CHRISTIANNEWS.COM. – During the Muslim prayer month of Ramadan, Christian converts in some Islamic nations who no longer live their Muslim faith are easier to spot.
There is increased pressure on Christians who live their faith in secret and increased risk of their new faith being found out. If that happens, your family or community may try to kill you.
“Before I found Christ, I lived with my Muslim parents and family in a village in the Horn of Africa. We were small-scale farmers like most people in my area.”
“Then I met some Christians who told me about Jesus. I have always been inquisitive and wanted to know more. So, I visited those Christians a few times. I was drawn to his love for God and for other people. I decided that his religion was the true faith. I was baptized and when I got married, my wife followed me in faith.”
This testimony is from Abda, a Christian convert who chose to follow Christ despite real danger from radical Muslim groups in his community.
Abda’s family and relatives knew about his new religion, but told him to hide his faith as much as possible. They did not like his and his wife’s decision to become Christians, but they allowed them to continue living in his area.
Praising God in secret
Since Christians cannot meet openly and there are no churches there, Abda and his wife had to organize their meetings with other Christians in secret.
They would meet at each other’s homes to listen to radio programs together or have Bible studies. They often changed their meeting places and times so they wouldn’t get caught.
“Some radical Muslims soon found out about my conversion. They began to secretly follow me to places of Christian fellowship. They even filmed me,” Abda shares with the Christian charity Open Doors.
Ambush
“One day they set me up. While I was with other Christians in my house, those radicals attacked us. They chased the other Christians away and then started beating me. They thought that I was the leader of that group, because the meeting was in my house. They said they did not want this foreign religion in their town. They left me for dead.”
Abda regained consciousness two days later and found himself in a local clinic. His relatives had taken him there. The radicals had damaged his arm so much that it had to be amputated.
“I was afraid that my life would now be even more difficult because with one arm I would not be able to farm and provide enough food for my family,” Abda said.
I found happiness
Although his family took care of him when he was attacked, they avoided him and his wife. That meant that no one from his village or family would help the disabled man with anything. But not all doors were closed.
Open Doors, contacted Abda and gave them animals to support their livestock. The couple was able to care for themselves and earn a living.
“I no longer need to be a Christian in secret, since now the whole world knows my faith. And I’ve already sacrificed my arm for Christ, so I don’t think life can get any more difficult than it already is,” says Abda.
“I walk openly to places where the idle sit and tell them of the happiness I found in Christ,” reported Christian Today.
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