Christian Post: Scores of Muslims Turning to Christ in Middle East; Churches Expecting 'Millions' of Converts

BY STOYAN ZAIMOV , CHRISTIAN POST REPORTER
Jan 9, 2017 | 8:36 AM

Thousands of Muslims are turning to Jesus Christ and what they view as the "religion of freedom" amid ongoing bloodshed in the Middle East, reports indicate. Some churches hope that millions of people will accept Christ amid a "spiritual hunger" that is forming in the wake of persecution.

(REUTERS/Thaier Al-Sudani)Iraqi Christians attend a mass on Christmas at St. Joseph Chaldean church in Baghdad, Iraq December 25, 2016.

Voice Of the Martyrs Canada, which supports Christian radio broadcasts in the region, told BosNewsLife that despite the mass exodus of Christians from Iraq and Syria due to terrorism, persecution, and war, scores of Muslims are making the decision to embrace Christianity.

"There are thousands upon thousands coming to Christ," VOMC revealed. "We are in regular contact with our FM stations in Iraq and have talked with many people who have family in the Middle East."

"Some of our Middle Eastern broadcasters have shared testimonies [about many turning to Christ] with us, which they hear directly from listeners when visiting there ..."

In Iran, Christian house churches are regularly targeted and shut down by the nation's Islamic government. Despite this persecution, mission group Elam Ministries revealed that Christians have been growing in terms of numbers, and today estimates suggest there are 360,000 believers in Iran – up from only 500 in 1979.

"Church leaders believe that millions can be added to the church in the next few years -- such is the spiritual hunger that exists and the disillusionment with the Islamic regime," Elam Ministries stated.

"If we remain faithful to our calling, our conviction is that it is possible to see the nation transformed within our lifetime. Because Iran is a strategic gateway nation, the growing church in Iran will impact Muslim nations across the Islamic world."

Muslim refugees in Europe have also reportedly been undergoing mass conversions of faith. A June 2016 article from The Guardian noted anecdotal data of rising Christian church attendance in Europe by Muslims.

Trinity church in the Berlin suburb of Steglitz, for instance, saw its congregation rise from 150 to 700 due to new Muslim converts, while the Austrian Catholic Church saw its applications for adult baptism swell by nearly 70 percent in the first three months of 2016.

"I found that the history of Islam was completely different from what we were taught at school. Maybe, I thought, it was a religion that began with violence," an Iranian convert, 32-year-old Johannes, said.

"A religion that began with violence cannot lead people to freedom and love. Jesus Christ said 'those who use the sword will die by the sword.' This really changed my mind," he added.

More churches in Germany reported this growing phenomena in December 2016, with The Independent noting that Muslims, especially Iranians, are seeing Christianity as a new chance at freedom.

"A lot of them come to Germany and think, here I can choose my religion and I want to choose a religion of freedom," said Matthias Linke, a priest from the Evangelical-Freikirchlichen Gemeinde in Berlin.

"For many Iranians that I've baptized, Christianity is the religion of freedom."

Catholic Herald: In 2016 more than half of converts in Vienna were Muslim, according to reports

From Catholic Herald
Posted Tuesday, 19 Apr 2016

St Stephen's Cathedral, Vienna (PA)

An increasing number of Muslim migrants in Austria are converting to Christianity, according to reports.

According to Austrian website Kurier, 83 adults were approved for baptism in Vienna in 2016, with Friederike Dostal of the Austrian Bishops’ Conference estimating that about half of them were Muslims, mainly from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran. This figure is up from one-third in 2015.

There is expected to be a further rise of Muslim converts in 2017 due to the fact that there has been an increase in the number of refugees arriving in Vienna in recent months and because the conversion process, known as the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, takes up to a year to complete.

The Archdiocese in Vienna is handling between five and 10 adult baptism requests per week, Kurier says.

Let's Pray for this!

Photo Source: Syrian Christian Watch

Yes! It's True! We have a 'secret" Church in Saudi Arabia!

Our Lady Conqueror of Muslim Hearts: The Virgin Mary's Coming Conquest Of Islam

Ultimately, the Blessed Mother of God will be Muslim's most hated Christian when she would finally conquer evil of terrorism!

Source: Catholic365.com By Nate Lauer

Photo Credit: Flickr/Our Lady of Fatima International Pilgrim Statue

On September 11th 1683, Vienna was besieged by Islamic Ottoman Turks. Christians throughout Europe prayed the Rosary in the midst of a desperate situation. At Vienna, vastly outnumbered European Christian forces miraculously and wonderfully delivered a crippling blow to Muslim expansion into Europe, preventing a grim invasion of the continent by Muslim forces. 41,000 Christian forces (including 30,000 troops of Polish King Jan III Sobieski that Pope Innocent XI had called upon) defeated a 140,000 man strong Turkish army the night of September 11th over three centuries before the 9/11 attacks on the United States that were also caused by Islamic terrorism. September 12th, the day after the great victory of Christianity at Vienna, came to be known as the feast day of the Holy Name of Mary (a feast day that has been restored to us thanks to Pope John Paul the II doing so not long before he died.)

Over a century before, On October 7th, 1571, Christian Europe stood on the verge of collapse before the onslaught of a large Muslim navy fleet. The battle of Lepanto it was known as. Also widely recognized was our Lady’s intercession at that historic moment when Christianity’s European fate stood on the edge of a knife. When hopes were fading, the Admiral, one Andrea Doria, pleaded in his cabin before an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, sent him by Archbishop Montufor of Mexico. In sending this image, the good Archbishop had been well foresighted in ascertaining the grave consequences of a potential defeat of Christianity on the high seas. Such a loss would likely mean that the waves of Islam would sweep Christendom away, changing dramatically the spiritual landscape and the course of history if it came to pass.

We are told that as the admiral prayed before the Guadalupe image, the tide turned against the Muslims, with winds literally changing directions unfavorably against them, and an encouraged Christian fleet triumphing over Islam that day, shattering two-thirds of the Muslim Navy, the 200 Christian Ship Navy magnificently overcoming the previously presumed unbeatable 300 ships. Also important to note is the fact that the Pope implored, and people indeed did, pray the Rosary to Mary, “Our Lady of Victory”. Ultimately, October the 7th came to be known as Our Lady of the Rosary, and the month of October dedicated to the Rosary.

For many years now, the miraculous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, unpainted by human hands, the great mover in the mass conversion of the Aztecs to Christianity, has held many enthralled and brought so many to Christ. It seems likely, especially considering the Great Battle of Lepanto, that the quarter moon on which Mary stands in the miraculous Guadalupe image represented not only the Aztecs, but also the Muslims, each of which had as symbol that same quarter moon. Mary triumphs over both the Aztecs and the Muslims. Mary’s triumphs are for the defense of Christ’s Church, and for the conversion of all mankind to Christ. She sought to gather the Aztecs to her son. She wishes to do the same for the Muslims.

It may have been the beloved Archbishop Fulton Sheen that first inspired more serious consideration of the subject of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her relationship to Islam. In what I, and many, consider to be one of the best Catholic books of the 20th Century, The World’s First Love: Mary Mother of God, Archbishop Sheen devoted a chapter to this topic in his book titled “Mary and the Moslems”. In this chapter, his very words concerning the coming powerful rise of Islam were prophetic, but so too, it appears, were his reflections on the means to convert the hearts that beat for Islam.

In this regard, an encouraging characteristic of Islam is its devotion and honor to the Virgin Mary. Inarguably, there are errors and misconceptions with the Koran regarding Mary, including the false view that Christians worship Mary and consider her part of the Holy Trinity. On the other hand, Muslims do believe that Mary stands above all other women. Mohammed stated “Thou shalt be the most blessed of all the women in Paradise, after Mary”, speaking in reference to Fatima, his own daughter. And as for Fatima, that name should ring a bell to you.

You may recall that in the early 20th Century, in the 1917, the Virgin Mary appeared to three children in the small Portugese village of Fatima. The apparitions would go on to become Church approved, and Our Lady took on the title of Our Lady of Fatima. More than ironically, that very village of Fatima, once reigned over like so much of Portugal and Spain by Islam (recall that many were the onslaughts of Islam against Christian Europe through the Middle Ages, and that Europe did not always keep Islam completely at bay), was named after the daughter of the last of the Muslim chiefs who ruled over Portugal, she who in turn had been named after Mohammed's own daughter, Fatima. This chief’s daughter fell in love with a Catholic young man and converted to the Catholic Faith for him, staying behind in a Portugal reclaimed for Catholicism whilst Islam had finally been banished from the southwestern coasts of Europe.

This is all fascinating because, given the Muslims already warm reception of Mary, her now title of “Our Lady of Fatima” was sure to, and has been, an effective mechanism in relations with Islam, with Muslim nations embracing the devotion to Mary under this title in many regards. With God there are no coincidences.

It is widely recognized that Muslims are exceptionally difficult to convert to Christianity, but it has become clear in recent decades to at least some theologians that the way home to the hearts of the Muslims is through the heart of Christ Jesus’ Mother, Mary, whom they already have a soft spot for. As Mary prepared the world for, and brought us our Savior, so she can, and it is the belief of many Christians that she will ultimately bring the Muslims to Jesus. Though Muslims refuse to believe that Jesus is himself God, As Archbishop Fulton Sheen points out to us, “The Moslems should be prepared to acknowledge that, if Fatima [Mohammed’s daughter] must give way in honor to the Blessed Mother, it is because she is different from all the other mothers of the world and that without Christ she would be nothing.”

It thus appears that Muslims will come to Christ not through a direct encounter and conversion, but gradually, through our encouraging and fostering their devotion to Christ’s Mother. We know that the Blessed Virgin Mary always points us towards, carries us to, and forms us in Christ. At a time when Hellish and cruel Islamic terrorist attacks rage against Christians, we have cause to pause and reflect on the fact that the Holy Spirit is working gently through Mary’s hands to establish a peaceful, beautiful widespread conversion of the Muslim people that some in the past and today consider an incredibly unlikely feat to achieve. But I hope they will recall that momentous day when the Angel Gabriel, in Luke Chapter 1:37, announced to Mary just before she gave her assent to become the Mother of God, “For with God, nothing will be impossible.” The time will come when the Muslim people, gazing at Mary lovingly and devotedly, shall look upon her as did the servants at the Wedding Feast of Cana once also looked upon her when she said to them regarding her son, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, “Do whatever he tells you” (John 2:5), and following her direction, they will follow Christ and she shall triumph over the quarter moon of Islam, and even for the converted Muslims, remembrance of the watery waves of Lepanto shall be turned into the wine of gladness recalling the victory of Mary for her Son, their Lord Jesus.

"A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars." (Rev. 12:1)

KNOW ISLAM - a STARTER for non-Muslims (Thanks to Mr. Nabeel Qureshi a former Muslim who converted to Christianit)

Daniel Ali: Muslim Convert to Catholic Christianity - The Journey Home Program

SHOCKING NEWS: THE MUSLIM PRIEST SAID THAT “ALL MUSLIM MUST CHANGE TO CHRISTIAN TO AVOID HELL FIRE”

Read the original story: MARIO JOSEPH: MUSLIM IMAM CONVERTED TO CATHOLIC CHURCH

[Source: Linda Ikejist] While I was working in a muslim mosque as an imam, as a parish priest, I preach in my parish that Jesus Christ is not God, for me, God was only Allah, and I believed Allah never got married, so no sons for Allah. So I preached there that Jesus is not God. Then somebody ask me, who is Jesus?’’ from the crowd. Maybe a muslim, but he asked me, who is Jesus?’’ I was preaching he is not God, but the question is who is he? To know who is Jesus? I read the entire Koran once again: 114 chapters, 6666 in the Koran when I read it, the name of prophet Muhammad. I found it in Koran 4 places, but the name of Jesus I found in 25 places. There itself, I was a little confused. Why does the Koran give more preference to Jesus? And second thing, I could not see any woman’s name in Koran: the Prophet Muhammad’s mother’s name, or wife’s name, no, in the Koran, there is only one woman’s name that i found is Mariam, the mother of Jesus no other woman’s name. And in the holy Koran chapter 3, the name of the chapter is family of Mariam,’’ and holy Koran chapter 19, the name of the chapter itself is ‘’MARIAM’’ one chapter is ‘’MARIAM’’ so I was very curious to know why does Koran says all these things about MARIAM, holy Koran chapter 3 verse 34 onwards says that Mary was born without original sin, she never committed any sin in her life, she was ever virgin.

Koran chapter 50 verses 23 say that she went to heaven with her physical body. Even the assumption is writing in the holy Koran and then about Jesus, when I read chapter 3 verses 45 to 55 verses, there is 10 point which the Koran makes about Jesus. The first thing Koran says (kallimatulli) the arabic word which means ‘’the of God’’ and second thing is ( ahimokuli ) which mean spirit of God and the third (isa masi) which means Jesus Christ so Koran give the name for Jesus WORD OF GOD, SPIRIT OF GOD, JESUS CHRIST. And then Koran says that Jesus spoke when he was very small, like 2 days old. after his birth he began to speak , Koran says that Jesus created a live bird with mud. He took some mud, he formed a bird; when breathed into it, it became a live bird. So I think Jesus can give life because he gave life to mud, clay, and then Koran says that Jesus cured a man born blind and a man with leprosy, e.t.c

Curiously, the Koran says that Jesus gave life to dead people; Jesus went to heaven; he is still alive and he will come again. When I saw all these things in the Koran I taught of what Koran says about Muhammad, according to the Koran, prophet Muhammad is not the word of God, not spirit of God he never spoke when he was 2 days old, he never created any bird with mud, he never cure any sick people, he never raised any dead people, he himself died, and according to Islam he is not alive and he will not come back. So there is a lot of different between these two prophets. I didn’t call Jesus, God, you know my idea was ‘’He is a prophet but he is a prophet greater than Muhammad; so one day I went to my teacher, the one who taught me 10 years in Arabic college, and I ask him, teacher, how did God created the universe? Then he said God created the universe through the word,’’ THROUGH THE WORD. Then my question is: ‘’WORD’’ is creator or creation? He must clear this, my question is whether the WORD of God is creator or creation. Koran says Jesus is WORD of God. If my teacher says word of God is creator, which means Jesus is the creator, then muslim must become Christian suppose if he says the word is creation he will be trapped. You know why? He said everything was created through the word. Suppose if he said the word is creation, then how did God created the word? So he cannot say that the word is creator, or creation, so he was quite angry he push me out of his room and said word is not God, not creator or the creation you get out of here, ‘’he said

The reason why Muslim doesn’t accept to be Christian is because they are blinded with the wrong teaching of their priest, Imam. They said that the word is creation they try to prove it wrongly…… they say the word is not creator, not the creation, but not God. And no creation also. They don’t equal with God, that all their problem. So when he said that I told my teacher, word is not the creator or the creation.’’ So, that is why Christian says the word is son of God. Then he told me if there is son for God, I must show him the wife of God. That without wife no chance of having a son then I showed him a portion from the Koran. Koran says that God can see without eyes, God can talk without tongue, God can hear without ears. It is writing in the Koran. I said if that is the case, so God can have a child without a wife. I took my Koran, I put it on my chest, and I said ‘’Allah’’, tell me what I should do because your Koran says Jesus is still alive, and Mohammad is no more. Tell me whom should I accept.’’ after my prayer I opened the Koran, I didn’t asked anyone, I asked only my Allah. When I opened Koran, I saw chapter 10 verses 94. You know what Koran says? It says if you have any doubt in this Koran which I give to you, go and read the Bible, or ask the people, those who read the Bible. The truth is already revealing that.

I beg all muslim to give their life to Christ because he is the only way to the kingdom of God. Please don’t perish like other muslims that is serving the god they do not know. I welcome you into Christ Jesus as you change your mind to accept him today. God bless you.

Catholic Conversion Story of an Iraqi Muslim

"According to Islamic law, a Muslim who leaves Islam and becomes Christian should be killed along with those who led to his conversion."

[Story Source: American Society for the Defense of the Traditional, Family Property]

The fascinating autobiography of Muhammad Moussaoui, who narrates his conversion from Islam to Catholicism, shows miracles of grace and of human correspondence, on the one hand, and on the other hand the terrible harshness of Islamic mentality and persecution of Christians. The book’s title, The Price to Pay, summarizes well what this privileged soul had to go through in order to be faithful to the call of grace. After his conversion, he took the name Joseph Fadelle.[1]

A Muslim from an Important Family

Fadelle belonged to one of Iraq’s most important Shiite Muslim families, the Moussaoui clan. As head of the clan, his father was a kind of judge and solved disputes between clan members. He also had great wealth and prestige.

In 1987 Fadelle was drafted into the Iraqi army, then under the rule of Saddam Hussein, right in the middle of the war with neighboring Iran. By this time he was 23 years old and single.

Sent to a garrison on the border with Iran, he was housed in a room with a Christian. He became indignant on learning he was going to be lodging with a Christian, an insult to a born Muslim whose family also descended from the Islam’s founder Muhammad.

The Challenge: Do You Understand the Koran?

However, the Christian, called Massoud, was older than him and welcomed him with kindness, so that little by little his prejudices began to fade. Fadelle conceived a plan to convert him to Islam. One day, when Massoud was absent, seeing among his books one titled The Miracles of Jesus, he became curious and began reading it. He had no idea who it was, because in the Koran Jesus is called Isa; but he was delighted to read about miracles such as the one during the Wedding at Cana, and was attracted by the figure of Jesus.

Still intending to convert Massoud to Islam, he asked him if Christians also had a sacred book like the Koran. After being told that Christians had the Bible, he asked to see it, thinking it would be easy to refute.

To his surprise, Massoud refused to show him the Christian book and asked an even more surprising question: if he had read the Koran. This question was offensive to one who had been brought up in Islam, but he simply replied he had. Then came a new and rather embarrassing question: “Did you understand the meaning of each word, each verse?”

The future Christian recounts that this question pierced his mind like a fiery dart, since according to Islam what matters is not to understand the Koran, but just to read it. Seeing his embarrassment, his room mate proposed that he read the Koran again, but this time trying to understand each sentence; and then Massoud would lend him the book of Christians.

Disenchantment with the Koran And a Mystical Dream

Muhammad accepted the proposal that completely changed his life. Indeed, as he tried to understand the meaning of what was written in the Koran, he realized that much of it was absurd and meaningless. A consultation with an iman failed to solve his doubts and he became increasingly disenchanted with the book of Islam.

It was as if scales fell from his eyes and he began to see for the first time what the Koran really said. Having finished this keen, meditative reading, he came to the conclusion that this book could not be of divine origin.

It was then a mystical episode took place, which prepared his conversion. He dreamed he was in a meadow on the edge of a creek and saw on the other side a very imposing, extremely attractive man. He tried to jump to the other side, but remained still in the air until the mysterious person took him by the hand and said to him: “In order to cross the creek, you need to eat the bread of life.” Then he woke up.

Conversion Shock: Jesus is the Bread of Life

No longer thinking about the dream, he got Massoud to loan him the Holy Gospels. He happened to open the book on the Gospel of Saint John. He was totally absorbed reading it and felt a great well-being. At one point, he was deeply moved to find the mysterious words of his dream: “the bread of life.” The words of Jesus in the Gospel were clear: “I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall not hunger” (John 6:35).

Fadelle recounts: “Then something extraordinary happened in me, like a violent explosion that blows everything in its path, accompanied by a feeling of well being and warmth ... As if a bright light suddenly illuminated my life in a whole new way and gave it all its meaning. I had the impression of being drunk, even as I felt in my heart an indescribable feeling of strength, an almost violent, passionate love for this Jesus Christ of whom the Gospels speak!”

The Price of Conversion: Death

His conversion was complete, total and lasting. He wanted Massoud to help him become a Christian, but met with resistance. According to Islamic law, a Muslim who leaves Islam and becomes Christian should be killed along with those who led to his conversion.

Conversion Stories: A Comparison

Aguilar with his 16 year old girlfriend (Photo source: PinoyStop.com)

Muslim have the right to rejoiced at one convert especially if the convert is a high profiled one. But behind the conversion sometimes their reasons are unthinkable to some. Some wants to legally marry more than one (maximum 4 wives according to Islamic Law), and some wants to be legally married to minors which is allowed in Shariah (Islamic Law). Read it for yourself:  "Freddie Aguilar converts to Islam, marries 16-year-old girlfriend "

Freddie Aguilar's conversion story with this story: "A Muslim’s Remarkable Conversion to Catholicism"

Be not afraid to follow Jesus Christ!  Do not be afraid of those who can kill the body but not the spirit (Mt. 10:28, Lk. 12:4)! Your reward is not carnal, but spiritual joy and peace.

Welcome Home!

Muslims Convert to Catholicism despite imminent danger to their lives

A Catholic Church in Syria where a Catholic priest was publicly executed by the "rebels" opposed to President Asad. Photo taken from this story at TREND.AZ

LEBANON, CWN / CWA/EWTN - According to a local bishop, numerous conversions of Muslims to Christianity occur every year in Lebanon but the true number is unknown because of the risk of social stigma and persecution.

“Most of them try to go outside from Lebanon, to Europe or America or Canada or Australia to live there, because it’s not possible to be converted and to stay here,” a Catholic bishop in Lebanon told CNA in a Feb. 10 phone interview.

“It’s very, very hard to know how many are baptized, because everything will be a secret.”

Given the delicacy of conversion in Lebanon – a Middle Eastern country with a slight Muslim majority – the bishop spoke on condition of anonymity. While the region is lauded for its comparative plurality as Muslims generally coexist well with the Christian population, some hostility can be present toward those who convert from Islam.

“I have heard many stories about the conversion of Muslims,” he said, in both the Maronite and Melkite communities – the two largest Catholic groups in the country.

The bishop cited one Melkite priest who baptized 75 Muslims last year. “Most of them left Muslim areas to stay in the Christian area,” he said, and many are trying to emigrate.

One young woman from Baalbek was converted, he recounted, and her family “accused the priest of having used sorcery to make her convert to Christianity.”

Palestinian Catholics praying on Christmas Day.

“The priest was then abducted and kidnapped by the family. A deal was done after that between the diocese and the tribe of the family, that the family would bring the daughter back home, without torturing her.”

Her family has since converted as well, he explained, “but in a secret way.”

If converts from Islam are not able to leave Lebanon, he said, they often move to areas of Lebanon with larger concentrations of Christians: “other people left the Beqaa valley to stay in Beirut, or in Jounieh, in the Christian country.”

Those converting to Christianity in Lebanon are by and large Lebanese themselves, the bishop explained, saying, “I know only one Syrian.”

This Syrian convert is from Aleppo, and was in Beirut studying sharia to become a sheikh.

The man “was baptized in Lebanon and now he’s married, but he cannot register his marriage in Syria. He’s in big trouble now because he cannot go to Syria, and he cannot register his marriage in Lebanon either. We are trying now to see if he can go outside of Lebanon, to Europe or somewhere else, to live there with his family.”

Lebanon, according to the U.S. state department, has no procedures for civil marriage; all marriages performed there are performed by religious officials.

“Everything is a secret,” the bishop said. “It’s not easy to speak publicly about … conversion to Christianity.”

Lebanon, where it is not easy to speak publicly about Christian conversion, “is better than other Arabic countries.”

“But we still have a problem,” he said.

The Lebanese constitution provides for freedom of religion, and members of parliament and cabinet officials are all apportioned among Muslims and Christians.

National identity cards generally include the bearer’s religion, though this is not required by law.

“It’s easy for a convert to register with the state as a Christian,” the bishop said. “In other countries it’s not possible. I know for example in Egypt there are many conversions, but they still are registered as a Muslim, not Christian.”

Even though the Lebanese government provides for religious freedom, societal discrimination against converts is widespread. The bishop reported that families of converts often “never accept” their relative’s Christian faith, and the convert “is persecuted by his family and his tribe, by his village.”

While the country has long been able to live in the tension between its religious groups – an estimated 54 percent Muslim, 41 percent Christian – the large influx of Syrian refugees in the wake of the neighboring country’s civil war has strained the status quo.

The Lebanese government estimates that more than 1 million Syrian refugees are living in the country. In 2011, at the start of Syria’s civil war, Lebanon’s population was estimated at a little over 4 million.

Now that nearly 20 percent of Lebanese residents are Syrian refugees, interreligious relations are stressed. On Feb. 3, a suicide bomber wounded several in a district of Beirut largely home to Christians and Druze.

The bishop said that his diocese is assisting both Christian and Muslim refugees.

“When we receive Muslims, we help them without trying to convert them, because when we give material help, we don’t like to play this game.”

In the Middle of a Triangle – Conversion Story of Najib Nasr

Conversion Story from COMING HOME NETWORK

I was baptized Greek Orthodox (after my father) in Lebanon, where I lived the first 60 years of my life. My mother was an Evangelical Christian on account of the American missionaries who came to Lebanon in the early nineteenth century. I read the New Testament once in my teens and thought I knew everything. I ended up living somewhat in ignorance for decades.

I lived a secular existence, going to church only on feast days. I was in the choir at the Evangelical church, but only in the summertime when we would be at our summer place in the mountains overlooking Beirut. That was as far as it went on the religious side. I did lead a chaste life, though, guided by my memory of what I had retained of the Word of God.

My father was an Arabic and history teacher at a boarding school who was home on weekends. My mother was a music teacher and was in Saudi Arabia at the time, tutoring the daughter of the crown prince. The younger of my two sisters took care of me.

Taking flight

Without much guidance, I was a collage freshman dropout from the American University of Beirut (AUB). During my freshman year (1956-57), my physics class was at the School of Agriculture building and I was by the window overlooking the beautiful football field. Planes, including jet fighters, would pass over the radio beacon situated at the AUB swimming beach on their final approach to land at Beirut International Airport. That did it. From that point on, I wanted to become a pilot.

I could not afford to pursue training abroad, so it was a long, pioneering endeavor, waiting for the ground school to open and for the Aero Club of Lebanon (ACL) to commence operations. I started flying in 1961 and was the first made-in-Lebanon, private and commercial pilot; all other pilots studied abroad.

I borrowed on my life policy and got my Assistant Instructor’s Rating from the UK. I later passed my Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) written and flying exams through the American Embassy in Beirut and got all my FAA licenses and eventually took over ACL operations. The ACL was a dead end. By then, I had trained one of my students as a flight instructor and he succeeded me when I joined Middles East Airlines (MEA), next door, as an airline pilot. It was a 27-year rewarding career. I flew Sud Aviation Caravelle 6N, Boeing 707, and 720 and Airbus A310 jet aircraft. I was a Route Training Captain for Trainee First Officers and for Trainee Captains.

I joined MEA in 1972 and married my charming wife, Therese, in 1975. She is a Maronite Catholic. There are twenty-three rites in the Catholic Church; one Roman rite and twenty-two Eastern rite churches. The Maronite Church never split with Rome. [For more information on the different rites in the Catholic Church we suggest you go to EWTN Catholic Rites and churches —Ed.]

Caught in a religious triangle

I started reading the Bible in a serious manner some five years before my mandatory retirement at age sixty. Looking back now, all along, the Holy Spirit has been preparing me. First, I had Mr. Yorkie, a talented American for an English teacher during high school. I turned out to be good at English. I read American books extensively. Then again, my experience as an instructor and the resumption of the reading of Scripture all contributed to what was to come and helped me to reformulate my sense of justice. Philippians 1:6 was being applied in my life: “I am confident of this, that the one who began a good work in you will continue to complete it until the day of Christ Jesus” (I am quoting from the New American Bible for best rendering). Anyway, I could not remember where things were in the Bible, so I gradually developed an 18-page, selected Bible readings index that is unlike any other around.

Circumstances of war and work requirements gradually squeezed us out of Lebanon, and we ended up in America. My family left ten years before I retired, while I left just weeks after retiring in 1999. My second conversion took place in those last weeks. It was the Sunday after Easter, as I attended my first confession ever, during which, without crying, tears came streaming down my face at the thought of lost time away from God. (My first conversion was a pledge I wrote on a Protestant pamphlet a year earlier.)

In the United States, we would attend Sunday Mass at the Roman Catholic Church near our place in Los Angeles or at Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon Maronite Church. Weekdays, I would listen to Protestant pastors on the radio while waiting to pick up one of our three daughters from college. I saw inconsistency in their preaching and, when I realized that there were 33,000+ denominations/churches — to borrow from my training as a pilot — I applied full brakes, like there was not enough runway left! Matthew 16:18-19 figured prominently as the main factor, especially, since Jesus uttered the word “church” in the singular. In my simplicity, I believed Him. Did I do wrong? No way (Matthew 10:16)!

My father was Orthodox, my mother Protestant, and my wife a Catholic. I was in the middle of a religious triangle, and I did not like it one bit. Now, where in the name of heaven was God’s Church? I started a serious search for Her.

Searching for the one Church

The process was time consuming. The hurdle was the stagnation that followed after realizing that there wasn’t enough time in this life to experience all 33,000 Protestant/evangelical/non-denominational entities. After a (Holy Spirit) while, the Catholic Church became my target for investigation, since Peter was in the middle of things there. Of course, no entity can survive without a visible head and an organization to support it. Imagine two first officers flying a jetliner on a regular basis! I reasoned that if we need a head to institute an entity, then we do need a head to keep it going. And Jesus had already chosen to appoint Peter with authority over the Church.

I stumbled on typology (a study that examines the way in which Christian beliefs are prefigured or symbolized by people, places, events, or things in the Old Testament). Jesus employed typology: the “keys” in Matthew 16:19 which refer back to Isaiah 22:22; and Peter also: “let another take his position of overseer” (Acts 1:20 and Psalm 109:8). Next was Apostolic Succession through the laying on of hands: (Numbers 27:18-23; Deuteronomy 34:9; and Hebrews 6:1-2; 1 Timothy 4:14; 2 Timothy 1:6).

I read the works of St. Ignatius of Antioch. He was the first on record to have called the Church, the “catholic Church.” So, how was this man connected to the Church that Jesus Christ instituted? The answer was that he was the disciple of the Apostle John and was ordained by Peter. That was the connection that cannot be repudiated, considering that he lived for some 30 to 35 years concurrently with John.

When I perceived that Peter did not write about his travels, nor did John, I saw how God wanted Paul’s endeavors to stand out, but only as a sampling of what was going on. The other Apostles were doing the same. Therefore, I could not expect St. Ignatius to be mentioned in the Bible, nor his colleague in the “School of John,” St. Polycarp. St. Ignatius was the equivalent of Timothy and Titus, an apostolic man whose words help us discover the truth. By God’s providence, we have his writings here with us; his seven letters. [To read these letters, you may do a simple Internet search for “seven letters of St. Ignatius” or purchase a copy of Ignatius of Antioch and Polycarp of Symrna: A New Translation and Theological Commentary by Dr. Kenneth Howell, available at www.chresources.com—Ed.]

The Eucharist is present in his early writings (Letter to the Smyrnians 8:1-2); the position of the priest is also present — the Bible mentions the bishop, the deacon, and presbyters (Letter to the Smyrnians 7:1); the Blessed Virgin Mary is present (Letter to the Ephesians 19:1; and Tralles 3:1); the status of the bishop is present (Letter to Trallians 3:1); and, words concerning schisms and reverts are present (Letter to the Philadelphians 3:2).

Again, that did it. When I converted, I had to get my baptismal certificate, because the Catholic Church, in conformity with the Scriptures, recognizes only one baptism and accepts Orthodox and Protestant baptisms if performed in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:5). I had no one except my (now deceased) sister in Lebanon to secure a copy of my baptismal certificate. She was much older than I am and would be very upset to know that I was converting. In the Middle East, this thing was just not done. I told her I wanted to be under the Pope. She misunderstood me. The word Baba in Arabic means Pope or father.

The Maronite Catholic Church

I chose to be a Maronite because I considered that the Maronites saved Lebanese Christianity by coming from Northern Syria and evangelizing the rugged Lebanese mountains, thus, eradicating the well entrenched organized pagan worship there, left over by the Christians who had only evangelized the coastline. With access to their ships, the Phoenicians could have spread their religion far and wide. Lebanon meant a lot to the Maronites, and I am of Lebanese descent. It was only natural for me to want to choose the Maronite Church.

Then again, the Maronite liturgy is very rich. There are prayers in a poetic setting, shedding light on the Scriptures from a different angle. The liturgy requires continuous active participation by the faithful. The Liturgy (the Mass) is part of the sacred oral Word (which was there plenty before the written Word). Thus, one gets insights into the revelations of the Holy Spirit to the Apostles. If one pays attention, one comes to realize, for example, that Mary, not just Joseph, is from the House of David; and that Jesus actually laid hands on the Apostles, minutes before His Ascension and did not just raise His hands to bless them, as we may imagine referring to Luke 24:50.

Here in America, I found myself engaged in Catholic apologetics, trying to convert my Protestant cousins back home, in England, in Australia, and here in America. Not succeeding there, I ended up evangelizing Catholics. I wrote numerous apologetics articles in our quarterly magazine and I now give a monthly, 5-minute apologetics presentation to members of our Knights of Columbus council at the Roman Catholic Church near our home in Los Angeles, where I am the sacristan for the Vigil Mass. I also attend daily Mass (Liturgy) at Our Lady of Mt. Lebanon Church.

Kuwait: The prince's mysterious conversion

And why didn't Prince Abdullah IV al-Sabah convert to the "true" church the Iglesia ni Cristo®?  His failure to convert to Manalo's Church is a failure of Eduardo Manalo. Because this new convert believes JESUS IS GOD!

From Vatican Insider by Marco Tosatti, Rome

In an audio file posted on a Christian satellite TV channel, prince Abdullah al-Sabah declared his faith in Jesus Christ. Muslims have attacked him saying “he isn’t a member of the royal family”

According to reports, a Kuwaiti royal prince has become a follower of Jesus Christ. In an audio file posted with his name, he affirms that if he is killed because of a recording he made where he talks about his conversion, he firmly believes that he will meet Jesus Christ face-to-face. The news comes from Middle Eastern sources which state that al-Haqiqa – a Christian satellite TV channel in Arabic that transmits Christian religious programmes – broadcast an audio file attributed to the Kuwaiti prince, identified as Abdullah al-Sabah. The al-Sabahs are the royal family of Kuwait, a country rich in oil. The name Abdullah (servant of God) frequently appears in the Emir’s family tree.

Former Taliban Muslim Baptized at Mt Athos

Article from Facing Islam

Ahmed was born and raised in a village in Afghanistan in the middle of war. His childhood memories are dust, poverty, and compulsory Islamic education in the holy writings and war.

"I do not remember anymore who fought whom, however there was constant warfare."

For years he worked for the Taliban doing various things. He was a fanatical Muslim who belonged to so-called radical Islam. At some point he could no longer bear this sort of life - misery, poverty, violence, pain, and death which he saw everywhere.

At 23 he journeyed through the impassable mountains into Pakistan and then to Iran. His only "passport" was the common language of Farsi.

He worked for two years there "without documents" and eventually arrived at the coast of Asia Minor in Turkey, which for him was the gate to the paradise of the West.

One winter evening nine years ago, with an inflatable that children play with on the beaches, two oars and four to five bottles of water, he along with a friend jumped into the sea across from Lesvos, which seemed so close.

Asia News: A Muslim convert talks about Christ

by Bernardo Cervellera

By coming out openly on TV, with the danger of recognition and persecution for 'apostasy,' Mohammed Christophe reasserted the importance of conversion and baptism. In Muslim nations, various bishops and priests refuse to baptise Muslims who want to become Christian. Yet, conversion means a revolution in the relationship with God, the father, and Jesus, who gave his life, for one gives up everything putting one's life at risk.

Rome (AsiaNews) - A few days ago, the website of Notre Dame de Kabylie posted a tape in which a former Muslim, Mohammed Christophe Bilek, talked about his conversion to Christianity. The original broadcast, which focused on the persecution of Christians, first appeared in 'Dieu Merci' (Thank God), a show that deals with religion on Direct 8, a French TV channel.

Mohammed Christophe Bilek was born in Algeria in 1950 and has lived in France since 1961. He is the author of two books: Un algérien pas très catholique (A not very Catholic Algerian), published by Cerf (1999) and Saint Augustin raconté à ma fille (Saint Augustine as told to my daughter), published by Éditions Qabel (2011). In the 1990s, he founded the Notre Dame de Kabylie (in French), a website devoted to evangelisation among Muslims and Muslim-Christian dialogue.

In the video, Bilek highlights the risk Muslim converts face when accused of apostasy, an offence that can be punished by death. Nevertheless, he insists on the importance of baptism, the encounter with Jesus Christ and affiliation with the Church.

His views go against those of priests and bishops in Muslim countries, who prefer to dissuade or even deny baptism to Muslims who want to convert out of fear for the consequences they and Christian communities might face.

Is baptising banned?

Christian Convert Beheaded on Egyptian TV

GodReports have this terrible story.

Video footage of a convert from Islam to Christianity being murdered by Muslims has been shown on Egyptian TV, according to the Barnabas Fund.

The graphic incident, which is reported to have taken place in Tunisia, was aired on a program called Egypt Today.

The footage shows a young man being held down by masked men with a knife to his throat. One man chants a number of Muslim prayers in Arabic, mostly condemning Christianity. The man holding the knife to the Christian convert’s throat begins to cut, slowly severing the head amid cries of “Allahu Akbar” (“god is great”).

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Please say a prayer for this man, his family and all the Christians in danger because of their belief in Christ.

Lebanese priest who baptized Muslim is abducted, then released

Photo Source: NaharNet

Catholic Culture -A Lebanese priest who baptized a Muslim woman has been kidnapped and released.

The daughter of a Shiite cleric “said she was physically and psychologically tortured by her father for converting to Christianity three years ago, although she is a 24-year-old adult,” said Maronite Catholic Bishop Simon Atallah of Baalbek. “I have received an unconfirmed report that she had recently fled to an unknown destination after her father forced her to marry someone.”

The kidnappers thought that Father Walid Gharious knew the woman’s whereabouts and later released him. The nation’s president condemned the kidnapping.

According to the prelate, the kidnapped is part of an escalating pattern of violence against local Catholics.

“Last Wednesday, unknown assailants fired gunshots at the house of a priest from the Kairouz family in the town of Nabha, and a similar incident occurred on Sunday before the start of the municipal elections, when shots were fired at the Our Lady Church in Nabha,” he said.

Christianity: Billions of people in the world believed this for almost two millennia!

If billions of people in the world believed this for almost two millennia, it would be the pinnacle of pride to think that I was smart enough to see it as blatantly self-defeating while none of those billions ever found anything wrong with it. Of course, Christianity does not have to be true simply because many people believe it; however, if it has been the one faith with the most followers in all of history, it probably is not obviously wrong, either. After a series of discussions, I began to see that Christianity was not as self-defeating as I had thought. In fact, it was quite beautiful—perhaps the greatest love story in history.

- By Nabeel Qureshi, a Muslim convert to Christianity

Ex-Muslims Converted to Christianity face Death Threats

Ex-Muslim, Now Christian, HAMAS Leaders son warns the West against Islam

While I look unfavorably towards any primitive mythological sect, I truly believe in the underlying, fundamental right of free individuals to worship whichever divinities,as they wish, regardless of how absurd they may appear to enlightened Secular Humanists... HOWEVER, the monstrous, dangerous, murderous religious sect called Islam represents an enormous threat to LIBERTY and to the the freedom loving citizens of the CIVILIZED WESTERN WORLD, as outlined by this video where a courageous former Muslim (the son of the most dangerous fundamentalist groups - HAMAS), who, after risking the Islamic so-called crime of Apostasy, has now the courage to speak out in public, proclaiming (loud and clear) about the extremely dangerous nature of ISLAM. Consequently, I take a step forward by stating that ISLAM SHOULD BE CRIMINALIZED in the West, for it must be seen for what it truly is: A SECT OF HATRED and BRUTALITY, and thus a major threat to peace, security & civility. (Source: My Church).