Iraq: Man Finds Jesus; Loses Home Print E-mail
One day, Jesus was walking along the road with His disciples. A man said to him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” Jesus answered, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head” (Luke 9:58). Today, people in some places who choose to follow Jesus may also find themselves without a comfortable bed of their own.

Dreams of Jesus
Jason used to have a home in Iraq. In his bed at night, he began to have dreams about Jesus.

Jason, his wife and their children were Muslims. Muslims believe that Jesus was a good man but not the Son of God. They worship Allah. And they believe Allah lets people into heaven if they have done enough good works. But no one knows how many good works are “enough.” Christians know that people are saved only by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ.

But Jason’s dreams led him to think more about Jesus. He found out the truth about salvation through Christ, and he became a Christian!

Bombed
Muslims in Iraq who become Christians are often persecuted, even by their own families. Jason’s wife’s parents were upset when they realized Jason had decided to follow Christ. They took Jason’s wife and children to their home and would not let them go back to Jason!

Two weeks later, someone bombed Jason’s house. He no longer had a “place to lay his head.” For six months, he was homeless. He slept in some unusual places, including a cemetery and a drainage ditch. One night, he woke up and found a stray dog snuggled up to him to get warm.

Out-of-Control Faith
However, Jason was not alone. He enjoyed special times of closeness to God during the time that he was homeless. One of the Bible verses he remembered was Psalm 55:22, which says, “Give your burdens to the Lord, and He will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall,” (NLT).

Jason’s wife remembered how much he changed after becoming a Christian. Six months later, she returned home to him; and she gave her life to Jesus, too. They rented a home, and a house church began holding meetings there.

Jason’s wife became a Christian because she saw how her husband lived as a follower of Jesus. “I saw his faith, and I couldn’t control myself,” she said. Now others are seeing the faith of the house church Christians who meet in Jason’s home. Some of them are coming to Christ also, even though that can be risky for former Muslims.

To Think About
How can Christians in America share their faith in ways that will encourage others to come to Christ?

To protect their identities, the names of some of the people on this site and some identifying details have been changed. Some of the quotes and stories have been edited and paraphrased from the original sources for clarity.