MY ACCOUNT
AT A GLANCE:
Tarek* is a church leader in North Africa who has followed Christ for more than 30 years. It has cost him his family, his livelihood, and his safety.
- He was the son of a prominent imam and persecuted Christian family members who had turned to Christ.
- An encounter with God turned the persecutor into a believer. He began sharing the Gospel with friends he had just recruited to Islam.
- He survived a workplace assassination attempt, lost job after job, and watched soldiers arrest his entire church gathering – including children.
- Sentenced to six months in prison and a fine, Tarek and his fellow believers did not deny Christ before the judge but proclaimed the Gospel instead.
Risking seismic consequences
Across North Africa, the church is growing – and so is resistance.
In North African countries Islam is woven into law and culture, and choosing to follow Jesus can mean losing a family, a job, standing in the community, or worse. Many secret believers live with that reality every day.
Each time they meet, pray together, or join in worship, they risk seismic consequences.
Tarek has been weathering this for more than 30 years. He spent his early years thinning the flock of believers in his town and family, but now shepherds a network of believers across the region.
When soldiers came to the table
The children were at the table when the door swung open violently and armed men burst in, pointing their weapons around the room. It had been many peaceful years since Tarek* had seen a joyful gathering of believers broken up by such a dangerous spectacle.
For the young ones though – who had joined their parents at Tarek’s dining room table – this was the first time they had personally seen the violence they had only heard about in stories.
“They sat crying and crying. They were not used to seeing such things. All the children were shaken,” Tarek says.
Phones were confiscated and parents were herded into trucks.
Before his Damascus Road
You have to understand who Tarek was before this: A Muslim of Muslims in his community. The son of an Imam. He’d never even considered whether the faith he propagated and defended was actually worth defending.
“I was not willing to accept that another religion could come and oppose me in anything,” he says.
In another time and place (and faith) he might have run a similar path to the apostle Paul, even persecuting his own family when they turned to Christ. This became about defending his family’s honor.
“I wanted to show my father that I was a man,” he says. “I would uproot from the heart of the family this new thinking that had entered our home. I would take Quran cassette tapes and I would put them in the stereo and turn up the volume so the neighbors could hear the Quran.
“When I felt myself grow weak, I would go to the Muslim brothers. The extremists. I would take a dose of their fanaticism.”
‘I realized I had not been persecuting my family only. I had been persecuting the true Lord.’
— TarekThe weight of unanswered doubts
As Tarek persisted in persecution, his family persisted in loving him. Yet he carried doubts, like a weight in his belly. He prayed, “Lord, today I want to know the truth. In the name of Jesus Christ.”
“God revealed himself in my life and entered my heart,” Tarek says. “I was so full of joy. I was afraid people would hear me in the house.”
He wept.
“I was deeply, deeply regretful,” he said. “I realized I had not been persecuting my family only. I had been persecuting the true Lord.”
The cost and joy of discipleship
The cost came fast. He lost connections with family and jobs, forcing him to move. His life was threatened.
“All the extended family. They rejected us,” Tarek says. “They knew I was a Christian. They expelled me. They didn’t accept me working. And we moved from place to place. I thank God that He did not abandon me.”
At one workshop, when co-workers discovered his faith, they tried to kill him.
“They were up above and I was working below. They threw this metal pipe at me. It was six meters long. It would have killed me. But I thank God. If it had hit my head I would have died.”
Secrets on his phone
Now decades later, packed with the other believers in the back of that truck, Tarek began to fear similar travails would befall these people he had grown to know and love.
He knew the risks of gathering to worship Jesus, but as the officers confiscated phones, he feared for the other believers stored in his contacts.
“I wasn’t afraid for myself but I was worried for them. On the phone I had left many things. With my brothers. With work. A lot of church matters that I didn’t want the police to know about,” Tarek says. “I prayed to God and said, ‘Lord, give me a chance.’”
“The officer gave me the phone and said, ‘Don’t delay. Call. And bring me back the phone.’ I told him, ‘Yes. Of course.’ Then I deleted everything on the phone. He looked over at me and said, ‘The phone. Where is it?’ I told him, ‘Here it is.’ And it was empty. Thank God!”
The entire courtroom heard
Now Tarek can look back with gratitude on that raid of his home. They had paid a cost for their boldness: six months in prison and fines. The legal fallout continues.
But he’s grateful that many people saw the boldness of God’s people in the face of persecution.
“When it was our case, we went as a group,” he said. “We stood before the judge and we did not deny Christ or our Christianity. The whole courtroom heard that this was the case of the Christians.”
“I thank God that it was also an opportunity to proclaim Christ.”
Tarek and countless believers like him face isolation, legal jeopardy, and danger every day.
Your prayer and support through Global Christian Relief remind believers like Tarek that they are not standing alone.
"My message is to the churches that have freedom. That they feel for their brothers. Christ made one big family, and in this family there are people who have pain."
*Name changed for security.
PRAYER REQUESTS
- Pray for Tarek’s family, that God would protect them and soften the hearts of those who have rejected him.
- Pray for an openness for the Gospel in Tarek’s country, that governments would accept the presence of Christian believers in their nation.
- Pray that Tarek’s ministry would not stop, that the church he leads would have legal protection, Bibles, and the freedom to gather.
Secret Believers When Faith Must Stay Hidden, Hope Must Not
Across the Muslim world, men and women are encountering Jesus in hidden places – through a dream, a late-night search, or a quiet conversation with a local believer. But when someone chooses to follow Christ in secret, the cost of their decision can be immediate: family rejection, social isolation, and real danger.
Learn more about how you can support secret believers and help ensure no follower of Jesus ever stands alone.
