Praying for the Persecuted Church in Lent - Converts

“...if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8:36)

When Jesus spoke about the cost of following Him, He warned that He would bring division to this world. He said that His message would turn fathers against their sons and mothers against their daughters (Luke 12:49-53).

Ali Panah, a convert from Islam to Christianity, was unable to return to his native Iran, where he would have been liable to the death penalty

Those of other faiths who decide to give their lives to Christ often experience the painful reality of these words. The daughter of a British imam who converted to Christianity had to move house 45 times to escape detection by her family, and she received a death threat from her brother warning that he could not be responsible for his actions unless she returned to Islam. In Jordan a father reported his convert son to the police in order to get custody of his son’s children.

Converts to Christianity may lose their jobs, their homes, their spouses, their children and the support and love of their families when people discover that they now belong to Jesus Christ. Some may even lose their lives, especially in Muslim contexts, because sharia prescribes the death sentence for those who leave Islam. In Somalia, Ahmadey Osman Nur was shot dead while attending a Muslim wedding when the sheik conducting the ceremony, knowing of his conversion, declared him guilty of apostasy. In Iran, Hossein Soodmand was executed by hanging for the same offence.

Converts who have lost their human family need to know the love and support of their Christian family. Barnabas Aid helps to meet their practical and spiritual needs by providing safe accommodation, vocational training or small business start-up costs, discipleship training and other assistance.