Dreams of Jesus lead Muslims to Christ in Ethiopia
A former Islamic leader in Ethiopia has been describing how he found faith in Christ after Jesus appeared to him in a dream.
After Robel’s conversion, militants destroyed his house and stabbed his son with a spear. His life is now at risk – but even though he’s been offered riches to return to Islam, he prefers to follow Jesus.
‘Robel’ was expelled from the mosque he helped to lead in 2003 for asking questions about Jesus. That same night he had a dream in which Christ appeared to him. The following morning he committed his life to the Lord and started attending church.
"After my conversion my house and all my property were burned," he says. "Several times the Muslims came to my house with a spear threatening us, trying to hurt someone."
The militants stabbed Robel’s son with a spear, but the boy escaped serious injury. A year later extremists burned his house again. Robel was forced to leave the area without his family.
"I miss my family and my children are very, very small. I also worry about them, how they will live, because nobody is there to protect them. But I trust in the Lord to take care of our needs. One day He will reunite us, and we will be able to live together."
Robel tells his story in the latest edition of World Update on the Persecuted Church, the monthly report by Release International, which is being broadcast on Revelation TV in the UK and the Omega Channel in Africa and Europe. The 10-minute programme is also available for download from www.releaseinternational.org
To try to entice Robel back, Islamists offered him the opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia for Islamic training and return to Ethiopia a wealthy man. But Robel refused, preferring poverty and to sleep in trees – with the freedom to choose his own faith.
"People always seek the money and the wealth of the earth, but what I seek is from God," he told Release International’s partners The Voice of the Martyrs, Canada.
‘Ishmael’, the son of an Islamic leader, also became a Christian after Jesus spoke to him in a dream. He was later healed of malaria when he was prayed for by a Christian evangelist.
Ishmael’s father is responsible for six mosques in the area. "I was chased out of my home and was unable to go to school because a government official used to wait for me on the street everyday and intimidate me with his gun. So I stopped my education fearing that I would be killed if I’m found on the streets."
Despite the pressure in Ethiopia, Christians in neighbouring Eritrea are fleeing there to escape persecution – which is even worse in their own country.
"Release International is providing practical support for Christian refugees now living in Ethiopia. This includes helping them to set up businesses and find work," says RI’s CEO Andy Dipper. "Please pray for the strength of believers going through persecution in Ethiopia and in neighbouring Eritrea."
