Andrew came to a big city in northern Africa as an immigrant. He had fled his homeland to find work. He grew up Muslim, but after watching oppression up close he turned away from religion altogether and became an agnostic.
Then two short-term missionaries crossed his path. Their time with him was brief, but they planted the gospel in his heart. After that came the dreams. “It was a series of dreams,” said Seth Taylor, an IMB missionary who befriended Andrew in the city. “There were clear biblical allusions that he couldn’t have known because he had never read the Bible.”
The dreams sent Andrew looking. He found an Arabic-language house church, trusted Christ, and was baptized. Taylor spent time with him answering questions about Jesus, studying the Word, and simply sharing life. He said Paul’s words guided him: to “share not only the gospel, but also my own self” (1 Thessalonians 2:8).
Faith had a cost in that place. The government threatens prison or expulsion for sharing the gospel, and Andrew knew that talking about Jesus at work could get him fired, or worse.
One of his coworkers was Asher, an older man raised in a strict Muslim family. Asher had also turned from the religion of his upbringing, and Taylor had been talking with him about Christianity too. Asher read the Bible and filled the margins with notes, but he kept saying, “I want a dream.” Taylor told him gently that the point of a dream is to bring a person to someone who can tell them the gospel, and then he told him: Christ died and rose again, and Jesus is your salvation and hope.
One day over coffee, Asher pushed Andrew to explain what he believed. Andrew was afraid. He knew what it could cost. Still, he told him about his faith in Jesus Christ. Asher listened. He felt a chill of fear at the forbidden conversation, and he also felt hope.
Andrew went home nervous. That evening his phone lit up with a notification from a Bible app: “Do not fear, for I am with you.” Andrew believes it was a message from the Lord.
He has kept going. He and Asher still talk quietly about spiritual things at work. Andrew goes to his house church faithfully and is being discipled and trained for church leadership. “I see Andrew as a possible future pastor,” Taylor said. Asher has not yet stepped into the house church, and those who know him are praying he will see his need for a Savior, not just satisfy his curiosity. Names in the original report were changed for security.
If you have been waiting for a sign before you take Jesus seriously, Andrew’s story is worth sitting with. God can use a dream, a stranger, or a line of Scripture on a phone screen. But every one of those points to the same place: a person, Jesus, who died and rose for you. And if you already follow Him and are afraid to say so out loud, hear the words Andrew heard that night: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God” (Isaiah 41:10). If Jesus has met you in a surprising way, you are welcome to share your story.
Adapted from “Dreams, dangers and developing a friendship in North Africa” by Chris Doyle, International Mission Board (9 Jul 2026). Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0. Original article. Except where otherwise noted, IMB site content is CC BY-NC 4.0 (Legal Permissions).