Muslim Refugees in Greece Converting to Christianity, Planting Churches as They Help Spread Revival

Andre Mitchell | 03 November 2016
Refugees from the Middle East who have found refuge in Greece have not only begun converting to Christianity. They have also started sharing God's love to their fellow migrants.
Muslim Refugees in Greece Converting to Christianity, Planting Churches as They Help Spread Revival
Refugees arrive at the port of Elefsina, Greece where hundreds are living after escaping war and persecution in their home countries in the Middle East. Reuters

In an article posted on Desiring God, Christian leader David Crabb shared how the kingdom of God “is growing” in Greece, where 97 percent of the population are Orthodox Christians. Most of them, however, affiliate themselves to the church culturally, and not necessarily in the religious sense.

Even amid this environment, more and more Muslim refugees in Athens are becoming open to the Christian faith. Javad, an Iranian Muslim convert, for instance, is even helping in promoting Church growth in Greece.

According to Crabb, Javad first heard God’s Word through a satellite radio when he was still living in Iran. There, he did not know any Christians, and did not have access to the Holy Bible.

When Javad sought refuge in Greece, he had the opportunity to fully embrace and even spread the Christian faith, even if it would cost him his life and safety under Islamic law, which treats converts to other religions as apostates.

“When I came to faith, I knew I could never go back to my family or to Iran, but it’s worth it because I have Jesus,” Javad told Crabb, as quoted by the Christian Broadcasting Network.

The Christian convert now goes to the streets of Greece to share the gospel. During one of his ministries, Javad met a veiled Muslim woman, who said bad words to him while he passed by.

Because of Javad’s persistence, however, something miraculous happened.

“A few weeks later, he was preaching again at church, and after the service a woman — with no veil — came up to him and said, ‘I heard you preach in the park a few weeks ago and cursed you, but now I have eyes to see that Jesus is the Son of God,'” Crabb recalled.

Since you are here…

…we do have a small request. More and more people visit Orthodoxy and the World website. However, resources for editorial are scarce. In comparison to some mass media, we do not make paid subscription. It is our deepest belief that preaching Christ for money is wrong.

Having said that, Pravmir provides daily articles from an autonomous news service, weekly wall newspaper for churches, lectorium, photos, videos, hosting and servers. Editors and translators work together towards one goal: to make our four websites possible - Pravmir.ru, Neinvalid.ru, Matrony.ru and Pravmir.com. Therefore our request for help is understandable.

For example, 5 euros a month is it a lot or little? A cup of coffee? It is not that much for a family budget, but it is a significant amount for Pravmir.

If everyone reading Pravmir could donate 5 euros a month, they would contribute greatly to our ability to spread the word of Christ, Orthodoxy, life's purpose, family and society.