Last month, I profiled Samuel from his conversion to Christianity from Islam, his betrayal by his father, to his arrest and imprisonment.  His story is typical of many Muslims, who become Christians, that it warranted more space, so this month, I’ll continue his story...    

Samuel was put into a section of the prison that held the very militant Muslims. They often would kill anyone who left Islam for Christianity. They confronted Samuel immediately upon his arrival with many questions. Samuel was able to answer them with wisdom and averted being killed.  In the course of about a month, Samuel led two of them to Christ.

The prison authorities, unable to tolerate the conversions, put Samuel into solitary confinement. He was literally, in the innermost part of the prison reserved for the very worst offenders.  His cell was five by six feet with just a filthy blanket to lie on and a bucket as his toilet. He was allowed only 5 minutes a day out of his cell to empty the bucket and was not allowed to talk with anyone.  The ceiling light in his cell was left on 24 hours a day making it hard for him to sleep. The meager meals he was given were enough to sustain him, but not overly nutritious. 

Special delivery—Kentucky Fried Chicken

Occasionally, his brother was allowed to visit him. The authorities forced his brother to wear a recording device and told him to ask Samuel questions that would implicate Samuel in a crime. The brother always indicated to Samuel with hand signals that he was “bugged” so their conversations were simple.  Since Samuel’s brother worked for KFC, he occasionally brought chicken to Samuel. 

The assistant warden, James, a nominal Christian who was discriminated against by the warden and his co-workers because of his faith was very frustrated in his work. When he found out a man was being held in solitary confinement, James thought that perhaps he could take out his frustrations on this guy (Samuel).

No one, not even the warden knew why Samuel was imprisoned.  James went to Samuel and asked him what criminal act he committed. Samuel openly declared that he was an apostate (one who leaves Islam) and is now a Christian. Surprised at Samuel’s boldness, James asked what he could do to help.  Samuel asked for a radio, which he quickly received. Now, for the first time in months, Samuel could listen to Christian teaching.  He was delighted. 

There was hatred between some of the Muslim prisoners.  In order to torment each other, they tuned their radios to the Christian station, turning the volume to the loudest setting. Pretty soon, Christian teaching was being heard in many areas of the prison!

Special Delivery—One Bible

Two men from Africa were brought into the prison, but because they did not speak Arabic, they needed a translator. They spoke English, and the only other prisoner in their cellblock who spoke English was Samuel. He was given the task of explaining the rules of the prison to these men. In fact, he was able to spend a lot of time with them and shared Jesus with them. Eventually, he led one of them to the Lord.

At one point, an embassy employee visited with these two African prisoners and asked what he could do for them. The new Christian asked for a Bible, which he received the next day.  A short time later, he was released from prison.  As he walked past Samuel’s cell, he tossed in the Bible. 

Samuel spent many hours reading his new Bible.  When asked what it contained, he told the jailers that it was a book of stories.  As it was written in English, a language that no one else understood, he was able to keep it safe.

Samuel’s plight was becoming well known in the Christian community around the world. Letter writing campaigns were begun, hoping that Samuel would receive better treatment from the jailers. In addition, government officials both here and in the Middle East received letters protesting Samuel’s imprisonment. 

Special Delivery—One postcard

Samuel was told that he had received tens of thousands of letters.  He was never allowed to see them, but a fellow prisoner who was distributing food, smuggled one postcard to Samuel in a loaf of flat bread.

Eventually, some of our Christian congressmen intervened on Samuel’s behalf, threatening the Egyptian government with cutting off funding to Egypt if religious persecution (meaning Samuel’s plight) did not end.  Even President Bush, Sr., met with Egyptian President Mubarak and brought up the subject of Samuel.  President Mubarak abruptly ended the meeting at that point.  He did not want to be involved in Samuel’s dilemma.

Samuel was finally released after nine months in prison. He had to flee the country since the pressure was still on him to reconvert. He went back only once and was arrested again, but this time our congressional representatives intervened immediately and Samuel was released in less than a week.

Today Samuel is still in ministry, bringing the truth about Jesus Christ to other Muslim nations. We partner with him to provide him with the materials he needs to smuggle Bibles into countries where the Bible is a banned book.

Please pray for Samuel, his family and all converts from Islam to Christianity to be able to endure the persecution and to love those who persecute them. Pray for the persecutors to find the truth of Jesus and be saved!

A Ministry to Persecuted Christians