So much has been happening here at UMS, that it is difficult to keep track of all the testimonies. Literally hundreds of Muslims have given their hearts to Jesus Christ during the past month. Many people have been healed. There has also been more than one crisis, but God always makes a way to go forward in all situations.
I know I have not done a very good job of keeping this blog updated, but I will try to put up at least a few posts during the next few days regarding some recent testimonies.
Bukhari is a young Muslim man who lived near Ukunda Mission School. One month ago, Bukhari started have dreams and visions that turned his life upside down. In one of the dreams, Bukhari saw a book with a cross on the cover. In the morning, he told his parents about the dream, and they told him that they needed to consult a witchdoctor with him to discern the dream's meaning. Bukhari refused this suggestion, convinced that a witchdoctor could not help him.
The dreams continued, and Bukhari became more and more unsettled. His family began to suspect that Bukhari wanted to become a Christian. Eventually the confronted him. They chased him from his home, and told him to never come back again.
Now Bukhari roamed the streets of Ukunda, looking for food to eat and a place to stay. A woman invited him to come and stay with her in her house. Bukhari didn't feel comfortable with the situation, but in the end he went and stayed with her.
Two days ago, Bukhari had another dream. In this dream, he saw two people clothed in red. They carried the same book with the cross on its cover. They told him that nobody would help him except this book. Then they handed over the book to him. He tried to read it, but then he woke up.
When he woke up at midnight, he heard worship music playing nearby. The students at UMS have been spending nights in prayer, usually praying between 12 and 3am. We worship and pray together. Bukhari heard the worship music playing, and he couldn't sleep. The woman he was with asked him what was wrong, and he told her that he had received a terrible dream that he would explain in the morning.
In the morning he shared the dream with the lady. He told her that he felt that what they were doing was wrong, that it wasn't right for them to continue sleeping together. He told her that he wanted to become a Christian. When the woman heard these things, she became enraged, and her face became pale. She told Bukhari to go and take a bath while she prepared tea for breakfast.
When Bukhari returned from his bath, he discovered that the woman had put his clothes in a pile and set them on fire. She told him to go to the UMS school and let those Christians buy clothes for him. She warned him that if he went to the church, he could never return to her again.
It was now Sunday morning. Bukhari really wanted to go to the church, but now the only clothes he owned was his towel. So he left the house clothed in his towel. Eventually one of his old friend had mercy on him and gave him some clothes.
At 4pm on Sunday afternoon, Bukhari e arrived at Ukunda Missions Church, and told the students, "I want to give my life to this Jesus." After praying with them and giving his heart to the Lord, he questioned them, "Isn't there something else that Christians do when someone becomes a Christian? Isn't there something that you do with water?"
The students explained water baptism to Bukhari. He responded, " I don't want to go home with incomplete salvation. I want to be baptized!"
So on Monday morning, Bukhari arrived at the school to be baptized. The students offered him breakfast, but he refused, saying "I will not eat until I have been baptized."
And so yesterday we baptized Bukhari in the Indian Ocean.
