A
Muslim Boy’s Journey to Christ.

By
The Voice of the Martyrs Canada

 

Faith

 

Imagine
what it would be like if your decision to follow Jesus made you an outcast from
your family and even a target for death.

 

That’s
what happened to a man named Abdu. But the power of love broke down the
barriers and brought him and his family back together.

 

These
days Abdu and his father, Suleman, spend time praying and studying the Bible
together. Some might call that a miracle since the two did not speak for nearly
20 years.

 

In
fact, Abdu’s father once tried to kill him. Why? Because at the age of 16 he
decided to leave Islam and follow Jesus.

 

An
Unexpected Visit

 

The
young man’s journey of faith began with an unexpected visit.

 

“I
was sleeping and Jesus woke me up, and it was like a dream or revelation,”
Abdu recalled.

 

Abdu
gave his life to Christ after reading from a borrowed Bible. His decision made
his family angry because in their Muslim community, leaving Islam brings
disgrace.

 

“We
didn’t know what kind of belief he brought,” Suleman said. “We were
fundamentalist Muslims and were very upset. That is why we were against
him.”

 

“Our
neighbors also told us he brought a foreign religion here which is not good,
and they said, ‘Attack him and don’t accept him,'” he said.

 

His
mother, Semira, was also very upset when she learned her son became a
Christian.

 

“I
had deep, deep sorrow in my heart because I thought I had lost my boy,”
she said. “I thought we can’t even be buried together when our days are
over. It was a big sorrow at that time.”

 

Village
leaders tried to intimidate Abdu by ordering a gang of young men to attack him.

 

“As
I was walking to school, they met me on the road and they beat me very badly
with a rope and made me suffer,” Abdu recalled. “They [asked] me, if
this was my final decision. If I continued to be a Christian, they said they
would take the full measure and would kill [me].”

 

Still,
Abdu refused to renounce Jesus, and his father became so angry that he tried to
kill him.

 

“We
chased him out from our home because we didn’t want to be against our
neighbors. He brought different things [here] so we chased him out and he went
to another village,” Suleman said.

 

During
his years in exile from his family, Abdu worked at a church as a security guard
and grew stronger in his faith. He read more than 100 Christian books and began
discipline other former Muslims who had come to Jesus.

 

Thawing
Hearts

 

But
Abdu’s mother missed him terribly, and after many years of separation, she
slipped away to visit her son.

 

“During
the six years, I had heard that he wasn’t drinking alcohol and doing bad
things,” she said. “But the boys who were his friends here were doing
those things, so I decided to see him secretly.”

 

Impressed
by the changes in her son’s life, Semira began to consider Christ. However, it
took 10 years before she too would leave Islam to follow Jesus.

 

“I
believed that the faith of my son was true and correct, but now I had a big
problem with my husband,” Semira said. “But I still decided to follow
Jesus and tried to bring [my husband] to Christ. We showed big love to him and
big changes in our character. This influenced him.”

 

About
a year later, Suleman’s heart softened under the influence of God’s big love.
Now, he and the rest of his family, about 40 of them, are all Christians.

 

A
hut on the family property is now a place of worship to the Lord and for
hearing the Gospel.

 

“I’m
very happy that my family has come to Jesus,” Abdu said. “But the
biggest thing that makes me excited is that near the home [where] I grew up is
a place being used as a church. People are coming and praying and giving their
lives to Christ!”

 

A
Missionary to Muslims

 

Abdu
is now a missionary to Muslims in areas that are hostile to the Gospel.

 

With
help from the Voice of the Martyrs Canada and Scotland, Abdu oversees a
tentmakers’ project for six other former Muslims who are sharing their faith.

 

“Our
way of bringing people to Christ is not only telling them the Bible, but we
show them big love and share our things with them and also show them the good
life we have in Christ,” Abdu said.

 

That
approach has been very effective, with thousands of former Muslims responding
to the Gospel.

 

As
for Suleman, while he and his family are persecuted for the faith, he said he’s
not about to return to Islam and he looks forward to eternity with the Lord.

 

“The
fundamentalists can do the worst they can to us,” Suleman said. “The
last option for them is to kill us. We don’t mind if they kill us because some
believers will bury us.”

 

“For
us, it is better with Christ than to live in the community without
Christ,” he said. “We don’t feel fear. These days for us are not a
threat.”

 

 

 

 

May
GOD bless Nigeria, America and Israel and take care of us; May GOD make His
face shine upon us, And be gracious to us; May the LORD lift up His countenance
upon us, And give us peace, In Jesus Christ Name, we pray! Amen!

 

May
the grace the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the
Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen!

 

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