For safety concerns, the following information should be treated with confidentiality and responsibility.
The word of God kept on spreading; and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the faith.
Acts 6:7
The shock and beauty of a priest coming to Christ in the early church is comparable to the astonishment of a Muslim leader deciding to convert from Islam to faith in Jesus today, and this month we have been privileged to welcome Jacob (name changed for safety reasons), a former Muslim imam and sheik, into the Christian family. At an early age, Jacob was chosen by his father, a Muslim extremist, to develop into the pride of the family and become their leader. Jacob was thoroughly equipped to represent Islam, he studied in the best Muslim’s schools in Uganda, studied Arabic in Medina, and by the age of 19 Jacob had memorized the entire Koran. Eventually, Jacob became the teacher of five mosques and two schools.
In 2016 Jacob began questioning his worldview when he noticed inconsistences in the Koran, and although he remained faithful to Allah for eight more years, the seeds of doubt had been firmly planted. During the lockdowns of 2020, Jacob was brought to one of our Alumni to debate him after four of Jacob’s muslim students had failed to silence him. Jacob was struck by our student’s statement that “no Muslim fears God,” and began visiting our student often for further debates and conversation. During that time, Jacob relentlessly researched the Bible, searching for ways to overturn him, but was struck by its historicity. He would spend hours in our student’s pastoral office, pouring over maps and study notes. Jacob told me that the Bible stood out to him because, unlike the Koran, it dealt with real historical events in detail, and that Christianity stood out to him because, unlike Islam, it was a religion of love and freedom.
Our student was surprised when he received a phone call from Jacob. Jacob asked him for advice. He said that he was supposed to teach at a Mosque in the evening, but that he had just given his life to Jesus and he didn’t know what to do. Jacob was overcome by a sense of love and peace, but he was in fear of his peers and followers who would track him down and take him by force if he failed to show up and teach! Our student quickly smuggled him out of the city and brought him to a new environment, where he started a brand new life. We are blessed by his genuine commitment and devotion to Jesus.
Please Pray:
- That Jacob will assimilate well into his new environment.
- That he will be able to discern how to balance safety and boldness.
- For the safety of both Jacob and our student who led him to the Lord as they are both at risk.
- That he will mature into Christlikeness and proceed to reach many Muslims for Christ.
