by IME leader in Middle East
”A”, a 93-year-old Muslim man, lived his entire life in an ancient city in Northern Iraq. The city was home to a large Jewish population since the Babylonian captivity centuries ago. Even after Muslims took over the city, many Jews remained. When Israel was established as a state in 1948, the Jewish population there suffered severe persecution. They were forced to leave their homes and move to Israel.
Across the street from “A”’s home is a building first constructed as a synagogue in the 4th century A.D. The synagogue was later turned into a Christian church, then converted into a mosque. Next to the former synagogue is another ancient Israeli site – the tomb of a rabbi who was known in the region to be a man of God. (The Muslim population there calls him “The Prophet Hazanah.”) Muslims turned the tomb into a dumpster because of the fanatic Islamic view that Jews are unclean.
In his sleep one night, “A” saw a bright light and the man of God, Hazanah, appeared to him. Hazanah said, ““A”, you take care of your house and keep it dazzling clean. You make sure to take the trash out regularly, but people has turned my house into a dumpster. I want you to go and clean my house and protect it.” “A” felt a great deal of fear because he realized this was Jehovah, the God of the Jews, speaking to him through His holy man, Hazanah. He also knew that by cleaning the ancient tomb and the church he would be challenging his entire community. Realizing the great risk, he shared his dream with his father. His father said, “If the Creator God is ordering you to do something, then you should do it. He will protect you.”
“A” cleaned the tomb and rebuilt the broken parts of the church next door. Surprisingly, people started coming to visit this ancient holy site. When they learned about “A”’s dream, they started praying to the God of Hazanah. Miracles started to take place as God answered the prayers of the people. People sick with different illnesses received healing, and many infertile women became pregnant. No one harmed “A” because they saw that God's favor was upon him.
One member of “A”'s family, a follower of Christ, is currently a part of IME’s ministry in Northern Iraq. We are praying that more of his family will come to know Jesus as Savior and learn that Jehovah Rapha, the Lord our Healer, whom they experienced in this sacred place, has chosen to come in flesh to die for their sins and give them eternal salvation.
Please, join me in prayers for more visions and dreams to be poured down upon Muslim and Yazedi people in the Middle East so they come to know the True, Living God.