Somali Christian

    “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (Matthew 6: 14-15)

      Azzam (Not his real name) is the son of a Somali Warlord and has served his father as a pirate. Some time ago Jesus appeared to him in a dream and on another occasion spoke to him and he saw a vision of a bloody cross on his bed. He took his mother to see the cross but she only told him that he must leave home immediately because his father would kill him. He fled to another village and was taken in by friends. A few days later a package was delivered to the house he was staying at. The deliveryman said that it was from his father. He opened the package to find the remains of his mother and a photo of his two brothers threateningly holding knives over her. The next day he took his mother’s remains and buried her at sea so that they would not be dug up and fed to the dogs by his father.

    Azzam became a Christian and started a house church in a village even father away. The first group of followers saw six of the new converts taken out of their houses and executed for being Christians. But Azzam remained their leader and they continued to grow into a group of twelve. Azzam knew that they needed Bibles and that there were people in Kenya, south of Somalia, who could provide used ones. The only problem was how to get them into the country. He came up with a plan. He would hide under the body of a dead person in a coffin being transported by truck to Kenya and then return the same way under another corpse with Bibles also.

    No Muslim would open a coffin to see what was in it although it was a long trip and sometimes two corpses would be in the coffin when it reached its destination. Assam was successful on his trip and when he met again with his house church with a Bible for each member, this is what he said: “The Bibles are well-worn. Our Kenyan brothers and sisters have read them for years. You should have seen their joy as they gave them to me. They send them with their love.” (Killing Christians by Tom Doyle, p10)

     There is more to Azzam’s story! At a later date he confronted his brothers who had murdered his mother on the street of their hometown. He told them that he had come to forgive them! He said: “ You need to know that I love you and have prayed for both of you ever since I saw your picture with my mother. Jesus filled my heart  with compassion for you. You need Him—just like I did. He can forgive murderers. His love is greater than anything you’ve done.” (ibid, p12)

    Imagine the surprise when he brought his two brothers to the next house church meeting and presented them as two new believers!

    Azzam is still living and telling people about Jesus in Somalia. It is a dangerous place still, but he knows that is what God has called him to do. He says,

   “The Horn of Africa is an evil place. Satan has a stronghold on families, government, education, and of course, Islam. The devil fights at every turn, but God has the upper hand in the way He uses any harm thrown at us by demonic powers. Patience is a spiritual fruit I have learned with difficulty but value deeply…..Through trials, God has taught me patience. Trials line up to test us. Just as we are finished with one, another is waiting for us. Remember us here in Somalia in your prayers. We send our love in Christ. (Ibid, pp15-16)

  “Therefore you must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

PRAY:

1.     Lord please strengthen the persecuted Christians in the Middle East, Southeast Asia, China, North Korea, and Africa.

2.     Lord, help me to be faithful to tell others about You, even if I am rejected or made fun of. You are the only one I need to please.
3.Lord lead me this day to know you better, and to be more obedient to the things You are teaching me by Your Spirit and through Your Holy Scriptures.