Showing posts with label Berlin church. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Berlin church. Show all posts

Thursday, September 10, 2015

Hundreds of Muslims Convert to Christianity Amid Violent Persecution

A Syrian migrant wanders through Europe with his son.
A Syrian migrant wanders through Europe with his son. (Reuters)



Hundreds of Muslims Convert to Christianity Amid Violent Persecution

JESSILYN JUSTICE  charisma News

Hundreds of Muslims fleeing their home countries are finding their peace in Christianity, according to recent reports.  
In his Berlin church alone, Pastor Gottfried Martens has seen his congregation swell to close to 600 as refugees accept Christ, the Associated Press reports.  
However, the nagging belief remains that the men and women are only in church to claim asylum and not give their hearts to God.  
"I know there are—again and again—people coming here because they have some kind of hope regarding their asylum," Martens tells the AP. "I am inviting them to join us because I know that whoever comes here will not be left unchanged." 
Martens' Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church started as a small community earlier this year, according to a translation of their website.  
Now, it's a congregation full of refugees from Iran, Afghanistan and Syria. CNN reports millions are flocking to Europe amid the violence in their homelands.  
The news site reports France will take in 24,000 in the next two years, and Britain will take in up to 20,000 in the next five years. Meanwhile, the United States will only accept 1,500 each year.  
But Germany appears to be the new choice location for many fleeing persecution. Bloomberg News reports the European nation has accepted more than 200,000 migrants this year alone, and is expected to overtake its record of 438,191 set more than two decades ago.  
For Germans, Bloomberg reports, immigration is not a political issue, but an economic one. Instead of stopping the flow of refugees in their country, "there is a lot of sympathy for 'true' refugees from Syria—that they're fleeing war makes sense—Germans have little time for 'bogus' asylum seekers."  
Many look to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the reason the refugees make their way to her country.  
The minister's daughter, also known as "Mama Merkel" by those seeking asylum, has been called "Europe's conscience." 
"Angela Merkel shows a lot of understanding for people who flee from war and despair," Stefan Kornelius, author of Angela Merkel: The Authorized Biography, tells Newsweek. "There is no moral questioning of her motives." 
And so her country begins to fill with refugees seeking more than a safe haven, but also searching for peace.  
These Muslims are turning their hearts away from Allah and toward Jesus at a rate which Pastor Martens calls "miraculous."
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Saturday, September 5, 2015

Hundreds of Muslims Turning to Christ in Germany


Hundreds of Muslims Turning to Christ in Germany

In Germany, hundreds of Muslim refugees are turning to Christ at a Berlin church.
The Evangelical Trinity Church has swelled from 150 to 600 members in just two years, and many are Muslims fleeing Iran and Afghanistan.
Mohammed Ali Zonoobi, an Iranian asylum seeker, was recently baptised.
"I feel like I am born again", he sobbed.
Many of the refugees are seeking asylum in Germany and converting to Christianity can increase their chances of staying. If they're sent home, converts can be persecuted -- even put to death -- for leaving Islam.
The church's pastor said he believes the power of Christ is changing their lives.
"I know that sometimes people also come here because their hope is that they will be granted asylum status," he said. "I invite these people in because I think that coming here does change people, despite their original motivation for doing so."
Pastor Martens said only about 10 percent of those who are baptized do not return.