Spiritual breakthrough among Arabic speakers

Thirty years ago, a young Arabic boy named Ali* saw Jesus in his dreams. Those dreams never left his mind, not even after he was well grown up, or after he married his wife Karima* and became a father of two children. Not even after his family was forced to flee to a nearby country. 

It was in the nearby country that Ali — hungry for answers — met Emre*. As a believer and fellow Arabic speaker, Emre shared his faith in Jesus with Ali. Ali became excited but when he told his wife, Karima, she was very upset. Concerned, she shared her thoughts with their daughter, who had sought refuge in Europe. To her mother’s shock and confusion, her daughter revealed that she had started attending church and was also thinking of becoming a believer. 

Karima took action. She insisted Ali arrange a meeting with Emre. She intended to show them both that this was all a false belief and that her husband must convert back to Islam. Later that week, they met with Emre. But instead of convincing Emre of Islam, Emre had the opportunity to share the simple truth about the Lord Jesus. Karima soon accepted Emre’s invitation to read the New Testament and her life was never the same.  

They began studying the Word together weekly, family to family. Unfortunately, Karima’s sister and extended family tried hard to dissuade her from following Jesus. One day, in a fit of anger, they kicked Emre out of the house, causing a huge fight. Her son called the police, accusing Emre of forcibly converting his family to Christianity. After that incident, Karima stepped back from her journey and didn’t want to meet with any Jesus followers anymore.  

God gave Emre a promise from Philippians 1:6: ‘[B]eing confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus' (NIV). 

A year later, Ali and Karima’s son fell seriously ill. Karima prayed: "Jesus, would you heal my son, and I will give You all my life." Her son was instantly healed; his fever dropped from almost 40 degrees to normal. That night, she asked for confirmation from Jesus in her dreams and saw a vision of Jesus walking with her in a garden-like place. She called Emre, asking him to come as soon as possible. Emre was filled with praise for Jesus’ faithfulness when he heard all these things. He couldn’t help but ask Karima if she had returned to Islam and if she had found the answers she was looking for.  

"After reading even a few chapters from the Bible, I couldn't even open that other book anymore,” she confessed, “It was lifeless, meaningless and just fake. Even though I decided not to follow Jesus back then, I couldn't sincerely follow my own religion either because it was too fake to believe in."  

With newfound boldness, Ali and Karima looked for a church to attend but found that the nearest Arabic-speaking community was four hours away. They prayed, asking God to show them how to continue. Jesus appeared to them in a dream, standing in their living room, calling them to start a church from their own home for the whole town. They began inviting their friends and neighbours. Through the couple's stories, the people around them understood that their experiences were undeniable and their conversions genuine.  

God allowed Emre to visit them and share in the sacred practices of breaking bread and baptism.  After baptism, Karima started to see Jesus regularly in her living room. Later, God opened a door for her to study a degree in Biblical counselling. Despite only having a primary school education, she has been getting A's in all her subjects. She is so happy to be able to use what she learns to help women in her neighbourhood.  

After some time, they were sharing with three other families regularly. One of the fathers, Rafiq*, had become an Atheist after he rejected Islam due to the war. But as he listened to Ali talk about God and watched the changes in Karima’s life, he started questioning his beliefs. About six months ago, Ali invited Emre to visit Rafiq and his family. Emre shared the gospel with them, and since then they have all been meeting online to study the Bible. In 2024, Ali baptised the whole family.  

Through social media, Emre later connected with a seeker who lived only a few streets away from the couple. After the seeker came to faith, Emre introduced him to Ali and Rafiq and he was so happy to meet other believers. 

Recently, as the group struggled to fit into one house, a local church opened its doors for the group to hold an Arabic service and prepared the Lord’s supper for them. The group continues to meet in the building monthly, worshiping, praying and studying the Word of God together in their heart language. 

Praise God for this community and its witness to other Arabic speakers! Pray for protection, unity and growth. Ask God to raise up leaders and for even more spiritual breakthrough in this city! 

*name changed