This is a very difficult story to share. I can’t do a good enough job to convey the authentic trust in the Spirit, unconditional pursuit of the Lord, or the love for Jesus Christ shared with me. This is the story of Duke, a man who unknowingly accepted Christ and knowingly gave up everything and everyone to remain in His presence. Part 1 of 3.
I wish I could post this as an interview; essentially the medium it was presented to me. Conversations typically facilitate mutual sharing of experiences, knowledge, and opinions. This was one man pouring out his soul to a captivated audience in what could possibly have been the first time he openly shared his story. He is confident in God and feels that he has already given up anything that could be taken from him; unfortunately, because of the location, risk to the individual, and that it is an unfinished story, I can’t share anything very specific. Please forgive vague or seemingly incomplete sections.
We ran into Duke a couple times. We didn’t know who was, where he came from, or who invited him; shame on us for not asking. The third time we encountered him was in the home of a mutual friend – he was comfortable there and chose to engage us. We learned that he lived there also and commented on how much fun it must be to live with our mutual friend. His response was far less celebratory, explaining that he had nowhere else to go; the story was long and he didn’t want to bother us with it. I encouraged him to share – we are in the people business, after all. It started when he was a child.
Duke was raised in a culturally Muslim family – this is somewhat like an American that believes in God but might not know Him personally, read the Bible, or attend church. Unable to read Arabic (not his mother-tongue), Duke had a lot of questions about the Quran; he wanted to understand and embody why Muslims do the things they do, instead of repeating them blindly because his father instructed him to. His questions were universally received as rebellious and doubtful – Duke challenged the Quran’s teachings instead of practicing them.
Seeking answers to his questions, Duke happened across a priest – a government-registered missionary in his country, who, because of Duke’s limited theological knowledge, he only saw as a foreign Imam (a teacher or preacher in Islam). The priest welcomed him and listened to Duke’s questions. After a long conversation, the priest was unable to answer all of Duke’s questions (evangelism is illegal) but asked Duke if he had ever read the Ingil (a Muslim religious book similar to the Christian New Testament; a collection of the Gospels as an expression of the prophet Jesus’ teachings). Duke had not read it, so the priest explained it is another good book to read as it doesn’t focus on Mohammed’s work alone, but includes the works of Jesus as another teacher to share a different perspective (the Quran, Ingil, and Hadith are the primary theological books in Islam with precedence in this same order; the Quran focuses on Mohammed’s teachings, the Ingil is largely that of Jesus’ teachings [a strong prophet of God in Islam], and the Hadith is an explanation of who Mohammed is and his life). Duke read the Ingil as guided, but found more questions than answers and again couldn’t find anyone to resolve his confusion or better explain why Muslims practice religion as they do. What he was sure of, however, is that something seemed different in him and his inquisitive interest in theology wasn’t simply to understand, but to know (to know as God knows).
As Duke continued to work through this tension on his own, he found that it seemed less and less important to him that he attend mosque, complete prayer rituals, or generally do things that are typically attributed to Islam.
Concerned for him, Duke’s wife, who we can call “Wife”, began trying to understand the tension Duke was feeling. He explained that it didn’t seem necessary to attend mosque to hear others teach about God; it didn’t seem necessary to follow prayer rituals that dictate when and how he prays – he didn’t want to recite prayers or history as is typically done, he wanted to talk to God and didn’t understand why he needed an intercessor to speak to God on his behalf; it didn’t seem necessary that he should need to dress, speak, or exist in any template in order for God to love and accept him.
Wife grew concerned and sought advice and support from community leaders. Religious leaders and elders reached the same conclusion – Duke had turned his back on God, his community, and his family… Duke had become… a Christian.
