Shawn's Story

In a recent post, I mentioned to you a man named Shawn who I met a couple weeks ago. I want to share a bit of his story with you.

Shawn was an upright Muslim man who had some prestige in his village. His brother is an Imam, and he has 2 wives. He has a large field, and he owns some cows. He visited the mosque often, and he prayed to Allah 5 times a day just as he should. But one night, he had this dream...

An old man, a man who was wise and respectable, appeared to Him in a dream one night. In his hands he held a book, a holy book. The man looked at Shawn and said to him, "This is true." Shawn went about his life making no change. He ignored the man in the dream and went about his Muslim business. Three months later, he saw the same old man in another dream. But this time the man had by his side a sheep. It was a sheep like no one has ever seen before. It was a sheep, no doubt; but it was so white. No one has ever seen such a beautiful sheep. And the man was shining, brighter than fire. He wasn't even able to look at the man. The man said to Shawn, "This book is true. Do what is says and follow me."

This time Shawn took heed. That morning he woke up before the sun. He left his house and told no one where he was going or why he was leaving. He didn't tell any of his family, not even his wives or his brothers. He went to a nearby village that was half Catholic. He told the leader of the Catholics what he had dreamt, and the leader told him that God was calling him to follow Jesus. Shawn contemplated this and decided that he was right. These dreams were from God. Jesus was calling him.

So Shawn began asking questions and trying his best to follow Jesus. He prayed to God and asked that Jesus would show him how best to live and what it means to disciple after Jesus. The truth is that the Christians in the other village didn't really know much about discipling others for Jesus. They weren't very interested in Shawn. They wanted the converts, but they didn't care enough to serve Shawn and disciple him. They did not know true servanthood or brotherhood. So Shawn was left to himself.

He continued praying to God and asking him how to follow Jesus. All the while, those in Shawn's village rebuked him. They told him that his dreams were from the devil and that he had been deceived. They began to persecute him. They burned down his fence, they sabotaged his fields, they let his cows out and some got away. At one point, they stole his wife! A religious leader got some kids together to stone one of his donkeys while she was giving birth, killing both. So Shawn kept praying. He knew the Truth, but he desired more. He asked God to send someone his way.

Shawn heard about a man who came to the village sometimes and gave books away. He so happened to run into this man whose name is Joe. He said to Joe, "I want to follow Jesus. Will you help me?" Coincidentally, the books that Joe was giving out were books of the Bible. Joe was a missionary. God had sent Joe to Shawn.

Soon after, Joe built some huts and moved his family out to the village next to Shawn, and for the past 5 years they have been studying the Word of God together. God is faithful, and Shawn has been faithful. God called Shawn, and Shawn followed. He has persevered. He has counted his persecution as a blessing, and he prays that his entire village would come to understand who Jesus really is. To that I say, Amen.