Abda had always been inquisitive about Christianity and wanted to discover more, so he secretly visited this group of Christians a few times to learn who Jesus truly was. He was drawn to how these believers loved God and other people. Soon, Abda trusted Christ and was even baptized. When he married, his wife followed him in his new faith.
But being Christians complicated their lives. Where Abda lives (we can’t disclose his location), Christians are distrusted and unwelcome. They can’t meet openly, and there are no churches. Abda’s relatives knew about his new faith but told him to hide it as much as possible.
To gather with other believers, they must organize secret meetings. They meet at each other’s houses and listen to radio programs or do Bible studies. To keep their faith a secret, they often change the location and time of their meetings.
Despite their efforts, however, Muslim extremist groups soon found out about Abda’s conversion and began to monitor his activities. While he was with other believers in his house, the radicals attacked. They chased away the other Christians but severely beat Abda.
“They said they didn’t want Christianity in their village and left me for dead,” he shares, remembering the pain of the attack.