Islèm*, in North Africa, was brought up in a Muslim family. As far as her father knows, she is still a Muslim. But this 22-year-old student is courageously following Jesus in secret—and she found out about Him online.
When Islèm first wanted to find out more about Christianity, she had no friends or family she could ask. She didn’t even know it was possible to become a Christian, given her upbringing and where she lives. “At that time, I thought there were no Christians
in North Africa,” she says. “I thought I’d be the first one. For me, Christians were people living abroad.”
It’s unsurprising that Islèm hadn’t met any Christians living in her country, which we can’t identify for security reasons. Across North Africa (with the exception of Egypt), the number of Christians is tiny. Those who do follow Jesus in this region have
to do so secretly, individually or through the underground church. In many parts of the region, telling a Muslim about the gospel, or converting from Islam, is illegal.
That’s why online outreach is so important in North Africa. It can reach people who would otherwise be completely alone with their questions. Islèm’s first online searches didn’t come to anything—but later, thankfully, she started searching again. She
knew there was something missing.
Finding Jesus on Facebook
A few years later, when Islèm was 15, she spent some time in the hospital with a kidney infection. Home life had been increasingly difficult, and her father was being aggressive to her mother. Islèm was struggling psychologically.
“I used my smartphone to go on Facebook,” Islèm remembers. “And while I was on the landing page, I saw a page called ‘Christians in [Islèm’s country*]’.” Open Doors partners didn’t create the particular page that Islèm saw, but this form of social media
discipleship and outreach is increasingly becoming the way Open Doors partners are reaching seekers and new believers.
“It was strange for me,” continues Islèm. “I clicked on it, but then stopped it. I switched off my phone. When I switched it on again—again, the same page in front of my eyes. Maybe there was something, maybe it was a sign. I clicked on it and sent a
message.”
Someone from the group responded. Islèm spoke to a pastor, and he arranged for a Bible to be brought to her: “A girl came with her brother to give me a Bible. She said they were going to a church—I asked them if I could come with them, and she said yes.
I went to church and it was great!”
The way and the risk
And so Islèm found a community of believers to learn from, keeping her exploration secret from her parents. Soon after, she attended a Bible study group run by Open Doors partners, funded by Open Doors supporters: “That was the first time I read the Bible,
with a pastor explaining the verses. On that day, the pastor was teaching John 14:6, ‘Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”.’ On that day, I became a believer.”
"Reading the Bible was like eating; it was a need. I wanted to read more and more."
Islém
Islèm kept going to the church, and praying with the pastor and his wife. She read the Bible whenever she could: “To me, reading the Bible was like eating; it was a need. I wanted to read more and more. I was really happy. I felt at ease.”
All the time Islèm was learning about Jesus and attending training seminars (which are funded by the gifts and prayers of Open Doors supporters), she had to keep her faith secret: “My family still thinks that I am a Muslim,” says Islèm. “Only my mother
knows that I am a Christian, and she accepts it. My father does not know anything about it.”
The only times she has raised the topic of Christianity with her father, he has responded violently. “I thought that, if I said anything more, he would kill me,” she says. It’s too dangerous for Islèm to live her faith openly.
'Jesus is like oxygen'
Islèm speaks passionately about her relationship with Jesus now: “Jesus is like oxygen, because without oxygen you cannot breathe. If Jesus were not in my life, I wouldn’t be here today, I would not be alive.”
Without that initial Facebook group that led Islèm to the answers she needed, she might still be waiting for an encounter with Jesus and the life she is receiving from Him. The Bible tells us “seek and you will find” (Matthew 7:7)—in the 21st Century,
seeking can increasingly mean searching on Facebook! There will always be a vital role played by face-to-face discipleship and evangelism, of course, and for smuggling physical Bibles to secret believers who can’t get them—but there is a vital place for
outreach that takes place on social media and elsewhere online.
A community of believers
"We Christians should be one body."
Islém
“In the Bible, we are told that we need to be a united community,” says Islèm. “We Christians should be one body.” It’s a great privilege that we get to be part of that same united community with Islèm. Open Doors’ vision is to see a strong global Church,
defying persecution, standing together and sharing Jesus no matter the cost. That means we have to stand with secret believers in North Africa and across the world, who are courageously following Jesus despite the danger.
Online programs can show these believers that they aren’t alone, and the encouragement that your prayers and gifts make possible can be life-changing for your brothers and sisters. This can prevent their young faith fading or dying, and instead help them
grow as warriors of faith! You can be the lifeline that seekers and secret believers like Islèm need today.
PLEASE PRAY
• For online programs run by Open Doors partners to reach seekers and disciple secret believers
• For Islém and other secrete believers in North Africa who risk everything to follow Jesus
• That isolated believers in North Africa would know God’s love, presence and comfort and that He would keep them firm in their courageous faith.
*Name changed for security reasons
