Bangladeshi found Jesus as His Lord & Saviour

I am Abu Mansur. I was born into a traditional Muslim family in the conservative Islamic country of Bangladesh. My earliest beliefs and faith were formed by my father who was a Mulla (Islamic Pastor), village leader and a good physician. By his teachings our family learned Islamic principles and fundamentals from a theological and a grass roots perspective. I was a true practitioner and believer of Islam from childhood to my teenage years. I prayed daily, and held staunchly the religious, and cultural beliefs associated with Islam and the Islamic culture that surrounded me.

At the age of 16 a turning point came into my life. I came to know that my eldest brother A. Sayed (Peter) converted to Christianity. At first I could not accept his conversion. After hearing this message my father got shock. This message did speed out in our community very fast. My family and specially My father lost his honor, respect and leadership. He could not take it easy and could not tolerate it. He feel very bad and his passion made him crazy. This resulted in a very bad situation, one night on April 1978 he had a heart attacked and became paralyzed on his left side. After heart attack of my father, Mom was requesting me to search Peter. According to my mother’s requests I attempted to contact Peter. During the period of my search, my father was bed ridden and hanging on to life.

Peter had been living far away form my family. Being a Christian he was not permitted to live with his family. Being a former Muslim, Peter would have been sentenced to death under Islamic law for his conversion.

In my search to find my brother, I contacted Matiur Rahman, a close friend of Peter’s. Through Manitur I was able to establish contact with Peter and arrange a meeting. Our reunion was touching and argumentative. I confronted my brother as to why he had converted? My mannerism toward Peter was aggressive and filled with anger, yet we were blood brothers. By the end of our meeting we cried and hugged each other. After our reunion, I would meet with Peter frequently so that he would know about the goings of my family, but especially about the condition of our father. During our times together he would preach the gospel to me and advised me to read both the Holy Bible and the Qur’an. On the 30^th of September 1984 my father died with his unspeakable pain and passion, he did not see Peter before his death even he did not know where and how his son is doing.

Due to Peters’ influence I began to read the bible. About three years after I had begun reading my Bible, I had an epiphany. On that day while I was reading the bible I began to pray and when I began to pray I began to cry. I just said, “O my Lord if you are the true Lord, please come to my heart and show your glory.” During that moment the Holy Spirit touched me and I heard one voice saying, “I am with you.” After that I felt very comfortable and at peace. I received Christ as my savior on the 2^nd week of December 1984. It took three years to change my mind and faith from Islam to Christianity.

My Spiritual Gift

I was always lost in darkness, filled with hatred and arrogance. I did not know what the love of God was. After I received Jesus Christ as my savior, I realized and received God’s love. Since that time, I have been serving God by delivering his message of love to the people (especially the Muslim people), and by doing so I have gotten peace of mind and spirit.

Additional Background Information

Current Ministerial Work

• Independent Preacher/Evangelist with the First A.G. Church, Massachusetts. Specialty – Preaching the Gospel to Muslims. Educating Christians on Islam, Islamic Society, and Islamic Culture.

• Inter-Religious dialog in association with Pastor Paul Biswas.

• Researching Christ thru the Qur’an.

Educational Background and Theological Training

• B. Sc (Bachelor or science)

• B. Th (Bachelor of theology)

• Evangelical Training and E.E. (Evangelism Exp.) training.

Previous Ministerial Experience

• 1989 to 1996 - Founding member and evangelist of the Bangladesh Reformed Presbyterian Church (BRPC).

• 1989 to 1996 - Founding member and supervisor of the Bangladesh Reformed Presbyterian Theological Seminary (BRPTS).

• 1996 to 1997 - Independent Preacher/Evangelist.

• 1997 to 2001 - Founder of the Evangelical Reformed Presbyterian Church (ERPCB).

• Selected by the Bangladesh Bible Society to review the: Muslim sensitive version of the Holy Bible.

• Working with the blind in Bangladesh, “Blind Evangelism.”

Parting Message

With the culmination of 14 years experience working as a preacher with Muslim faithful I have realized that besides the knowledge of Christianity, it is very important to have an Islamic background or to know about Islam, Islamic culture, and Islamic beliefs in order to accepted by the Muslim community.

In North America, Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity. This presents many opportunities to preach the Gospel among Muslims in the USA and Canada. Unfortunately, there is a lack of preachers and laymen who have a practical knowledge of Islam, Islamic culture, and Islamic beliefs.

As a former Muslim and now follower of Christ, I believe that the knowledge I can impart to my Christian brothers and sisters; both clergy and laymen will be very adventitious in spreading the word of God to the Muslim community as well as reclaiming for God any persons who may have lost their way and converted to Islam.

Contact Information

Abu Mansur,
Lynn, MA 01905
Abumansur2003@yahoo.com
617-538-4362 (Cell)

Mohammed Ziauddin,
Miami, Florida
Eastwestandback@aol.com
786-262-8931