Read Time: 2 Minutes 29 Seconds
Brother Malik read through the Bible 10 times before he became a Christian.
As a member of the Fulani tribe in northwest Africa, he grew up in a devout Muslim family. His father was a Quranic scholar, and his grandfather a jihadist. Malik had never even met a Christian until, at age 17, he moved in with a friend in a bigger city so he could continue to go to school.
It was during this time that Malik first encountered Christianity. The school friend’s dad worked for foreign missionaries, one of whom invited Malik to Bible study. Malik, studious and thirsty for knowledge, accepted the offer.
“For me, learning about the Bible was just finding knowledge,” he recalls. “I would get all this biblical knowledge, and when I [would] speak with my friends, I would use some of the phrases [from the Bible]. They would say, ‘man, he is so wise,’ but they didn’t know where I was getting it from. I was getting it from the Bible. So that was just to make me look good.”
Malik spent the next five years reading the Bible twice a year. During that time, he also noticed how loving and caring the missionaries were. He wanted to convert them to Islam because they were such nice people. He thought it sad that they were going to hell since they weren’t good Muslims. So Malik decided to prove to them that the Bible was wrong so that they would accept Islam.
“I decided I would take my highlighter, I will take the Bible and I will underline all the mistakes in the Bible and take it back to the missionary showing him that the Bible is wrong,” he said. “This is when I discovered there were no mistakes in the Bible, but there were mistakes in the Quran. That was bad news for me.”
Over time, Malik became aware of his need for a Savior. He understood he had a sin problem, and he had a vision of Jesus speaking to him the words of John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” When he had the dream a second time, Malik decided to trust Christ.
Malik’s family soon discovered his newfound faith when he stopped participating in daily Muslim prayers. They threatened to kill him, and they rejected him for bringing shame on their family. But Malik remained firm in his commitment to Christ and began sharing his faith with other Fulani.
Today, Malik continues to bear witness to the hope he found in Christ. And he prepares new believers to experience the same persecution he endured.
Malik also trains church planters and young pastors to advance God’s kingdom in places where it is dangerous to follow Christ. He asks for prayer that they can be bold witnesses and show love to those who oppose their faith.
“Pray for strength. A lot of people want to share but they are afraid,” he said. “People hate you because they [don’t] know how much you love them. When you love that much, you will not have fear.”
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