The love of Christ and hearing the truth of the Gospel are drawing more and more Muslim refugees in Switzerland and Germany to Christianity, the Gospel Herald reports. Since 2014, more than
2,000 Muslims have turned to Christ, and the number keeps rising, according to Switzerland’s Counselling Centre for Integration and Religious Affairs. Speaking to the Swiss edition of “20 Minutes,” coordinator Kathrin Anliker said some of the refugees embrace Christianity after witnessing the brutality of extremist groups like ISIS, which have been carrying out horrific acts in the name of Allah.

Others who have come out to embrace Christ were already Christians but who kept their faith a secret for fear of persecution, she said. Philippe Dätwyler of the Reformed Church in Zurich also
reported many conversions to Christianity in Switzerland’s free evangelical churches, which runs services for Iranians and Afghans, led by an Iranian pastor. In 2015, some 1.8 million asylum-seekers entered the European Union, fleeing war and poverty in the Middle East, according to data from the European Union border agency Frontex. Around 1.1 million of these refugees came to Germany.

In June, The Guardian reported a large number of Muslim refugees in Europe had converted to Christianity, with some churches conducting mass baptisms. For instance, at Trinity church in
the Berlin suburb of Steglitz, the congregation has grown from 150 two years ago to almost 700, swollen by Muslim converts. RT News, which conducted interviews with several converts,
reported that, “Among the most popular reasons behind the conversion, is faith in a new religion triggered by ‘lack of freedom’ in Islam, and gratitude to Christians offering help to refugees fleeing war-torn countries. I’ve been spat on, told that I’ve betrayed Islam. But through what I’ve learned, I can forgive them,” one man who was baptised a Christian told the news outlet in Hamburg. “In Islam, we always lived in fear. Fear God, fear of sin, fear of punishment. However, Christ is a God of love,” another Iranian refugee, Solmaz, told the German daily, according to RT.

Source: Hazel Torres, Christian Today

Bible Study: Joel 2:12-13

NOVEMBER Praise God that Muslims are seeing the difference between a religion of fear and punishment and a religion of love and forgiveness. PRAY DEEPER that these conversions may gather pace all over Europe.