Christian Man Once Persecuted by Muslims Risks Life to Share Gospel; Converts Thousands

Leah Marieann Klett : Jul 26, 2016
Gospel Herald

One day, he opened the Book of Acts, and asked [after reading], "Didn't these people preaching Christ also have families? If we don't do it, who's going to do it?"

[Gospel Herald] A Christian man who was once brutalized by Muslims now devotes his life to sharing the Gospel with his persecutors, bringing thousands to Christ. (Photo: Reuters/via Gospel Herald)

According to a report from Christian Aid Mission, the man, known as Brother Rachid, became a Christian at the age of 12 after hearing the Gospel through a radio ministry, followed by four years of correspondence courses. Furious at their son for turning his back on the Muslim faith, Rachid's devout parents kicked him out of his home, leaving him homeless for two years.
 
Eventually, Rachid was taken in by a missionary family. However, his troubles weren't over: the young man was forced to flee Morocco just a few years later after a radical Islamist infiltrated his house church, threatening his life.
 
While he and his wife, who was pregnant with their first child, were safe once they settled in their adopted country, Rachid nevertheless felt the Lord calling him to go back and minister to Muslims.

One day, he opened the Book of Acts, and asked, "Didn't these people preaching Christ also have families? If we don't do it, who's going to do it?"
 
Despite opposition from his family, who feared for his life, Rachid began a program on satellite TV in which Muslims and others call in to ask questions about Islam and Christianity. Through the broadcast, now aired for over a decade, thousands of Muslims came to Christ.
 
"Every Thursday at 9 p.m., people will call us up, some to curse us, some to give their lives to Christ - we're fishing for all kinds of fish," he said.
 
Because of his personal experiences, Rachid is all too familiar with the opposition that converts face and is able to empathize with their plight. He told the outlet that relatives of those who leave Islam in the Middle East and North Africa, first try to bargain with them, offering or withdrawing things to persuade them to return to the fold.
 
However, if such attempts do not work, ejection follows, sometimes violently. He recalled how, in one country in the region, the father-in-law of a Muslim woman who recently came to faith in Christ stabbed her to death after discovering her conversion through a text message she had sent. The father-in-law was convicted but sentenced to only a few months in prison because it was an "honor killing," Rachid said.
 
In addition, "infidels" lose all status in Muslim culture, and cannot marry or claim inheritance, for example. Christians who are persecuted by Muslims do not have legal protection, because authorities believe that any crime befalling converts came about because "they brought it upon themselves."
 
When exposed to the reality of Islam, a large number of Muslims abandon the religion and become atheists, Rachid said: "As people find out what Islam really is, there are...
 
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