By Peter, a Pioneer who served in Central Asia
When I was living in Central Asia, I made it a habit to get my hair cut at the neighborhood barbershop about once a month. The quality of conversation there was hit or miss, depending on how busy the shop was that day.
Starting a Spiritual Conversation
One visit stands out to me. With Ramadan approaching, I was mindful that my Muslim neighbors were often more sensitive to spiritual topics at that time. I headed to see Hassan, the barber, prayerful for an opportunity to discuss God’s Word with him. As I happened to be the only client at the time, I asked him a pointed question as he cut my hair in the quiet afternoon. “Have you ever had a dream you thought was from God?” I had no idea how he would respond, though I was hopeful I might get an interesting answer. Our church planting team had recently heard a story about a believer asking this question as a way to open up a spiritual conversation.
Hassan immediately took the question to heart. He stopped cutting my hair and said, “When I was younger, maybe 10 or 12 years ago, I kept having this dream of wandering the world looking for my mom. Everyone in the world was dead. I just kept wandering the world, hoping to find her, but I never did. I asked my mom what she thought of it and she said, ‘We all die. Everyone you will ever know or love will die. You will die one day, too.’ ”
Have You Ever Had a Dream Like That?
Wow! I almost started crying. What a powerful and sad dream! Before I could respond, Hassan asked me if I ever had a dream like that. I told him that I didn’t know if my dream was from God, but when I was younger I had a recurring dream that made me very afraid. I would dream that someone was breaking into my house and planning to kill me. So, I would quickly confess my sins to God before the killer would break into my room and shoot me in the head with a gun. If I did not finish confessing my sins to God before I died, I would go to hell. Although I was afraid of the killer, I was more afraid to go to hell.
I told Hassan that I had this dream until I was about 18, when a friend shared with me some verses from the Injil (Gospel/New Testament) about Jesus the Messiah. Jesus actually had died, then was resurrected to be alive forever. As God‘s Messiah, he offers eternal life to whoever believes in Him for it (John 5:24). Jesus also said that whoever believes in Him, even though he may die physically, he will live forever with God (John 11:25-27).
Meeting on Common Ground
My friend sympathized with my fear of death. He wanted to hear more about Jesus, though when I told him that I no longer had a fear of going to hell he was not sure that was a good thing. After he finished cutting my hair I showed him on my phone a clip from the Jesus Film where Jesus fasted for 40 days and overcame Satan‘s temptations in the wilderness.
I never had a chance to share any more with Hassan. However, I am thankful for the time I had with him that day. May the message that Jesus has overcome the grave and destroyed the fear of death be shared widely and powerfully this Ramadan. He offers eternal life to anyone who believes in Him for it!
This article was originally published by Encountering Muslims, a ministry of Pioneers.
Pioneers is a faithful partner of The Bolick Foundation.