When Christ Calls a Muslim: One Man’s Journey

Dara* lost everything. You’d never know it because he’s always smiling. Just meeting him lifts your spirit. He’s quick to ask how you are doing and give you a hug. The story behind this joy makes his countenance all the more remarkable.

Dara had everything a 30-year-old Muslim living in the Middle East could want. A beautiful wife. A lucrative job with a military contractor. His own house. Car. Savings. And yet he felt a restlessness, an emptiness, a meaninglessness to life he couldn’t explain.

A good friend of his told him of a meeting he had begun to attend. It was a meeting of Christians reading and studying about Jesus. Dara was a moderate Muslim, but he knew the dangers inherent in his friend even telling him that he was a part of a house church. Then his friend invited him to attend, and shortly thereafter “disappeared.” Dara never saw him again, but everyone knew he was taken by the police. Everyone knew they’d probably never see him again.

The cost of following Jesus
Dara felt compelled to keep going. He knew the cost. He was intrigued by this Jesus. “I sat one day looking at a painting of this prophet, Jesus. He seemed so loving. Inviting. Warm. I gave my life to Him. I wanted to know Him. I then began watching You Tube videos that my Christian friends recommended. That was when the trouble began.

“My wife betrayed me to the police. She told them I was attending a house church and drawn to Christianity. I lost my car. My job. My savings. And then my wife. I knew I couldn’t stay. They were coming for me. I fled with the hope of finding a place of peace.”

Dara made his way to Germany, and eventually came to us looking for a place to stay. He’d been staying at a make-shift refugee home, but he was bullied by other Muslims for abandoning the Muslim faith. Christian refugees often come to Germany seeking refuge from religious persecution only to find the conditions in refugee homes in Berlin aren’t much better. Our church took him in and gave him a room. We’ve helped outfit his room with furniture and a computer. Dara faithfully attends our study and has at times become a warm evangelist to other Muslims. Our church seeks to be a place that reaches out to refugees, so that they in turn reach out with the gospel in word and deed to other refugees.

Dara lost everything. But he wouldn’t trade any of it for the sake of knowing Christ (Phil 3:8). He’s shared in the fellowship of His sufferings. Now, being found in Him, his permanent smile reflects the indelible marks of one who is sharing in His resurrection power.

* Name has been changed for security reasons.

David Stoddard is MTW’s international director for Europe.