News / Thoughts

Syria: ‘Is it possible that I can become a Christian?’

“Let the world see that I love the Lord Jesus. He said whoever is ashamed of Me, I will be ashamed of him in front of My Father. So why would I be ashamed of Him? He is my refuge and the shelter of my children!”
Nisreen, Qamishli, Syria

Nisreen is a believer from a Muslim background in Qamishli, northern Syria. Her journey to faith in Jesus started in childhood: “The love of Christ was planted in me since I was little,” she says. “I used to see how Christians behaviour is better than ours. I’ve always liked Christians and I used to say to my parents, ‘There is something connecting me and Christians’.”

Image: Street scene in Qamishli, where Nisreen lives

Encountering Jesus at a Centre of Hope

But Nisreen had yet to fully encounter Jesus and choose to follow Him. That happened when she came to a Centre of Hope in Qamishli, run by Open Doors partner Pastor George and supported by your incredible gifts and prayers.

Her family were struggling because of both the pandemic and the decade long war. She came to Pastor George’s Centre of Hope looking for food.

“I was in desperate need at that moment,” she remembers. “My children had nothing to eat. I was very tired, I was emotionally exhausted.”

The church gives out food packages to the community, both Christians and Muslims. While she waited for her package, she got chatting to a volunteer at the church. When she mentioned she wasn’t fasting even though it was Ramadan, the conversation deepened:

“Don’t you believe in God?” he asked.

“I have faith in God and feel that He is always with me – but not in the way Islam teaches,” she replied.

They talked for about 30 minutes. Nisreen explains “At the end, I asked: ‘You talked about Jesus and you said that He came for all people, is it possible that I can become a Christian?’ He replied ‘Of course, Christ came for the whole world!’.”

Nisreen left with the food package she’d gone for. But she also left with something far more precious. She puts it simply: “I met Jesus…. It is indescribable, millions of things have happened. Faith gives me strength. I am not afraid of life anymore.”

Image: Nisreen in her home

Supporting vulnerable believers

Thanks to your prayers and gifts, Open Doors partners in Syria are able to offer hope to their community. That includes persecuted believers who have fled from elsewhere in the country – but they also offer the good news of Jesus to people like Nisreen, who have never properly heard it before. And they stand with believers from a Muslim background after they have decided to follow Jesus, because they are often the most vulnerable to persecution. Often believers from a Muslim background are ostracised from their families and communities, targeted with violent persecution or even killed.

Pray now…

• That Nisreen’s family would also discover the truth of God’s love for them
• For strength and resilience for Nisreen and other vulnerable believers in Syria
• That Open Doors partners would be equipped to support their communities during the Covid-19 crisis.

Give up something you love to help Christians who have nothing…

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