From Secret Christianity to Open Faith – Somalia

Jun 14, 2017 2189

Hasan is glad to have found the good news of the Gospel.

Hasan Mahmood, a young Somali citizen, feels the strong pull of the Gospel as he rebuilds his life in a new country. GNU’s Pastor Bonifresh writes that he has begun to find peace in the midst of grief as he reads the Bible given him, thanks to your support.

Hasan comes from Kismayu, one of the most dangerous parts of the world, where, in 2013, his family was wiped out by a grenade attack on their home by the radical Islamist group al-Shabaab. Only Hasan and his youngest brother survived, and they fled to safety in Uganda.

Hasan now believes that his parents had secretly converted to Christianity, for he occasionally saw his father reading a black-covered book that was probably a Bible. “I also saw my parents kneeling down as Christians do in prayer,” he remembers. They still went to the mosque every day, but he is convinced they did this for fear of persecution and to protect their family. Perhaps the wrong people suspected their quiet opposition to the radical Islamist agenda; perhaps someone noticed their interest in Christianity.

He has begun to find peace in the midst of grief

Since arriving in Uganda and starting a new life there, Hasan has never been to a mosque. “Every time I see a mosque, it reminds me of the pool of blood and scattered body parts of my family,” he says.

Now, Hasan is reading the Bible every day, and has attended Christian services at the university with Pastor Bonifresh. He has replaced his Muslim prayers with his favourite passage of Scripture, the Lord’s Prayer, and all this is helping gradually to replace the pain in his heart with a sense of peace.

– Eliezer Gonzalez