As more and more Muslims continue to turn to Jesus Christ in what has become a global phenomenon, Christian ministries from the United States, Europe and the Middle East are joining together in prayer for God to supernaturally reach out to more Muslims with His message of love.
Groups such as 838 Ministries, CBN News, Iran Alive, Voice of the Martyrs, Global Hope, Crescent Project, and Isik Abla Ministries are linking up in prayer, hoping that more Muslims will follow the path of Christ in the last days of Ramadan this year, which ends on July 7.
"Ramadan is the perfect season to pray that Muslims will experience the forgiveness of Christ, and even forgiveness from those they persecute," wrote Jason Peter, associate vice president of Connection for The Voice of the Martyrs.
The joint worldwide prayer campaign began on June 26 and has already reached 1 million people, according to CBN News.
One of those who have witnessed the global phenomenon of Muslims turning to Christ is Dr. David Garrison, the author of "A Wind in the House of Islam: How God is Drawing Muslims Around the World to Faith in Jesus Christ."
Writing for Premier Chistianity.com, Garrison says five years ago, he began an investigation into increasing reports of Muslim movements to faith in Christ. "I wanted to understand how and why entire communities were not only turning to faith, but being baptised – an act of confessional obedience that could earn them the death penalty under Islamic law," he says.
Garrison says his survey took almost three years to finish and led him into every corner of the Muslim world—from West Africa to Indonesia.
He says he found out that what is happening today is truly unique since historically "the flow from one religion to the other has been almost entirely from Christianity into Islam."
"There were only five movements of Muslims to Christianity prior to the 20th century. But in just the first 12 years of the 21st century, we can document 69 movements of Muslims to faith and baptism in Christ Jesus. Several of these contemporary movements number in the tens of thousands," Garrison writes.
Why is this happening?
Many analysts point to the dissatisfaction in the Muslim world today. "Shi'ites and Sunnis, Arabs and Persians, extremists and moderates, militants and pacifists, unemployed youth and disenchanted women all give evidence to a dissatisfaction with the unfulfilled promise of Islam," Garrison says.
"Tens of thousands of Muslims are expressing their displeasure by migrating to the West, others foment movements within their own countries through what has been termed the Arab Spring," he adds.
When talking to new converts, Garrison says he asks them, "What did God use to bring you to faith in Jesus Christ? Tell me your story."
One Christmas Day, he asked this question to a group of 20 leaders of an ancient Muslim community in southern Africa. "I listened in disbelief as they told me of their discovery that Isa al-Masih (Jesus Christ) was God among us; the only way of salvation."
He asked, "How many of you have been baptised?" To his amazement, 19 of the 20 leaders raised their hands. "One of them laughed and pointed to the lone unraised hand: 'He will be baptised next week.'"
Garrison also met a sheikh named Hasan who told him his story: "An African evangelist gave me an Injil (New Testament) in the Arabic language. Because the Injil was in Arabic, God's language, I knew that it must be true, so I began to read it."
That night Hasan had a dream. "I saw a tall minaret. I was disturbed to see a man with an axe chopping the minaret down. When I looked closer, I saw that the man...was me!"
The shocking dream awakened the sheikh. "I had the same dream three times. The next day, I found the evangelist who had given me the Injil. What does this dream mean?" I demanded. He looked at me and smiled. "You will win many sheikhs to faith in Jesus Christ."
Today, Sheikh Hasan travels from village to village, speaking to sheikhs, who are leaders of the Islamic community, Garrison says.
So far, Sheikh Hasan has led 400 other sheikhs to faith in Jesus Christ, he adds.
