Former Female Al-Qaeda Fighter Swaps Her AK-47 for Bible After Finding Faith in Jesus
Amid the horrors of war in Syria, God is performing amazing miracles that are turning more and more people to Jesus Christ.
Brother John, a Syrian Christian and ministry partner with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA, shared with Mission Network News some inspiring testimonials of new believers, some of whom could be considered the unlikeliest Christian converts.
One of them is a veiled Muslim woman who had been seen walking in and out of a new church plant in Syria for about two months. Finally, she found the courage to talk to one of the church leaders and tell him her story.
She said she used to carry an AK-47 assault rifle and fight for al-Qaeda as well as serve as nurse to wounded fighters of the Islamist militant group. "But I came [to the new church] and I heard the Gospel and I started coming and came to know Christ. I was afraid to tell you because I was afraid you would report me and then I would be arrested," she told the church leader.
Now, she has replaced her AK-47 with something that gives her the ultimate protection and the key to a glorious Christian life: the Bible.
Brother John shared his own personal account of God manifesting His presence among Christians in Syria.
He said he recently visited a camp to see one of the Christian workers there. He saw the worker inside a tent and he was holding a Bible in the presence of Muslim men and women who were celebrating a Muslim holiday.
Brother John said he was praying that the Christian worker would not share the Gospel to the Muslims inside the tent, fearing that this could lead to something unpleasant.
To his consternation, the Christian worker began sharing the Gospel.
"There was talk, a question, an answer, and he was just strategically answering and answering. One angry man walked out, and as soon as this angry man walked out, the Lord began to move," Brother John recalled.
"One woman stood up and she said, 'I saw Jesus in a dream,' in the midst of that group, and then another woman, and a new woman came into that gathering and she said she saw also Jesus. So we began just in two hour' period of time hearing about three different stories of people seeing Jesus in dreams and visions," he told Mission Network News.
Brother John said the Christians in Syria are holding on to their faith despite being "literally, in the cross-hairs of danger and persecution."
He said he asked one of the pastors why is he and his family are still in Aleppo despite the hard life and constant threats of death.
The pastor told him, "If I say Jesus is the ultimate example and He died for me, I'm willing to put my life on the line ... Of course there is death, but [there is] also the beautiful image of the resurrection of people to know Jesus Christ. That's why they stay and that's why they remain inside Syria."