Region / Country: Middle East and North Africa

We met in the supermarket. Sahib* had come to Eastern Europe as a post-graduate from the Middle East, to study engineering. He started coming along to our club for international students. Then one day Sahib heard about our IFES national conference coming up. He wanted to come too.

“This club is for students of different backgrounds and beliefs,” I told him. “But the conference is for Christians.”

But Sahib came anyway. The only Muslim out of nearly 200 Christians. During those three days he heard the gospel preached over and over. He even came to a talk about sharing the gospel with Muslims! What on earth is he going to think? I wondered nervously. But at the end of the conference, Sahib shared his story with me:

Sahib’s story

Several years ago, Sahib’s brother had died tragically in an accident. His father, who never recovered from the grief, died six months later. Sahib’s nephew (his late brother’s son) went to live with him and his family. Then last year, while working in a military camp, he and his nephew were just metres away from the explosion of two ISIS cars. Sahib miraculously survived, but tragically, his nephew didn’t. Having lost three of his closest family members, Sahib sunk into a deep depression. He wondered why he was still alive. In desperation he had decided to move overseas to study again.

But then at the conference, he told me, something had changed. He’d suddenly felt the darkness and depression lift. He felt like he’d woken up. “It’s not an accident that you’re alive today, Sahib”, I told him. “I believe God saved your life for a reason.”

Soon after that, Sahib joined his local IFES group and has started going along to Bible studies and church services. Sahib still hasn’t accepted Christ, but we believe that God is at work in him.

Kasim’s dilemma

The decision to become a Christian has huge implications for Muslims. It might not be possible for them to return to their family or home country. If they do return, they could face extreme persecution, a serious lack of fellowship, and limited opportunities for career and marriage, as well as painful rejection from family members. It’s not appealing — and yet, to leave the people you love behind…? This was Kasim’s* dilemma.

Kasim is from Central Asia. Every international student from his particular country is monitored closely during their time overseas, and when they return their phones and luggage will be checked. While studying overseas, Kasim met Christians, got involved in our international fellowship group and started reading the Bible privately with a local pastor. Wonderfully he turned to Christ, and soon after got baptised in secret. Despite the dangers, he started to share the gospel with his friends in his dormitory. Then came a turning point.

Kasim had a dream to move to a western European country to do a Master’s degree. He’d even been studying the language of that country! But increasingly he felt convicted that he had a responsibility to go back to his home country and tell his people about the most important gift he had found here. If he moved overseas again then who would tell his people about Jesus?

So now Kasim is back in his home country, completing his obligatory service in the army. Praise God that, so far, he is doing well spiritually. We pray that in the future he’s able to help pioneer student ministry in his country.

Unparalleled opportunities

The opportunities currently open to us across Eastern Europe are unparalleled. Students from 17 different countries attended our Christmas evangelistic event. Many of them are from desperately unreached places. Our own context is not without its challenges, but it is more open here than it is in many of these sending countries.

Each week we organise activities where international students can come and socialise together, enjoy friendships in a safe environment, learn about local culture, discuss different topics, improve their language and, if they are keen, open the Bible with us. We pray on that many more students in this generation would, like Kasim, come to know the Lord.”

Reflections from an IFES staff worker serving students in Eastern Europe

Open Doors records the persecution of Christians in its World Watch List. The ten countries where persecution is the most severe sent a total of 220,647 students to study internationally in 2016, according to UNESCO statistics. Pray with us that these international students would meet Christians, hear the gospel during their time studying overseas, and return home to share their faith with those living in darkness.

* name changed

It’s wonderful when international students turn to Christ. But that is only the beginning. Many face huge challenges when they finish their studies — particularly those who come to faith from a Muslim background. It’s an agonising decision: stay here, in a foreign land, apart from their loved ones; or go back and face a life of alienation, rejection and severe persecution — or even death. There is no easy option.

Rahab Chandler, an international student worker in the UK, shares two stories of Muslim-background believers who came to faith during their PhD studies.

Hadija’s journey

Hadija* and I met through a mutual friend. She was from a Middle Eastern country, studying here for a PhD. I invited her to our home and to one of our international cafés, and introduced her to a few Christian friends. Over the course of the next few years, Hadija and I met regularly. She was only culturally Muslim but was nevertheless committed to certain Islamic beliefs. We would talk at length about her studies and I would share with her what the Bible says regarding the issues. Her interest grew, but she showed no desire to embrace the Christian faith.

Over time she began to attend church, where she heard good teaching and was drawn into the church community. Things started to change. Our weekly talks together deepened. I could see how close she was. One Sunday, on hearing a talk about the second coming of Christ, she could not hold back any longer. She professed her belief in the gospel and her desperation to be put right with God. Hadija was baptised a couple of months later, pleading with others to put their trust in Christ as she shared her moving testimony.

Where do I belong?

Hadija has grown wonderfully. But she has not yet told her family about her new faith. Her concern is more for them than for herself. She knows that if her wider family were to find out, her immediate family would be in danger. She says that she is willing to die for Christ; but what is hardest is that her family would suffer for something that they do not understand. Aside from the physical danger, there is also the issue that if she were to return, she would be obliged to marry a Muslim. Even if her life was spared, without Christian fellowship, it would be very hard to keep going.

For Hadija, not returning at this stage is wise. Thankfully her parents are supportive of her remaining in the UK; they believe she will have more freedom here and are not pressurising her to return. Perhaps they have guessed about her new faith, as they know that her friends are Christians. Hadija needs a job which will keep her in the UK for a few more years so that she can then apply to live indefinitely in this country. God has provided for her so far and we trust that He will continue to do so.

But it’s very hard. She loves her family and misses them. The reality of long-term separation from them can never go away. She has struggled with depression. Hadija is afraid that her faith will become known among others from her country, so she has limited her friendship group to a few, most of whom are older than she is. She doesn’t feel that she truly belongs here, even with those of us who are very close to her.

For Hadija, there are no easy answers or quick fixes.

Omari and Sariya

For some, returning home is possible and is the right option.

PhD student Omari* and his wife Sariya* came to the UK from a Middle Eastern country. Omari had long-since moved from Muslim belief to atheism, disillusioned by his Islamic upbringing. He is a confident man and was quick to engage with his work colleagues. He also started coming along regularly to one of our international cafés, looking for friendship. Articulate and convinced in his atheism, Omari was not over-keen to hear about the Christian faith but was always ready for a discussion.

Sariya was still a practising Muslim but on a gentle level. We met her when she came along to an activity for the wives of international students. Through that group, Sariya’s friendships with other Christian ladies started to grow. After a number of months without showing spiritual interest, she mentioned one day that her husband was now keen to study the Bible with Christians. They began to meet with a local couple to go through the Al Massira course — Bible overview studies specifically for seekers from a Muslim background.

In time, both came to clear faith and were baptised discreetly. They were well discipled by a local Christian couple and started to prepare to return home. Those close to him helped them to think through how they could express their new faith wisely, and what it would look like to be loving and faithful family members. They also talked about suffering for their faith.

No turning back

Omari and Sariya are now back home in the Middle East. So far, they are doing well. For the first year, they were very cautious with their family, but they behaved wisely: while they were not explicit, it became clear that their faith had changed. At first, they were wary of meeting with local believers, and only attended an international church run by ex-pats. God provided them with a local ex-pat couple who came alongside them, meeting regularly with them for Bible study. After a couple of years, they began to engage with a small fellowship of local believers and seekers. They are now very involved in this, and Omari preaches there regularly.

The couple who were their main disciplers in the UK continue to support them, as do some others. Some members of their family know the whole story and have even expressed interest themselves. Others remain safely ‘ignorant’ of Sariya and Omari’s change of faith. Returning home has not been easy, but at the moment it seems to be working well enough: they continue to stand firm, growing in their faith and service.

Surrogate family

These stories are a source of deep encouragement. Let us rejoice that international students are coming to faith from a Muslim background! Let us thank God that they consider Jesus worth giving up everything for.

At the same time, these stories are sobering. Hadija, Omari and Sariya do not have the support of their own families. All of them are, to a degree, isolated. They face huge challenges in their daily lives and need great wisdom in navigating the path of bold witness and wise caution. For them, support from church family is indispensable. Are there believers from a Muslim background in your church or student group? What’s their story? How could you support them and be their surrogate family? They will need your friendship, love and prayers very much indeed.

*name changed