LIfe Stories

	Set Free in Prison
		One day a colleague sent me to the prison to visit a person who had turned his back on our religion and become a follower of Jesus Christ. They chose me because I am a lawyer and I should be able to convince him to come back to his roots and traditional religion. I went to meet with him and told him, “Come back and we will forgive you. Otherwise you will face execution.” He asked me, “Have you read the Bible?” “No,” I answered, “but I know some stories from the Bible.” “Then take this Bible and read it. Then come back to me,” he replied. I took the Bible and out of curiosity I started reading it. It was unusual and interesting, and the more I read the more I loved it. I spent 18 days just reading. Then I came to John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.” This verse struck me, because in our holy book we have similar words about Jesus, that he is the “Word of God”. During this time I was thinking deeply about Jesus, but I was still praying to Allah in my way. One day I was lying in bed and I saw a number of people come to me and ask me to pray! I said, “I am praying.” They said, “No. Get up and pray.” Then they disappeared. My eyes and my heart started to open. I went back to the prison and met with the prisoner many times. He explained some issues about Jesus Christ to me. On May 10, 1998 I went to the prison again and I asked the priest who was leading the Christian prisoners in worship to let me attend the meeting. He was surprised. In the middle of the worship service I stood up and asked the priest to give me a chance to speak. I said, “Today I gave my life to Jesus Christ and became one of his followers.” This was the most wonderful moment in my life. My soul was set free inside a prison in Sudan! After this everyone knew and the police arrested me. My family burned everything that belonged to me. I spent many months in jail and was tortured. At last I fled with my wife and two children outside Sudan to worship my Lord and King Jesus Christ freely.