Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 8460 Plough Quarterly • Winter 2017 dressed in white. Another convert had two visions of Jesus, in which he was instructed to go to a certain location where a pastor would give him a Bible. He obeyed, and even though he’d never met the pastor before, the pastor was expecting him and even knew his name. Some stories we hear mirror those of the Bible. Amir (not his real name), a well- respected haji, having made the pilgrimage to Mecca, could be seen as a modern-day Paul. When Amir’s daughter converted to Christianity, he was angry, and when his wife and later his son also came to Christ, he began to persecute them. He beat them and forbade them to visit the church, saying he would inform the secret police, and even threatened to kill them. But his family did not leave Christ – they left him by fleeing abroad. In his loneliness, Amir focused on Allah, begging for revelation. But the subsequent silence made him doubt. Had his family been right? He didn’t know whether to believe in Allah or Jesus, the Bible or the Qu’ran. Finally he said, “I will believe in the God who reveals himself to me.” Amir’s prayers were answered in a dream in which a man approached him riding a donkey. He had never seen the man before, but the man hugged him and said, “I will cleanse you of all your sins; you are free. I will give you rest. Believe in me.” When the man departed, another approached and told Amir that the man on the donkey was Jesus Christ. The next night, Amir had the same dream. When he woke, he felt afraid. He’d served Allah for forty-five years and had made the haj. How could he leave Islam? But the following night, he had the same dream for the third time. Amir knew he had found God, but he did not know what to do next. Even though he’d forbidden his family to go to the local church, he knew he’d learn more about the man on the donkey there and decided to attend. At first, the congregants were suspicious. Wasn’t this the man who had threatened to kill his family because they accepted Christ? But when he told them he had met Christ in a dream and wanted to give his life to Jesus, the church leaders began to trust him. Soon Amir was involved in ministry, risking his life for his faith. When his family abroad heard what had happened, they praised God for answering their prayers and happily accepted Amir back into the family. Since leaving his country and reuniting with them, Amir enjoys the novel experience of going to church without fear. Christian women gather at a church in Erbil, Iraq, to mourn the death of a member of their community (August 2016). Photograph by Alice Martins/AP Photo