
was initially rejected by the court, but it was finally granted after he
filed an appeal. So all four of them were set free.
The officer invited them to his “cottage” in the prison upon their
release, where they were given good food. He then requested that he be
baptized. The two pastors baptized him along with the two new believers.
Then he took them in his car and drove them back to their homes. He
encouraged them to continue their work for God and warned them to be
careful.
The four believers were thankful to those who prayed for them.
“We thank for those who were fasting and praying for us,” one of the
pastors said. “Our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy to be praised. All glory
and honor to Him forever and ever!”
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