At the end of March, Tamar was given days to live.
The illness came suddenly and hit hard. Doctors at the first hospital refused to even attempt treatment — there was nothing more they could do, they said. Her family refused to accept that answer. They rushed her to another hospital and begged the doctors there to try surgery, anything. Still, no one could promise she’d survive the night, let alone the operation.
Tamar was not yet a believer. But months earlier, a neighbor had told her about Jesus — and now, alone in a hospital bed with nothing left to lose, she prayed. She had two children. A family that needed her. She asked Jesus to spare her life.
That night, He answered.
Jesus appeared to her in a dream, dressed in white. “You will live,” He told her, “and in May you will receive Me.”
By morning, everything had changed. Her condition stabilized. She went into surgery — and came out of it recovering, alive, against every prediction the doctors had made weeks before.
In May, exactly as she’d been told, Tamar attended a women’s ministry gathering being held by a Crossover Global church. She gave her life to Christ that day. She hasn’t stopped since — she’s in worship every week, growing, rooted, changed.
This is the reason we plant churches. Not to a comfortable place, but to the hospital rooms and neighborhoods where people like Tamar are still waiting to hear about Jesus and have a community to grow.
Story from the Director of our Central Asian Initiative
*For the safety of those who share their stories, especially in contexts where believers face persecution, we use illustrative photos to protect their identities.
