Tom Doyle was a pastor. About twenty years ago he and his wife, JoAnn, felt a call to be missionaries to the Middle East. They are the founders of Uncharted Ministries (https://unchartedministries.com/). If you go to the website you will see that they have a burden to share the gospel with two groups of people that many feel are difficult to reach, the Jewish people and Muslims. Presenting Jesus to these groups can be especially challenging. The Doyles reach out to them wherever they can. Often this outreach takes place in countries that many western Christians would be afraid to go to. In Women Who Risk, the authors share the stories of women they have met in various countries in the Middle East. Tom has also written other books that deal with the experiences of believers in this part of the world (see pages xvii-xviii in Women Who Risk).

The book begins with a section called “An Unstoppable Force.” One topic addressed in its pages is Satan’s war on women; this has been going on since Genesis 3 (page xx). The authors go on to say that once women come to Jesus, they can become a force to be reckoned with. This is happening in the Muslim world, women are influencing others for Jesus (page xxii). The Doyles call women “the spiritual gatekeepers of their families” (page xix). The chapters that follow demonstrate their influence.

The main body of the book consists of seven chapters. In each chapter the reader is introduced to a Muslim woman somewhere in the Middle East. In some cases the reader will also meet those who helped them in their journey to Jesus. Due to security concerns the names of the Muslim women and some of the details of their stories story have been changed in order to protect them (page xix). When you read their stories you will understand why.

The accounts in this book are quite varied and have different outcomes. In chapter 1 a Muslim woman became a follower of Jesus after being set free from jinns, that is, demons (pages 1-4). She was tormented by them. This woman’s father was a sheikh and he trained imams, Muslim clerics (page 4). A Muslim coworker told her if she wanted help with her problem she should go to a church (page 3). She met a pastor and his wife, they prayed for her, and she was set free from the jinns and became a believer (pages 8-9). Her father died at about the same time and her new found faith earned her the wrath of her mother (pages 9-10, 18-19). However, through a divinely orchestrated series of events this young woman led her mother to the Lord (page 22). You need to read this story, it is truly amazing!

Not all of the stories have as happy an ending as the one I mentioned in the previous paragraph. In chapter 7 the reader will met a Muslim woman who became a believer after seeing Jesus in Mecca at the hajj, which is a major annual gathering for Muslims (pages 165-168). She shared her experience with a longtime friend and it started her friend’s journey toward Jesus. The Christian women encouraged her friend to pray to Jesus, this friend asked Jesus to appear to her in a dream that night, and He did (pages 171-174). The woman who was a believer took her friend to an underground church meeting (pages 176-179). As a result of her dream, the love of the people, and a Scripture passage that she read at the church meeting; her friend became a believer (pages 177-179). When the church met, outsiders were led to believe that the people were gathering to watch a soccer game (pages 175-176). The women enjoyed the meetings. In time the family of the woman who came to Christ first become suspicious that she had become a Christian (pages 183-184). One of her brothers followed her to a meeting of the underground church and joined her in the meeting (pages 184-185). Though the group did not pray or read the Bible while he was present he believed she had converted. The woman was pretty sure that her days were numbered. Because of this, she fled the country in order to escape becoming the victim of an honor killing. So she left her family behind. But she went on to minister to Muslims in another place in the world, the United States (page 191).

The book contains an epilogue which highlights some of the important lessons that can be gleaned from the book. These lessons are: Danger is Temporary, Pray for Miracles and Expect Them, and Prayer is for the Long Haul. The authors also offer some information for those who wish to be more involved in reaching Muslims.

There are some recurring themes in this book. You will find that prior to their conversions some of these women wanted to kill their husbands. When you read their stories you will understand why. They were humiliated. They were verbally and physically abused. Not all Muslims mistreat their wives (page xxi), but in this volume you will meet some who were ill-treated. You will also find the supernatural in this book. There are accounts of Jesus appearing, in dreams and in person, at least one case of divine healing, and there are stories of Jesus bringing food to people in times of need. One very important take away from this book is the resolve that the women have to be faithful to Jesus. They do this even though it is extremely dangerous to be a Christian in their countries. Their examples are truly inspiring. This book demonstrates clearly that God is moving powerfully today among Muslims.

Reviewed by John Lathrop

For a free chapter from Women Who Risk, complete the form available from the publisher: https://www.thomasnelson.com/p/women-who-risk/#freechapters

Tom and JoAnn Doyle: After twenty years of pastoring, God gave us a definite call to go to the Middle East and serve Him in multiple countries. I had become a tour guide for the State of Israel while I was a pastor, but God began to work in our hearts about the people who needed Jesus in Israel and the entire Middle East. Both of us received calls and God put it so strongly on our hearts to leave pastoring and go!

PneumaReview.com: What types of ministry are you involved in overseas?

Tom and JoAnn: At Uncharted, we have 70 national indigenous leaders in Israel, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Pakistan, and Germany. Our goal is to reach the unreached and stand with the persecuted. Our team plants churches in high risk areas among Muslims and we work with Jewish Holocaust Survivors in Israel. Another strong emphasis is working with persecuted believers. We try to sound the alarm in the West about the major breakthrough that is occurring in the Muslim world. More Muslims have come to faith in Christ in the last 10-20 years than in the last 1400 years of Islam!

PneumaReview.com: JoAnn, please tell us a bit about the new book, Women Who Risk.

JoAnn: After 20 years now in the Middle East we realized that women were always instrumental in the harvest field of salvations. The women we write about in Women Who Risk are real and their stories are true, but the book reads like a thrilling novel. God’s stories are the best, aren’t they? We just had to tell these stories because they remind us of the faithful women who financed Jesus’ ministry, were at the Cross, the Burial and the Empty Tomb. They were the first Gospel sharers as they told the Good News to the disciples too.

PneumaReview.com: In the book, women are described as “spiritual gatekeepers.” Please explain what that means.

Tom and JoAnn: Women are the major influencers in their families when it comes to spiritual things. You would think that would not be true in the Muslim world, but it is a God-given role to mothers and if they come to faith in Christ, they are faithful to tell their family even if they may die. At Uncharted we say, reach a Muslim woman, reach the Muslim world.

PneumaReview.com: Tom, you wrote a book about dreams and visions. How prevalent are they in the Middle East?

Tom: I didn’t believe in it at first until we were hit by a tidal wave of salvations with former Muslims who often told us that it all started with a high-definition Jesus dream. About 1 in 3 Muslims who come to faith in Christ say they had a dream or vision of Jesus Christ. He identifies Himself as Jesus in the dream so there is no doubt. No one goes to bed a Muslim and wakes up a Christian because of a dream of Jesus. But it starts them on a journey to find our who Jesus is after they have the initial encounter. Maybe because so few go to the Muslims with the Gospel as missionaries, and because Islam is 1/5^th of the planet, Jesus is leading the way and opening up the door for us.