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.

You cannot succeed.

You can pass stricter laws against apostasy.

You can increase surveillance and monitoring.

You can imprison and torture and execute converts.

You can block websites and ban apps and confiscate Bibles.

You can do everything in your power to suppress Christianity.

But you cannot stop the Holy Spirit.

You cannot chain the wind.

You cannot lock up the truth.

I say this not to mock you, but to plead with you.

You are fighting against God himself.

The prophet Isaiah saw this day coming 27 centuries ago when he prophesied that Egypt and Assyria would worship the God of Israel together.

It is written in scripture.

It is ordained by God before the foundation of the world.

The Middle East will be reclaimed for Christ.

And all your efforts to prevent it will fail, just as Pharaoh’s efforts to hold the Israelites failed.

Just as Rome’s efforts to destroy Christianity failed, just as every attempt throughout history to stop God’s purposes has failed.

I pray that many of you who are reading these words, who are religious leaders and government officials yourselves, will have the same encounter with Jesus that I did.

I pray you will have the courage to follow the truth wherever it leads, even if it costs you everything you have built.

I pray that one day we will be brothers in Christ, worshiping together, serving together, building God’s kingdom together.

Finally, I want to share my vision for the future.

The hope that sustains me and millions of other believers throughout the Muslim world, the dream that keeps us going through persecution.

I believe with every fiber of my being that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Islamic dominance in the Middle East.

Not through political change or military conflict or western intervention, but through spiritual transformation, one heart at a time.

Within my lifetime, I am only 37 years old now.

I believe we will see countries that are currently 99% Muslim become countries with significant Christian populations, perhaps even Christian majorities in some regions.

I believe we will see mosques converted into churches just as churches were once converted into mosques.

I believe we will see Christian leaders in government positions, in universities, in media, in every sphere of society throughout the Middle East.

I believe the Bible will be freely available where it is now banned.

I believe the gospel will be proclaimed openly where it is now suppressed.

I believe the house churches that now meet in secret, in fear will one day meet in freedom and in public buildings.

The believers who now whisper the name of Jesus will one day shout it from rooftops without fear.

The children who are now being raised Muslim will one day raise their own children as Christians.

I believe ancient Christian communities that were nearly wiped out.

The Assyrians who are my people by blood, the cops in Egypt, the Calaldanss in Iraq will be strengthened and will grow.

And they will be joined by millions of Arab Christians, Persian Christians, Turkish Christians, Kurdish Christians, people from every tribe and nation in the Middle East, worshiping Jesus together in unity.

I believe this not because I am an optimist by nature or because I am naive about the difficulties ahead.

I believe this because it is prophesied clearly in scripture.

I believe this because I see it beginning to happen with my own eyes every single day.

I believe this because I know the power of God cannot be stopped by human opposition.

No matter how fierce or well organized, the road ahead will not be easy or quick.

More believers will be persecuted.

More will be imprisoned.

More will be killed for their faith.

More families will be torn apart.

The darkness will fight fiercely and violently against the light because Satan knows his time is short.

But the light will win.

It has already won at the cross of Calvary where Jesus conquered sin and death and hell.

We are just watching that victory unfold in human history.

One soul at a time, one family at a time, one city at a time.

Personally, my greatest remaining pain is my family.

I haven’t seen my children in over 5 years now.

My oldest son would be 14.

My second son 12.

My daughter 10.

I do not know if they are being told I am dead or that I am insane or that I am a traitor or simply that I am gone forever.

I pray for them every single day without fail.

I pray that somehow in ways I cannot imagine or orchestrate, they will one day understand why I made the choice I did.

I pray they will encounter Jesus themselves and find the truth that set me free.

I pray especially for my wife Zara.

I do not blame her for her reaction to my conversion.

She was acting according to everything she had been taught her entire life.

Everything her culture had programmed into her.

She believed she was protecting our children from a corrupted, dangerous father.

I pray that God will reveal himself to her as he revealed himself to me.

I pray that one day, whether in this life or the next, we might be reconciled not just as husband and wife, but as brother and sister in Christ.

I even pray for my parents, for my siblings, for the extended family that rejected me and declared me dead.

Some people tell me I am foolish to hope for this, that it is statistically unlikely they would ever convert.

But I serve a God who specializes in the impossible, who does what cannot be done.

If he could save me, a cleric who actively taught against Christianity and mocked those who follow Jesus, then he can save anyone.

Nothing is too hard for the Lord.

As I close this testimony, I want to invite one more time anyone who does not know Jesus to come to him today, right now, this very moment.

Not tomorrow, not next week, not when circumstances are better or easier or more convenient.

Today, because tomorrow is not promised, Jesus said in the book of Revelation, “Here I am.

I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person and they with me.

He is knocking on the door of your heart right now as you hear these words.

He is inviting himself into your life.

Will you open the door?

Will you let him in?

If you want to receive Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you can pray a simple prayer like this, either out loud or silently in your heart.

Lord Jesus, I am a sinner.

I have lived my life without you in darkness and rebellion.

I have believed lies about who you are.

But today I acknowledge that you are the son of God, that you died on the cross to pay for my sins, and that you rose from the dead on the third day, conquering death.

I confess my sins to you, all of them.

Everything I have done wrong, and I ask for your forgiveness.

I surrender my life to you completely.

Come into my heart.

Be my Lord and my Savior.

Give me your Holy Spirit to live inside me.

Make me a new creation.

Transform me from the inside out.

I commit to following you from this day forward, no matter what it costs me.

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for dying for me.

Thank you for saving me.

In your precious name, I pray.

Amen.

If you prayed that prayer sincerely, believing in your heart what you said with your mouth, then you are now a child of God.

Your sins are forgiven.

All of them wiped away completely as if they never happened.

You have eternal life that can never be taken away.

You have been born again by the spirit of God.

The old you has died.

A new you has been born.

Welcome to the family of God.

Welcome home.

Now, I encourage you to do several things.

First, find other believers.

Find a church or a fellowship or even one other Christian where you can grow in your faith.

You cannot follow Jesus alone.

We need the body of Christ.

Second, read the Bible every day.

Start with the Gospel of John.

Let God’s word transform your mind.

Third, pray constantly talking to Jesus throughout your day about everything.

Fourth, tell others what Jesus has done for you when it is safe to do so.

And fifth, be prepared.

Following Jesus will cost you something.

But I promise you from my own experience, he is worth it all.

To all the believers, all my brothers and sisters, the secret followers of Jesus throughout the Muslim world who might be hearing this, you are not alone.

There are millions of us.

We are your family.

We stand with you even if we never meet in this life.

We pray for you.

We share your suffering and we share your joy.

Jesus is with you right now, closer than your breath.

He will never leave you nor forsake you.

He will walk with you through the fire and you will not be burned.

Be strong and courageous.

Do not be afraid or discouraged.

The battle belongs to the Lord and victory is certain.

The darkness is fading like night before the rising sun.

The dawn is breaking across the Middle East.

The prophecies written thousands of years ago are being fulfilled before our eyes in our generation.

Egypt and Assyria and Israel will worship together.

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