By Mark Ellis
Tyler Connell with the Ekballo Project has been touring college campuses around the U.S., sharing stories and video from his most recent trip to Middle East, where he documented a dramatic move of God among Muslims, particularly with refugees.
In the last few months, he and his team visited Harvard, MIT, Iowa State, Clemson, and the University of Georgia, among other campuses. “In every stop we saw the presence of Jesus break in to these college campuses and touch students, with bodies healed, people saved, and people giving their lives to serve in the mission field,” Connell exclaims.
College students are amazed to learn what God is doing in Iraq and the surrounding region. “Jesus is moving in these Middle East nations,” he says. “Many there are disillusioned and broken and just want to know the truth. Now more than ever there is a harvest among Muslims that has not been seen in history.”
His first film chronicles a young missionary named Daniel*, 24, originally from Vermont. Two years ago Daniel moved to the Middle East to work with Syrian refugees.
“They go house to house and visit these Muslim families and sit with them and talk with them and find out their names, their stories, and love them. As trust is built, they begin to open up about the Gospel.”
One afternoon Daniel walked into a white tent with a family of eight people inside. “Hi I’m Daniel and I’m here to tell you about Jesus,” he announced.
He wasn’t quite prepared for their reaction. “The family freaked out, they looked at each other, almost turned white. The father was excited, yelling.”
What’s going on? Daniel wondered.
The interpreter explained that the night before Daniel’s visit the whole family was sitting in their tent having tea together and a man in white opened the door to their tent and stood at the entrance. The man was glowing.
“Hello, My name is Jesus and I am sending a man tomorrow named Daniel to tell you more about me.” Then he disappeared.
So when Daniel arrived at their doorway and told them his name, they were completely undone. “They asked him to tell them more about Jesus and he gave then the Gospel and the whole family gave their lives to Jesus,” Connell reports.
The father had been a part of the Free Syrian Army. “He had known bloodshed. He was a devout Muslim. This man and his family are now planting underground churches and are seeing a harvest among Muslims.”
Recently the father was dismayed by a large cell phone bill and he asked his 15-year-old daughter about it.
“It’s because I’m telling all our relatives in Saudi Arabia about Jesus,” she said.
In another Syrian refugee family, Connell felt God’s presence break through in a powerful way. “The joy that broke out among these people was incredible,” he notes. “Jesus’ presence was stronger than I have ever felt, in that little dirty room, with cat pee everywhere.”
“There was about 25 people in there and Jesus’ presence was stronger than any conference, any prayer room, any camp-high moment. Jesus was there in the middle of the desert, in the dirt, with Muslims. He is attracted to the broken hearted, the contrite, the desperate. The King of Heaven was right there with the poor in spirit.”
Over the last 3 years, Connell and his team have responded to an assignment from God to capture what He is doing in the most unreached parts of the world, the 10-40 Window. “This Window has the three giants of Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Currently there are 2.9 billion unreached, who have yet to hear that Jesus is the way to the Father.”
“We felt God told us to go to these places, the dark places, and capture what He is doing thru the lives of missionaries that have given their lives, left everything they had here to live overseas. We follow them with our camera and capture what God does and show it on college campuses to ignite students to live for something bigger than themselves.”
In May 2015 his team spent eight days in the Middle East, going house to house among the refugees. “They were all Muslims but they all said they were disillusioned with Islam and they didn’t know what they believed anymore,” he observes.
“They asked, ‘What is the truth?’ There was a perfect cocktail of circumstances that caused them to be open to the preaching of the Gospel.”
Going to the Middle East his team had to confront their fears. “We realized that intimidation and fear was only a smokescreen. On the other side of that fear was our greatest breakthrough of joy and laying down our lives and seeing Jesus move like we never imagined.”
*Name changed for security reasons
To learn more about Ekballo Project, go here
Another Ekballo story: The day Jesus invaded a Buddhist monastery
Wonderful that these poor souls are being saved! Praise Jesus, the only true and living God!
So grateful for Christians who are faithfully about the Fathers business. We are ALL called to tell others of Jesus and Salvation. ?
Amazing love of God going into the toughest area by melting down the hard heartedness of people by His amazing act of salvation.
People never cease to amaze me. These people don’t have homes and you think telling them about Jesus is what they need? Give your heads a shake. Disgusting.
It seems that, yes, it’s exactly what they need.
I agree, Donna.
Yeah, I wonder what Jane is doing to help these folks? Hmmm.
What, exactly, are YOU doing, sir, to help them? Could YOU go over there and bring ANY real hope to them like these people have done? And hopelessness will kill you no matter HOW much money you have! So giving them HOPE is the FIRST step to helping them.
Donna, that is so true. Jesus is what we all need.
Many people around the world have homes (houses) but are broken in spirit.
This is the story of those coming to meet spiritual needs. There are dozens of others reaching out and meeting other needs, such as food, clothing, and in some cases, housing.
you are so right, Terry!
Why do you bother yourself reading such if you just criticise. It shows that something is pushing you towards Jesus Christ the saviour of the world . You are not the first cynic
Jane these people need Jesus more than what you see. You need Him too.
I have been writing to prisoners on Death Row in Africa and they are filled with joy since they met the Lord. They feel that they needed to be in jail so they could be free of lifes distractions to receive the Gospel preached by an African pastor who regularly visits them. One man even wrote me saying that he was glad he was put in jail, “Or I would never have met Jesus.” Sometimes, (not all times,) people have to reach rock-bottom before they’ll look up.
PS The conditions where they are are unbelievably bad! They are stuffed in tiny cells with no ventilation or water and allowed out for a few hours each day, to wash and drink water in the compound, surrounded by guards with machine guns. They are allowed to walk around there, and are given one bowl of millet mixed with hot water every morning at 6 a.m., thats all they have. So for them to be grateful to be there, so as to have met Jesus and received His salvation says a lot for the Lord. He really does make life worth the living.
Yes, telling them about Jesus is exactly what they need. He is eternal and is preparing a beautiful wonderful place in eternity for all who belong to Him. A place to live now is just a temporary fix for a short term problem, but becoming part of God’s eternal family is a forever fix for the real problem. I am not surprised that you don’t understand because the Bible says that the we are not able to understand the things of God without the Spirit of God. Ask Him and He will make sense of it all for you. He is just waiting for you to want to get to know Him through His Son. Praying for you Jane.
A home in Heaven is more important than a home on earth.
Oh brother from another mother. The Creator gave us this earth to take care of and to ‘create’ but the Christian community wants to sit on their hands and rare back on their thumbs and wait till they die to go to their home in the sky…you know, the one wirh the streets paved with gold. Good luck wih that one.
You also need Jesus He is the answer
What they have is corruptible they
Need Jesus above every thing
someone needs to explain the Gospel to Jane, she does not have a clue obviously….
You have Jesus you have everything, Even Jesus came to visit them, and tell them someone would be coming to tell them more.
Jane you don’t understand because you have not experienced the absolute peace and joy that can exists ones heart in the midst of this misery. If you had you would never forget and you would understand the freedom these people now have even locked tho they remain ‘locked’ inside a refugee camp. Daniel cannot provide them with homes but they can show them a way to be rid of the interior misery and suffering that comes with external misery and suffering. I have been homeless, pregnant and with a toddler. In one quick moment I lost everything my husband my business and my home. I have experienced the utmost anxiety that my external conditions produced in my interior. When I turned to the Lord and my Catholic faith for consolation it was given to me in a profound moment of absolute and utter peace. From that moment on, even tho I remained in a dire situation for 6 more months, I had interior peace and joy. I could eat i could sleep I could function with peace and joy. It is impossible to understand until or unless you experience much like trying to explain how labor feels. One cannot possibly understand until one has delivered a baby.
Daniel has helped to bring pure joy to people in utmost misery. What a beautiful gift to give those who are suffering. Forget not Jane, that people in homes can also suffer tremendously. Daniel facilitated a gift for these people that is literally out of this world that not even a house could alleviate or provide. I hope one day you too will experience the inner peace and joy that comes from God. It is not of this world; therefore, it is inexplicable, but, you will never worry again.
Our hearts are restless Lord until it rests with you.St. Augustine
beautiful shared testimony
He was exactly what I needed at that time in my life!
Jane, it seems as though you may need Jesus, because you don’t realize that what He does for you once you’ve received Him is that He meets all your needs. –> Philippians 4:19 “And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.” –> biblehub.com/philippians/4-19.htm
Dear Jane – we all need to know about Jesus. We are spiritual beings and we leave our bodies after death. Where we go afterwards, depend on our choices in this life. God WANTS us to be in His presence where there will be no more tears and suffering. The devil and his demons SEDUCE us with worldly pleasures and rebellion against God only to torment us in Hell. “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might”; “But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars – they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulphur. This is the second death.” * So yes Jane, ‘these people’ and every one of us need to be told about Jesus for all our sakes so seek Him while it’s not too late.
* (Rev. 21:8) (2 Thess. 1:9)
Peter and James went to pray one day. They met a lame man along the way. ..They said silver & gold have I none for thee. But such as I have I give unto you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up & walk…
You are a brave woman Jane!
The irony is that folks commenting here have become as radical and misguided as ISIS itself! Do they not know that Muslims already revere and honor Jesus? Do they not know the Quran has an entire chapter on Mary and the birth of Jesus? Do they not know Muslims believe Jesus brought the same message to humanity from the same Creator; to believe in the Oneness of God almighty? How sad that Jesus himself became a victim of hypocrisy, hatred and lies? Muslims already love Jesus! The fear mongering and ignorance of radicals is sick and reprehensible anywhere in the world, but in America it is a travesty! Thank you for being a voice of sanity and for having true compassion for the refugees. God bless.
The many Christians I have spoken with do realise the Muslim faith does believe Jesus was a prophet, but it is an entirely different view. You rob Him of power in your life by denying that He is equal with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Jesus is God, prophet, King, priest all rolled into one but God.
John 14:6 I AM the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the father except through me.
Poor Jane. Why don’t you ask Jesus why He is so important to these people and to you. He will tell you.So will the people who have been set free by His LOVE.
If they did not feel they need Him they would have no doubt told Daniel to get lost. Respect their choices, Jane.
Man shall not live by bread alone. Most people in Uk have much nicer houses and the country is going down the toilet…
M.
Where was Jesus when horrible things happened to these poor people ? He was waiting to meet them at the dirty tent not at their demolished homes when there is no hope. You better stop harassing these people and use their weekness where they hate anything to do with Islam since everything happened to them under the name of Islam.
No amount of cynicism will stop the work that Jesus is doing.
This is only one case that we hear about in print. There are many more in many other ways that the Holy Spirit if speaking to. Feeding people body and soul is what they need.
Why anyone would want to be cynical about it belies a deep bitterness.
Seek and you will find him Moe and Jane.
typo … “is” not “if” … big difference.
Brother …. If you don’t know how to swim you won’t fear on your clothes to get wet. I was born in a Muslim family , converted to be a strong believer for 2 years. After 3 years of research, I found out it’s all blind faith that’s has no eveidence. I read the Quran as well as the bible 4 times. Jesus himself doesn’t know when is the day of judgment , his father always greater than him , I will pay million $ for someone can explain the trinity without considering human stupids. As well as Mohammed , never read or write , married more than 12 women , as well Hadith contradict itself in the same page even. We better wake up and pray for One God who is the creator of the universe, because logically creater cannot be created and if so is Jesus able to creat someone Greater than him ?
The Trinity is explained like this: It is like a bicycle. A bicycle has 3 parts. The frame, the wheels, the pedal/gears. Without either one of these it is not a bicycle. The Trinity is the same. God the Father Originates, God the Son, administrates and God the Holy Spirit Manifests. All 3 working together make up the Godhead.
Awesome demonstration! Praise GOD! JESUS Loves, Saves, Heals & Delivers ✝❤️
Moe, a key to understanding the “Trinity” is found in the first chapter of Genesis – God said “Let Us create man in our image,…” Every man, and woman, has a body, a soul, and a spirit. When we die it is only our body that dies and our spirit and soul continue on and those whom God has redeemed will receive a new and uncorrupted body. Sometimes the spirit can leave the body without the body dying – thus the many “Out of body” experiences. Yet every man is a single entity, we may talk to ourselves constantly but there is never any doubt that I am one person. God, through Jesus, is a knowable person – but our pride gets in the way! God is much more likely to reveal Himself to the humble and broken as we see in this testimony.
Hello Moe,
All the words on these pages can not take the place for what the Bible says about Jesus. If you have read your Bible several times I ask you to go back to Philippians Chapter 2:5-10 and re-read about what Jesus thought about Him and the Father. If you chose not to here is the passages.
Philippians 2:
5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
Hi Moe, You might be looking for specific scriptures, and believe it or not, there are actually quite a number of them, most of which are easy for anyone (myself included) to pass over when it’s not a specific study of topic while reading through it or using a topic study or concordance to help you find what you’re looking for. It also helps to know what key words to look up in order to refine the search. However, if nothing else, I hope you might see my explanation below a little bit fun or entertaining for your amusement, lol ;-D
It’s probably easy to say that most people who have a religious and/or spiritual foundation, probably agree that God created both math and science. Therefore, here are some fun & practical ideas for your question on the Trinity to help explain or demonstrate the idea of 3 in 1:
Math: 1 God x 1 Jesus x 1 Holy Spirit = 1 Godhead
Science: H2O functions as a liquid, a solid, and a gas (water, ice, & mist/steam), and all of it is still H2O!
Liquid = God the Father, Solid = God the Son, Gas = Holy Spirit
praise God! May He continue to help Muslims!
I read this with tears of joy because I pray almost every night that Jews and Muslims will have dreams and visions of Jesus. God Bless you for your work.. God is moving in these last days.
Praise the Lord there’s nothing that can stop our Lord..
Mo and Jane,
I see a lot of bitterness in your answers. Seeking God with your mind will be fruitless. He says that you must seek Him with your WHOLE HEART AND MIND. Using just your mind and speaking within yourself, as a reference or authority without God’s input, will bring on anger, pride, and resulting cynicism (which is a false sense of wisdom). Go back to Taqween (Genesis) and read the story about the injustice done against Joseph and how God broke Joseph of his pride so that he would see God’s purpose. Joseph would have been an angry tyrant, otherwise.
I rejoice with you for this breakthrough among Moslems in Syria. May He continue to bless you and the work you are doing in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Nuhu B. Elisha,Sr.
Nigeria.
This is fabulous news about that Middle East coming to Life. Thank you for taking this to the
college campuses where there has been so much distortion and silencing of the message of
Jesus. May our youth also find truth and Life.
former missionary and pastor is still praying for all of you. The LORD started it, and He will finish it. Continue to pray to the Lord of The Harvest… till the knowledge of the Lord covers the earth like the waters cover the sea. For all the haters out there consider this. They had a visitation. If Daniel had not obeyed then they STILL HAD A Visitation. Don’t hate on the recipients of such a glorious experience. Have compassion on some.
Jesus is the ONLY deity anywhere that gave His own life in sacrifice so that creation (and all things were created through Him), could have the cost of all they will ever do against God would be covered and they could come home – then offer this salvation as a gift!
You have to remember, God is not a dog & pony show, or a servant that gives us whatever we want just for the asking. He is God, after all…
But the world wants what “I” can get from “you”, where Jesus examples what “I” can do for “you”, as the ultimate form of love. Jane says we should shake our heads; sorry, we have a truth before us of awesome perspective… Sorry you don’t see it that way, especially with so many like myself who offer our own personal stories of how He has changed us…
I will pour out my Spirit says the Lord unto All flesh: This is the beginning of an outpour of HIS Spirit. Find your place among the blessing, and fulfill what you are born to be. ( Your Calling )
Our God is able to take all of us through.
Hello Everyone ,
Thanks for you all and your kindness as well. I really appreciate taking the time explaining and trying to help me understanding God and trinity as well. Regarding trinity, it has never been mentioned in any bible , so it’s all man made, it like in Islam when you go to heaven there will be 77 virgins waiting on you. Secondly, I do apologize for everyone if anyone felt any betterness in my words. I am just seeking God ! And till this moment I only found out that faith in any religion is just blind faith, there are more than 57 different copies of bible around the world , the people who wrote the Quran the majority of them don’t know how to read or write. Ibrahim , Mossad and Isac as well prayed for the God of the Universe not Jesus ! What happened for the people who had died before Jesus ? Are they going to heaven or hell ? If God loves us why did he created Hell ? Will he enjoy seeing us burning in hell ? God has created us and made us distinguish from all creatures but giving us The Choice ! He did explain to us the different between black and white , he sent us his people to let us know his nature , so that we have to decide if we love to hate , help or turn our backs on people , do good things because it does bring joy to our hearts, give those who are in need of you are able. The bottom line is , we should love each other as God loves us ! Because if neither Jesus , Mohammed and Mossas told us to warship them. Not a single verse in any books says to worship them. Jesus himself on the cross cried for God and begged him to save him !! ” why you have forsaken me ?? He was in the tomb for 3 days , if he is God who was controlling the UNIVERS ? I pray every night for God to open my eyes to see the truth ! But every time I question things , I get more evidences and answers that I should worship only God not Mohammed , Jesus or Mossas.
Again thanks for all the people who replied and if you really loves me ! Please keep me in your prayers perhaps God will open my eyes to see the truth and meet him.
Praying for you Moe…
Praying for you Moe! For divine revelation from the Father. – I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.- Eph 1:17
Moe, glad you’re looking for truth. Truth is inside you and all around you. If God is truth, then in creation, God took the eternal truth substance within, and replicated a unique mirror image of that truth substance, and called it a human. You are a unique reflection of God’s truth, and so is everyone else.
All of God’s attributes are the substance which formed& sustains you (&everything else). There is no place where u are seperated from God or God’s peace or love. But only our own harmful misperceptions of God, self and others,cause fear and harm (sin& hellish experience).
Wasn’t this the point that Jesus was making while he was teaching? He summed up all his teaching with one thing LOVE. Love is God substance. God is love, so God created reflections of love (us). And when we love God, and love others equally as ourself, we are reflecting God’s true substance without any harmful distortion or misperception.
This is not gained through using the rules of religion, but through living daily the God attributes substance of which you and we all are made and sustained. We do this spiritually through the attribute substance of faith (belief) and grace (gift of divine empowerment), which gives us assurance about things we can’t see. When we can’t see God’s attributes in ourselves and others, we believe the substance is there by faith and by empowering grace we act on that belief.
I am writing a book entitled Divine Appointments. It is about the appearance of Jesus in Iran to hundreds of families. He is healing them in hospital beds I cant wait to publish it. All true stories. Thank You Jesus !
Dear Moe,
The trinity is a hard concept to grasp. The word itself is not in the Bible but the concept is. In John 1:1 it says “In the beginning was the Word (Jesus is often called the Word) and the Word was with God and the Word WAS God. The same was in the beginning with God. verse 14 And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. Read the whole 1st chapter of John. It was the best explanation for me. We can’t humanize everything because God, who created everything just by his Word, is far beyond anything we can understand. As far as there being a hell with suffering…we all deserve to be there because a Holy God cannot tolerate sin. He loved us so much that He made a way for us to escape that punishment. Just believing in Jesus and His redeeming love on the cross. He died for you so we need to live for Him. No one goes to hell that doesn’t choose to go there. As far as those who never heard, God is just. God bless you.
Oh boy! We have so much to learn from each other. Praying for Compassion and Tolerance among all people. Ameen
last minute revival is going on; please join now:if not now,”NEVER”.
Look for a book being released in Septmber called “Tell the Whole World that I am Real” which tells of similar stories in Ethiopia including an encounter that a little girl named Elsa had with Jesus. He is real and He is our hope in this troubled world and beyond.
Without Jesus ..life would’ve been meaningless 🙂
Let’s not forget why Jesus came here:
Matthew 1:21 “She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
He came to save us from our sins and forgive us. Our faith in Him invites the Spirit of God to dwell in us and change our hearts and minds. What Joy to have a new nature that has a new perspective with a realization that sharing this with others can mean that they also can have their hearts and minds changed by the one who Loves us. It is a message that is worthy of telling!
Thank you Lord for this video.
Very encouraging. What a blessing of healing for this man. Talented musicians
Love to hear m ore! Thank you for your obedience to God
Comments are closed.