Water in the Wilderness

One warm Spring several years ago, in the center of the Middle East, a young Arab man named Murat was preparing his mind for an evening business meeting as he walked down the street. He had grown up and spent his entire life in the area, and the road seemed to blend with his thoughts as he took in the familiar surroundings. Suddenly, he was met by his brother, who was headed in another direction. Murat’s brother began talking with him, urging him to come with him to the evening service at the Middle East Missions Base prayer room.

“He was like, ‘Come. Come with me. Be with us,” said Murat. “So I went, because my brother was wishing me to come. That was the only reason, to be honest.”

Murat’s brother was a part of the House of Prayer, but it was Murat’s first time going. In a Muslim-majority region where 10.5 million people have never heard the Gospel, it was actually quite a marvel that Murat’s brother was a believer in Christ. Murat, himself, had begun desiring to know Jesus just months before that day.

“For three months, I was asking Jesus, ‘where are you?’ Although for three months I didn't feel anything, I felt like I was talking to myself, I kept praying this prayer every single day,” said Murat. Murat had some knowledge about Jesus, but he desperately longed to know him personally, as his brother did. Like a dusty traveler in a dry land, Murat longed to taste the Water of Life, but he had no idea where to get it.

However, Murat did not have any preconceived notions that evening. He did not expect anything to be different as he entered the House of Prayer with his brother. He sat down in an inconspicuous seat in the back of the church as his brother went to join the band on stage, and settled in. A time of worship began, and soon the room was filled with flags and loud praises as people began to sing and worship in the Spirit.

“There was screaming. I thought, ‘oh, this is serious.’ I had limited information about baptism in the Holy Spirit. So, I decided to close my eyes,” said Murat.

As Murat closed his eyes, all of the voices in the room seemed to become miles away. The voices became very faint, except for one voice. That voice, in front of him, was very clear. Murat decided to open his hands, and, suddenly, he felt shivers all over his spine, neck, head and hands. Then his tongue felt heavy. He opened his mouth, and he began speaking a language he did not know. “I started crying,” said Murat. “I was overwhelmed for ten minutes.”

Murat went to sit in the corner of the room on one of the couches, and immediately entered into a vision. In the vision, Murat saw Jesus cutting a slice out of a big cake and serving it to him. Jesus said, “If you give your life to Me, and follow Me, the whole cake is yours.”

In an instant, Murat could feel the seed of desire planted in his heart months before bursting through the soil and blooming in the light of the Son. He could feel his soul leaving the dead of Winter and stepping into the new life of Spring. He could finally drink from the Water of Life. He said ‘yes,’ to Jesus.

After that day, Murat was a new man. He dedicated his life to ministry. The Lord gave him a supernatural ability to learn instruments. He was also anointed with a heavy burden for his own generation - Generation Z. As he talks about Gen Z, he cries as his heart burns for them to also taste the Water of Life. Today, he leads many young men in discipleship groups, serves in worship at the House of Prayer, and is in full-time ministry with a local ministry in this unreached nation. God is watering seeds in the Middle East, and local believers are blooming as their thirst is quenched by the Water of Life. Can you imagine if this happened all across the Middle East?