Elias’ Story: “God Chose Me”

My name is Elias. I was born and raised in a Muslim family in Aceh. Aceh is a city with the largest percentage of Muslims in Indonesia.  

I used to work at a paper company in East Aceh. I worked in paper smelting, recycling old/used paper into new paper. While I worked, I liked to read the writing on the wastepaper.  

One day, I accidentally took home a piece of paper that read, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.” I was curious about this sentence and kept the piece of paper in my wallet.  

I showed the imam of my mosque the piece of paper and asked him about it. He dismissed me and replied, “There is no need to study this piece of paper because it is not Islamic teaching. Furthermore, if there is someone who has all power, it is Muhammad.” 

His response made me even more curious because the Koran does not write about Muhammad as being a powerful being like Allah himself.  

One day, I went to the church in East Aceh to ask about it. The pastors said, “We can’t tell you because we have different ideologies.” I understood their reluctance, because they were afraid that I would betray their church.  

A few years later, I got a job at a timber company a few towns away. One of my co-workers was a Christian. When I talked to him, I remembered the writing I had found a few years ago. I asked my co-worker about the “man in authority” and he gave me a small Bible.  

I started reading it and soon realized that the person speaking was Jesus, and that it was the verse Matthew 28:18. I was amazed. Why had I stumbled across this teaching about Jesus? I decided that I needed to learn more about Christianity.  

I started studying the Christian faith with a pastor at a local church. He is a priest who comes from Aceh. After six months of study, I was then baptized. I met a Christian woman, and we got married. Unfortunately, when I embraced my new religion, my family cut ties with me due to pressure from my extended family. 

After I became a Christian, I faced persecution from my former community as well as from my family. One time, my friend dragged me to a nearby forest and then tied up. He interrogated me and forced to say the shahada and read the Koran. I then read the Koran in Arabic, and when they saw that I could read the Koran, they finally let me go.  

I entered a school of theology to learn more about Christianity and received a degree in ministry. Today, I serve the people of Aceh who are already believe in Jesus and disciple them to become evangelists in our majority-Muslim community. .  

Currently, we live in a few towns over from Aceh, at my wife’s sister’s house, because I can no longer live in the Aceh area. ICC recently provided financial assistance to rent a house there, where we host several Christians who converted from Islam.  

Please pray for the ministry of Elias and his wife. 

Source: Elias’ Story: “God Chose Me” – International Christian Concern (persecution.org)