Abdu* is a young Middle Eastern man. His father is a well known figure in his home city. He belongs to a fundamentalist Muslim organisation that operates across the country. Abdu became very active in this group at a very early age.
Enemies of the church
When Abdu was younger, the group he belonged to was very powerful in his country. They would regularly attack Christian churches.
The leaders of this group used Abdu to commit violence against Christians, telling him that because he was underage he wouldn’t go to prison. They told him he would be pleasing God.
Time to question
There was political turmoil in Abdu’s country and a new government was elected. Afterwards, Abdu and his colleagues were taken to prison, where Abdu served six months for his crimes.
Abdu’s time in prison made him question the things he’d always believed. He studied the Qur’an well and discovered that it contains a lot of verses urging Muslims to kill other people. He wondered why – it didn’t seem right.
A month after getting out of prison, Abdu started to search online for what other religions say about the true God. He wondered if other religions urge their followers to kill others.
An important phone call
Abdu came across our Arabic website and called one of our responders. On the phone, he said that he wanted to meet someone face to face. He warned us, ‘You need to know that the government is following me all the time and I might cause some problems for you if you meet me.’ He asked if we were willing to meet him and we agreed.
First meeting
Abdu told us that he had left Islam and didn’t want to go back. We then explained to him why Christ came and what he did for us. Abdu cried a lot while we were praying with him, then suddenly, he made an excuse and left. Later, he called again to thank us for spending time with him. He said, ‘I’m a new person now. I have the joy of God in my heart!’ He had decided to put his trust in Jesus.
Birth of an evangelist
Abdu told us that he was going to find the people he was in prison with and tell each one of them about Christ. He has been doing this.
We see him every couple of weeks and he sometimes brings along friends from his time in prison. He has even brought one of his former leaders!
Please pray for Abdu as he shares his faith with people. He is still quite young, but he has an incredible zeal for the gospel. Praise God that this enemy of Christians has become our brother in Christ!
*Name has been changed. Only stock images have been used.