“Never in my wildest dreams did I think reading a Quran verse would lead me to Christ, but it did.
“Growing up, I was captured in a sense of guilt and anxiety because I thought I could control my own fate. I tried to make the best out of my Islamic belief system. I did and said all the right things, but I never felt close to God.
“I pursued everything you could possibly imagine. I tried exercise, yoga, meditation, and traveling. I took up a very interesting career. I still tapped into my Muslim roots and prayed to Allah, trying to find more to life.
“The more I read in the Quran about Islam and the Prophet Mohammed, the more I found it very hard to believe. This uncertainty was an emotional roller coaster, because the closer I got to the truth, the more I realized that my identity and everything I was taught was false. I was depressed because I lacked an actual relationship with God.
“When I moved to the Dallas, I befriended my neighbor, Kaitlin. She would talk with me about all kinds of things, and often, religion would come up. Over time, the way she talked about her faith in Christ made me realize there was something I was missing. From that point, I started digging deep into Christianity and reading the Bible through an app. It really captured my attention. Everything I read started to make more and more sense.
“In the past, I read all the time, but I’d never developed that kind of affection for a piece of writing. It was something I’d never experienced. When I opened the Bible, I felt so much clarity. It was like all the words were directed at me and what I was going through. I became so thirsty for the Word of God. I was surprised that my heart wasn’t refusing what I was reading. But I had so many questions.
“Kaitlin recommended I go to a ministry at Watermark called Great Questions. This was the first time I’d ever stepped into a church. I was terrified, but as soon as I met everyone and started experiencing the exchange of questions and answers, I felt welcomed.
“Over multiple meetings, Brett, one of the Great Questions volunteers, really helped me learn and understand the different contexts of Scripture. I come from a religion where we weren't allowed to ask questions. And for the first time, I was able to ask as many questions as I wanted.
“Time went on, my research continued, and I began to understand the big questions I had for so long, ‘What is our story? Why are we here? Why are we separated from God? Why are we broken, and how do we get out of that?’
“Every answer is in Christ.
“He came, lived, and dwelled with us. He suffered and paid the ultimate price for every one of us (1 John 2:2). Before I understood the gospel, I had very little hope and a lot of confusion. For so long, I felt there was something missing, like a lost connection, but I found the connection in the truth of Jesus and his death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:3-8).
“Because of what Christ has done, for the first time, I understood that I'm secure, and that security gives me a sense of liberation. It also gave me a sense of deep love, worship, and affection for God. Accepting the free gift of God changed my life (Romans 6:23).
“I realized I was presented with truth, and I had to react. I accepted Christ as my Savior, and I realized I had to make a conscious decision to do something with that truth. My next step of obedience was to be baptized, and I was able to do that in February of 2023. At my baptism, I shared my story and my commitment to the Lord with our church.
“God has taken me from all over the world throughout my life, and I think all that time, He was guiding me to be surrendered to Him. My calling after coming to Christ is to spread the gospel, specifically with my Muslim brothers and sisters, and to tell them there is a light at the end of the tunnel. There is truth in Jesus, I am a true child of God, and I have a role in His kingdom, now and in eternity.”