Shalom to all!

I am Brother Innocent ETCHI. I come from an idolatrous family. I had lived without faith or law since my father’s death. Life was difficult because I came from a family of seven people, my younger brothers and I were all dependent on my mother, who was unemployed. The family stripped us of our father’s possessions. They wanted us to return to live in the village to be zealous for the translation of our ancestors. But my mother and I decided to continue living, relying on God and not on men. We lived in Savè, a town in Benin, in an unfinished house belonging to my father, whom the family did not know. At the age of 18, I already had to assume the responsibilities of a father to my younger brothers, the burden being too much for my mother alone. I would leave for weeks, even months, looking for work to earn a living. In this state of extreme need, when I was still 21 years old, I met a Muslim man in Parakou who took me into his home. I lived with him and worked for him while he provided for me and sometimes even for my family. After a while, he suggested that I become a Muslim. Being without religious conviction, I did not hesitate to embrace his religion because he had made me many promises if I accepted. My growth in Islamic responsibilities was rapid after I embraced Islam. I became a devout Muslim with the baptismal name ZOUL-FIKARY. I thought I had found God. I was introduced to many things in Islam with pleasure. I wanted to serve God. I gave the call at the mosque, so I became the muezzin of the Arafat 2 mosque in Parakou. I also led the children at the Koranic school to better integrate and quickly be accepted so that God would answer my prayers. I had naturally developed a hatred for my friends who called themselves Christians. I saw them as lost and me as saved. I also tried to convince some of them to embrace Islam. Those I could not convince to embrace Islam, I behaved badly towards them. I would incite people, making fun of them with me. This is how I enrolled in an agricultural high school where I met a teacher who liked to befriend the students to talk to them about Christ. I was filled with hatred towards him when I realized that he was converting Muslims. He always carried two bags, a small one in front and a backpack. I quickly came up with a slogan about him. My friends and I often made fun of him by calling him a photographer. I was still in my first year of high school and he had never kept me. In my second year, he became my teacher in one of the most important subjects in my curriculum and the very one that would determine my future career. I understood that he was a key teacher in the field I was studying at high school for. This is what made me hate him even more. I adopted a rebellious attitude towards him by regularly boycotting his class until the end of the year so as not to have to listen to him. The following year, he became my main teacher because, having arrived in his specialty, I had to see him more than anyone else. He taught the greatest number of subjects but that year, I discovered that in his small bag he kept a Bible and brochures. One day he approached me to preach the Gospel to me. His approach was different from that of other Christians to evangelize. He had audios and documents that destroyed all the arguments I had to dissuade other Christians. I later met the author of these audios and I was surprised that he was from PARAKOU the same city where I was and I had never heard or seen the said brochures. After discovering the fate reserved for Muslims, with supporting evidence, I understood my ignorance due to the fact that I did not understand anything about the exercises of reading Arabic verses that I was made to do and that I was trying to memorize. I received the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior and my God, but secretly because I was the muezzin of the mosque. That is, I was the one who called the people to prayer. I was also afraid of losing all the privileges I enjoyed as a Muslim. It wasn’t easy. My new parents took me as enemies as soon as they realized my new faith. My guardian changed radically with me. He only entrusted me with something if he had to. However, he couldn’t send me away because I was essential to him in managing his affairs. He wanted to do without me and to go bankrupt in some of his businesses. He tried many ways to intimidate me. I was more favored. His wife gave me food only once a day, and that was the evening meal. No more meat or any other animal protein. I was given a separate bowl to drink from. I had become like an animal. And I had no choice because I depended on him and I worked for him so that he could pay for my high school education. I give thanks to God who supported me in these difficult times and I was able to pay my contribution despite all this mistreatment. The Alpha of the neighborhood mosque where I was calling for prayer called me one day and told me that the gins (demons) would be angry with me because he too was already angry with me. He gave me ultimatums to think before he made a decision. Finally, my tutor openly told me that he was going to fire me but given the importance I had for him in his business, he kept me but forbade me from setting foot in the church. The atmosphere had become unbearable for me so I decided to leave myself. My tutor was so furious at my departure that he went to my family to prevent me from doing so. Eventually I was allowed to practice my new faith and God allowed me to be self-employed professionally. I ended up leaving his house but out of gratitude I still provided him with some help in his business for a while. Under pressure I almost fell prey to it several times but certain verses that I have checked myself come back to me and dissuade me. For example: Surah 46v9 in the Quran which shows that Muhammad himself is unaware of his fate in the afterlife. 

I wondered how I could rely on someone who had no self-confidence. Then there was Surah 72:21, where Muhammad himself stated that he had no means of guiding anyone on the right path. The worst part was Surah 19:71-72, which states that every Muslim’s first destination is hell. It was the last straw. When, in Surah 6:104, Muhammad asserted that he could not save anyone from the fire, it was clear to me. And nothing could make me backtrack when I compared it with the following passages from the Bible:

Luke 2:25-32, John 8:14, John 16:28. Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6), Jesus Christ is the one who saves (John 3:16-17). 

Brother Yann, who was my high school teacher, continued to make me listen, along with others like me, to the teachings of Brother Bernadin, through whom I saw my misery and desired the grace of God. I was then led to repentance a few weeks later and I knew God’s salvation for all men through his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Today, I live my faith in Christ and I am a CMCI student missionary to Muslims. I give all the glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.