A young Muslim couple disillusioned by the chaos and unrest in the Middle East embraced Christianity dreaming of a "man in white" who prophesied the birth of their baby daughter, now named "Christina" after their newfound faith.
According to a report from persecution watchdog Open Doors USA, the young couple, Amir and Rasha, fled their home in Homs amid the five-year Syrian civil war.
Along with thousands of others, the couple sought refuge in Lebanon: "Since 2012, we have been living in a tent," Amir told the outlet. "It is not an easy life. About a year ago my wife's mother was killed by a sniper when she went out to have some fresh air. My wife's brother was killed on his way home."
Despite their uncertain circumstances, the couple revealed they were filled with hope and joy following a miraculous encounter.
"About three months ago, I was given a vision of Jesus Christ," Rasha shared. "I was sleeping and all of a sudden I saw Jesus Christ in white. He said 'I am Christ. You will have a beautiful daughter.' I was eight months pregnant, and a month later we received our beautiful daughter."
At about the same time the husband had a dream, too. "I saw Jesus Christ. He was dressed in white. He said to me 'I am your Savior. You will follow me.'"
After waking up, the couple made a courageous decision: "We decided to follow Him. We named our baby Christina. We left our old Islamic customs."
Because they live in a predominantly Muslim camp, Amir and Rasha now fear for their lives; Rasha still dresses as a Muslim woman with her head covered by a veil. "Our clan is very big; we're afraid now. They might kill us," she said. "We now have no fixed place to live, we go from place to place."
Amir added, "Our family knows we are Christians now. Becoming a Christian is, for them, the same as if I had destroyed the Kaaba in Saudi Arabia. It is because we walked in the darkness and are now in the light. I want to protect my family."
Because of their faith, the family's future remains uncertain: "I have no work in Lebanon. Our financial situation is bad. Now, because we are Christians, others don't want to help us. The church is helping as much as is possible."
However, their faith remains unshaken: "The most important thing is that we know Jesus Christ as our Savior," the man adds. "He will save us. We regularly pray to the Lord, we freely worship Him, and He protects us. God is with us. God will resolve our situation."
A number of reports have emerged out of the Middle East of Muslims converting to Christianity after encountering Jesus in dreams.
Apologist Nabeel Qureshi told The Christian Post dreams are significant to Muslims: "In Muslim cultures, generally speaking, people don't see themselves as being able to commune with God," he said. "Communion is a very Christian concept and the idea that Christ has torn down the veil - in a lot of cultures the veil is still up. In Islam, for example, people don't expect to have God talk back to them personally, as the Holy Spirit isn't living in them. They ask God for guidance through dreams; that's like the one way that Muslims expect to hear from God."
"For someone to reach out and ask, 'God, can you tell me about you?' Or, 'If you're Jesus, can you show me a dream?' That's not strange at all... That's kind of what Muslims do," he added.
The pastor of a church in Lebanon told Open Doors that prior to the civil war, it was rare that a Muslim would convert to Christianity. Now, conversions are happening at an "unprecedented rate."
"Churches have changed a lot because of the refugee crisis in Lebanon," he said. "God is at work in a special way. We see a lot of new faces being baptized. In the coming few years, we will be the minority, and believers from other backgrounds will be the majority."
