But in Christianity, you can know with certainty that you are saved, that your sins are forgiven, that your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life, that nothing can separate you from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

They found the value and dignity of women.

Jesus treated women with respect that was radical for his time and remains radical in Islamic cultures today.

He taught women, allowed them to be his disciples, appeared first to women after his resurrection.

The early church included women as ministers, as teachers, as leaders.

Christianity offers women freedom and equality and value that Islam denies.

They found answers to their intellectual questions.

Christianity has a rich tradition of philosophy and theology, of engaging with hard questions, of welcoming honest doubt and struggle.

Islam often responds to questions with assertions of authority and demands for blind submission.

But Christianity invites investigation, encourages seeking, promises that those who seek will find.

Most powerfully they found the person of Jesus himself.

Not just a prophet among many prophets, not just a teacher among many teachers, but God made flesh, who loved humanity enough to die for us, who conquered death and offers us eternal life.

The character of Jesus as revealed in the Gospels is so compelling, so beautiful, so unlike any other religious figure that Muslims who honestly study his life often find themselves falling in love with him despite themselves.

I saw this transformation happen again and again in those three years.

Muslims who came to faith did not just change their religious label.

Their entire countenance changed.

The fear left their eyes.

Joy entered their hearts.

Hardness softened.

Anger turned to peace.

They experienced the freedom that comes from knowing Christ.

And it was visible to everyone around them.

It was like watching people come alive, like watching prisoners being released from chains they had worn so long.

They had forgotten what freedom felt like.

But this awakening was not happening without fierce opposition.

As the number of converts grew, as the phenomenon became harder to hide, Islamic authorities across the Muslim world began to take more aggressive action.

Governments implemented harsher laws against apostasy.

In some countries, the penalty for converting from Islam was officially death.

In others, it was long imprisonment, torture, forced psychiatric treatment based on the claim that anyone who left Islam must be insane.

Imams preached increasingly aggressive sermons warning about the danger of Christianity, about Western conspiracies to destroy Islam, about the eternal punishment awaiting those who left the faith.

Families became more vigilant about monitoring, their children’s internet usage and social contacts.

Young people found their phones being searched, their computers being monitored, their movements being tracked, honor killings of converts became more common.

I heard stories that broke my heart and filled me with rage at the same time.

Adept young woman in Iran poisoned by her own father for becoming a Christian.

He put poison in her food at dinner and she died in agony while he watched believing he was defending family honor and Islamic faith.

A teenage boy in Afghanistan beaten to death by his uncles for refusing to recant his faith in Jesus.

A university student in Egypt who simply disappeared one day.

Her body was later found in the Nile River, her hands and feet bound, drowned by family members who could not bear the shame of having an apostate in their midst.

Islamic leaders and governments tried to stem the tide of conversions through various methods.

They organized massive da’wa campaigns, sending Muslim missionaries to reIslamize Muslims who were drifting or doubting.

They flooded social media with anti-Christian propaganda with videos and articles designed to refute Christianity and keep Muslims from questioning their faith.

They created sophisticated websites with arguments against Christianity with explanations for why Islam was superior with warnings about the dangers of leaving Islam.

Some countries blocked Christian websites and banned Christian apps.

Others invested heavily in monitoring internet activity using advanced technology to track who was visiting Christian sites, who was downloading Bibles, who was watching Christian videos.

Saudi Arabia and Iran especially became experts at cyber surveillance, catching secret believers through their digital footprints and arresting them.

But all these efforts were failing to stop the movement.

You cannot stop the wind with your hands.

You cannot hold back the tide with a wall of sand.

The Holy Spirit’s work cannot be hindered by human opposition.

The more Islamic authorities tried to suppress Christianity, the more Muslims became curious about what they were so desperate to hide.

The blood of martyrs became the seed of the church just as it had in the first centuries of Christianity when Rome tried to stamp out this new faith through persecution.

I met a man whose brother had been executed for converting to Christianity in Iran.

The execution was public, meant to intimidate others, to send a clear message that apostasy would not be tolerated, that anyone who left Islam would face the ultimate penalty.

But instead of intimidating people, the brothers courage and peace in the face of death caused several members of the extended family to start questioning Islam.

How could a dead religion produce such courage?

How could a false faith give such peace at the moment of death?

Within a year, three family members had secretly converted.

The authorities attempt at intimidation had backfired completely.

The martyr’s death had planted seeds of faith in his own family.

This pattern repeated across the Muslim world.

Persecution was intended to stop the spread of Christianity.

But instead, it was fueling curiosity and confirming to many Muslims that Islam was a religion of violence and fear, while Christianity was a faith worth dying for.

People noticed that Christians died with peace and forgiveness, while Muslims died with curses and rage.

They noticed that Christian martyrs prayed for their executioners while Muslim martyrs cursed their enemies.

Islamic leaders knew they were fighting a losing battle.

In private conversations that leaked out through various channels, some admitted that the situation was out of control, that they did not know how to stop what they called the hemorraing of believers from Islam.

Some predicted that if current trends continued, significant portions of the Middle East could be Christian majority within a generation or two.

This prospect terrified them.

Islam’s power was built on geographic dominance, controlling the Arabian Peninsula, controlling the holy cities of Mecca and Medina, controlling the lands of ancient Islamic empires.

If these regions became Christian, the entire foundation of Islamic authority would collapse.

The psychological impact would be devastating.

How could Islam claim to be the final superior religion if its heartland returned to Christianity?

So, they increased their efforts to hide the reality from the rest of the world.

International media rarely reported on the conversion phenomenon because Islamic countries controlled the information and Western media was often reluctant to tell stories that might be seen as Islamophobic.

Islamic countries certainly did not publish statistics on how many Muslims were leaving Islam.

They presented a facade of Islamic unity and strength to the outside world while secretly panicking about the mass exodus happening within their borders.

But those of us within the underground church knew the truth.

We lived it every day.

We saw lives transformed.

We saw families slowly turning to Christ, sometimes one member at a time over years.

We saw entire villages in some regions where Christianity was spreading through kinship networks where cousins would convert and then share with other cousins who would share with their siblings until extended families had multiple secret believers.

We saw that ancient prophecies were being fulfilled before our eyes.

Isaiah’s vision of a highway from Egypt to Assyria, of Egyptians and Assyrians worshiping together, of God calling Egypt my people and Assyria my handiwork.

This was coming to pass in our generation.

The Psalms that spoke of Arabia and Khedar and the desert tribes praising the Lord were being literally fulfilled.

The Middle East, which had been the birthplace of Christianity before Islam swept through and suppressed it for 14 centuries, was experiencing a resurrection of faith.

And I knew with absolute certainty that comes from seeing God’s hand at work, that this was only the beginning.

The awakening was accelerating, not slowing down.

The rate of conversions was increasing, not decreasing.

The future of the Middle East was Christian.

Not because of political or military power, not because of Western influence or colonialism, but because Jesus himself was calling his sheep and they were hearing his voice.

I began to understand during this time that my role in this movement was to tell the story to testify to what God was doing to encourage both the secret believers in the Middle East who felt alone and isolated and Christians around the world who needed to know that God was moving powerfully in the Muslim world.

My suffering, my loss of family and position, the price I had paid, all of it had meaning and purpose.

I was a witness to the greatest move of God in the Islamic world in over a thousand years.

And I knew that eventually I would need to speak more publicly, to share my testimony more widely, to let the world know what was happening behind the closed doors of Islamic countries.

The truth could not remain hidden forever.

The light of Christ was shining in the darkness and the darkness could not overcome it.

It is now early 2025 and I am sitting in a place where I can finally tell my story openly to the world.

I am no longer in Iraq.

After years of prayer, careful consideration and counsel from church leaders who became like family to me, I made the difficult decision to leave my homeland so I could speak publicly about what is happening without putting other believers at risk.

The specific details of how I left and where I am now must remain private for security reasons.

There are still people who would kill me if they could find me.

And I must protect the network of believers who helped me escape.

But I am safe.

I am free.

And I have a platform to share what God is doing.

Looking back on my journey from cleric to convert, from respected religious leader to persecuted refugee, from servant of Islam to follower of Christ, I am overwhelmed with gratitude that fills my chest until I can barely breathe.

Yes, I have lost much.

I have lost my family, my homeland, my career, my reputation, my comfort, my security.

Everything that defined my identity in the eyes of the world has been stripped away.

But I have gained infinitely more than I lost.

I have gained Jesus.

I have gained eternal life.

I have gained peace and joy and purpose beyond anything I ever knew in Islam.

I have gained brothers and sisters in Christ from every nation.

I have gained freedom from the fear that dominated my life as a Muslim.

Every morning I wake up and thank God for rescuing me from darkness and bringing me into his marvelous light.

Every day I am amazed that he would love me enough to pursue me relentlessly, to send dreams and visions when I was lost, to orchestrate circumstances and bring people across my path to lead me to himself.

I was his enemy, a servant of a false religion, actively teaching others to reject the true Savior.

Yet he loved me anyway.

He died for me on the cross when I was still his enemy.

He called me by name when I did not even know his name.

He never gave up on me.

This is the gospel, the good news that has transformed my life and is transforming millions of lives across the Muslim world at this very moment.

It is not about religion or rules or ritual.

It is not about being good enough or doing enough good deeds.

It is about a relationship with the living God through Jesus Christ.

It is about grace instead of law.

Love instead of fear.

Knowing with certainty that you are a child of God rather than living in constant uncertainty about your eternal fate.

It is about forgiveness and freedom and new life.

I need to speak directly now to different groups of people who might be hearing my story.

First to my Muslim brothers and sisters who are watching or listening, especially those who are questioning, doubting, searching for truth in the darkness.

I understand you completely.

I was you.

I walked in your shoes.

I know the fears that keep you awake at night.

The questions you are afraid to ask out loud.

The doubts you push down because acknowledging them feels like betrayal.

I know the weight of family expectations pressing down on you like a physical burden.

I know the terror of even considering that Islam might not be the truth.

Because considering that possibility means your entire world view could collapse.

But I am telling you from experience from the other side of that terrifying journey that Jesus is worth it.

Every question you have burning in your heart, he can answer.

Every doubt you feel eating at your faith, he can resolve.

Every fear you carry like stones in your pockets, he can remove.

He is not asking you to change your culture or betray your people or become western.

He is simply asking you to know him personally, to let him love you with an unconditional love you have never experienced.

to accept the free gift of salvation he offers with open hands.

If you are having dreams about a man in white, about someone who radiates love and peace, about Jesus calling you by name, do not dismiss them as coincidence or stress or your imagination.

God is speaking to you directly.

The creator of the universe is pursuing you personally.

If you are curious about the Bible, about what it really says instead of what you have been told it says, then read it for yourself.

You can download it secretly on your phone where no one else can see.

You can read it late at night when everyone is asleep.

You can search for truth without anyone knowing.

And I encourage you to pray a simple, honest prayer.

Jesus, if you are real, if you are truly the son of God, show me the truth.

I want to know what is real.

I want to know the way to heaven.

I promise you from my own experience and from the testimonies of millions of others, he will answer that prayer.

He is seeking you even more than you are seeking him.

He loves you with an everlasting love.

He is the good shepherd who leaves the 99 to find the one lost sheep.

And when you find him, when you surrender your life to him, you will discover the peace and joy and purpose you have been searching for your entire life.

I know the cost.

I am not standing here telling you it will be easy or painless or without sacrifice.

You might lose your family like I did.

You might face persecution, rejection, violence.

You might have to flee your home and live as a refugee.

I am not minimizing the price or pretending the road is smooth.

But I am telling you with complete honesty, with tears in my eyes as I speak these words, Jesus is worth it a thousand times over, 10,000 times over.

He is worth everything you might lose.

I would rather have Jesus and nothing else than have the whole world without him.

Do not wait for the perfect time because it will never come.

Do not wait until circumstances are easier because they might never be easier.

Tomorrow is not promised to any of us.

Today is the day of salvation.

Right now, wherever you are sitting or standing, whatever time of day it is, you can pray and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.

You can confess your sins and receive his forgiveness.

You can be born again and become a child of God.

It is that simple.

Not easy, but simple.

Jesus has done all the work.

You just need to receive the gift.

Second, to Christians around the world who are hearing my story, I need you to know what is happening in the Muslim world right now.

I need you to understand that God is moving in ways that are difficult to believe unless you see them with your own eyes.

Millions of Muslims, not thousands, not hundreds of thousands, but millions are coming to Christ across the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia, and beyond.

The Middle East is experiencing a spiritual awakening unprecedented in modern history, perhaps unprecedented since the first centuries of Christianity.

But we desperately need your help.

We need your prayers more than anything else.

Pray for the secret believers who are living under threat every single day, who worship in whispers, who carry their Bibles hidden, who face death if their faith is discovered.

Pray for those who are considering following Christ but are paralyzed by fear of what they will lose.

Pray for families being torn apart by conversions.

Pray for children separated from their parents.

Pray for the persecuted church throughout the Muslim world that we would have courage and strength and wisdom.

We need your financial support.

There are organizations working to reach Muslims with the gospel to provide Bibles and Christian resources in Arabic and Pharisee and other languages to support new believers and help them grow in faith to provide safe houses and escape routes for those fleeing persecution.

Support these ministries.

Your money can literally save lives and change eternity for people you will never meet.

this side of heaven.

We need you to spread the word about what God is doing.

The mainstream media will not tell this story because it does not fit their narrative about religion.

Islamic countries certainly will not tell it because they are desperate to hide it.

But you can tell it.

You can share testimonies like mine on social media.

You can talk about it in your churches.

You can make other Christians aware.

You can inspire people to get involved in reaching Muslims for Christ.

Most importantly, we need you to see Muslims differently than you might have before.

We are not your enemies.

We are not all terrorists or fundamentalists or dangerous people.

We are human beings made in the image of God, loved by him, desperately, pursued by him, relentlessly.

Many of us are searching for truth.

Even if we do not yet know we are searching, many of us are one divine encounter away from surrendering to Jesus.

We need you to love us, to reach out to us, to share Jesus with us in ways that are respectful and compassionate and wise.

The Muslim world is the greatest mission field of our generation.

The harvest is ripe like grain, ready to be cut.

But the workers are few.

God is preparing hearts supernaturally through dreams and visions and circumstances.

But he uses human agents to make disciples and build his church.

Will you be part of what God is doing?

Will you pray?

Will you give?

Will you go if he calls you?

Will you befriend Muslims in your own community and share the love of Christ with them?

Third, to the Islamic leaders and government officials who are working so hard to stop this movement.

I say this with respect and love, not with arrogance or hatred.

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