Through The Ephraim Project, Christians like you are volunteering their time to befriend people from the Middle East through English conversations online and sharing Jesus with them. God is using this new outreach venture to lead people such as Omar* to Jesus.
Like many young men living in a Middle Eastern country that is closed to the Gospel, Omar felt isolated from the world beyond his country’s borders. So he turned to the Internet, where his curiosity led him to discover New Age beliefs and practices. He became a pranic healer, one who uses spiritual forces or energy, even though this practice is prohibited in his country.
Omar’s desire to improve his English skills also drew him to engage with Reach Beyond’s Ephraim Project on social media. He began conversations with Suzanne*, one of our volunteers who befriended Omar online and helped him to improve his English. His interest in spiritual things generated new opportunities for deeper conversations as Suzanne and other members of our team began sharing their faith with Omar.
One day, Suzanne told Omar that she was having some issues with her eyes, and he offered to heal her. This gave Suzanne the opportunity to explain the spiritual reasons why she did not want him to do this.
At that point, Omar asked Suzanne to tell him more about God and Jesus. And over the next couple of years, Suzanne answered his questions through thousands of texts, voicemails and pictures that were filled with encouraging words and portions of Scripture.
One day, Omar called Suzanne to tell her about a dream he’d had.
“I was in a room sitting beside a man and a boy. I discovered this man was Jesus Christ. We started to talk about healing. Jesus was about to heal the boy, but I said. ’You don’t have the ability to heal him.’ He looked angry because of these words, and He was angry with me because I said that. He turned His face and became sad. After a minute or so, Jesus asked me, ’Would you like me to heal you?’
I said, ’Can you heal me?’
He said, ’All of your sins are forgiven. You are clean now, your mind, your body. You are clean now. I cleanse you, and you will be in Heaven.’"
Then Omar asked Suzanne, “What do you think this dream means?”
She responded, “I think Jesus is pursuing you and wants you to become one of His children.”
Omar wanted to know how to follow Jesus, so Suzanne shared Romans 10:9 with him, ”If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
Not long after this conversation, Omar left Suzanne a short voicemail that still brings tears to her eyes. This is what he said:
“I confess that Jesus is Lord. And I believe in my heart - I believe that God raised him from the dead! It’s wonderful! He raised Him from the dead.”
Afterwards, Suzanne began walking through the gospels with Omar, one chapter at a time.
Will you pray for Omar and others like him?
• Thank God for volunteers like Suzanne, who through The Ephraim Project are building friendships and sharing the good news of Jesus with many in the Middle East.
• Praise God for opening Omar’s spiritual eyes to see Jesus and for his decision to follow Him.
• Pray for Omar and others like him who are on a disciple’s journey with Jesus. Pray that God will continue to guide their steps and draw them closer to Him.
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* Names have been changed
