Jesus Dreams and Losing Everything

She waited outside the classroom door after class. Salma (I am not using her real name) is from the Middle East, an intelligent, friendly, confident woman. I saw her standing in the hallway and greeted her, unsure if she was waiting on me (I was the last one to leave the classroom) or if, maybe, she was waiting for someone else.

She was waiting for me. She returned my greeting, then almost immediately, began to tell me her story, starting with this attention-grabber: "Jesus came to me in a dream." Several years ago I had read in a Christianity Today article that there were reports of Muslim who were seeing Jesus in their dreams. My daughter, Kourtney, who worked in Guinea, a West African Muslim country had told us that there were Muslims there who reported the same thing.

After this startling announcement, Salma told me the rest of the story in her broken English. She was a rich woman in her home country, married to a prominent man. For years she had been attracted to Christ and his message of love. She had read the Koran extensively and was repulsed by the emphasis on violence that she saw there. On the other hand, when she had read the message of Jesus, she was drawn to him in a very deep way. In the end, she could not resist him. 

After telling her husband that she was now a Christian, her husband threatened to turn her into the police, which meant that she would be sentenced to death. Salma took the threats seriously, fled the country with one suitcase in hand, and after a journey that took her to several different countries, she had ended up here in the United States where she is seeking asylum. At this time she has no contact with her children. She must not. Salma is convinced that to do so would jeopardize their lives and the family who has taken her in.

As Salma told me her story, full of joy and loss and sorrow, I kept staring into her face, trying to comprehend what she was going through, amazed at this biblical-like account of sacrifice that was here before me. Her sacrifice for Christ reached every part of her existence: she has lost family, friends, security, possessions and country. But she has gained Christ. And she knows him deeply in a way that I don't.

After my conversation with Salma, it is a little more difficult to worry if the Rangers are going to win their next ball game or if the Mavericks will play again this year. Salma shows me that there are more important concerns to fill my heart and mind.