I greet you in the beautiful and precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I am Sister Rachidath of the ADJOBADON family. In our family, our ancestors prophesied that there would be no Christians among the descendants of the ADJOBADONs. My grandfather was Aladji, meaning he had made the hajj (the pilgrimage to Mecca). I was born in Nigeria and stayed with my aunt’s husband, who is a fanatic of the Islamic religion. He was faithful in performing his daily Muslim prayers. It was into this rigor of religious devotion that I was born. From my childhood, I was taught how to pray and I remained attached to Muslim prayer until the time came to begin normal school. If I missed one of my prayers, I would receive whippings from my aunt’s husband. It had become a psychosis. I would repeat my prayers like a robot. As long as I performed them, or I would risk corporal punishment. In Nigeria, Classes ended in the afternoon, which allowed me to attend the Koranic school where my parents had enrolled me. I learned to read and write Arabic without understanding the meaning of what I was learning. After some time, my parents emigrated to BENIN, and I was able to have a Koranic teacher responsible for instructing me in the religion. I liked being called Azzia. In fact, in Islam, azzias are women who have made the pilgrimage to Mecca and who are considered pious because of their decent attire. I was not azzia, but I called myself azzia because of the honors. So much so, I was satisfied with Islam as the best of religions. I had grown up with the thought that the Christian community was limited to the Catholic Church. In middle school, I often chatted with Catholic Christians, whom I considered the worst sinners in the world because of the images in their places of worship. Images are a major sin in Islam. In ninth grade, I met a Christian woman from a Muslim background. I knew she had been a Muslim because she had kept her Muslim name after her conversion. It was a shock to me. In my mind, no Muslim can become a Christian. But I didn’t dare ask her about her faith. She was firm in her faith toward me because of my hostility toward Christians in class. I bragged about Islam in front of Christians, but once alone, I constantly felt uncertain about my salvation in Islam. When I thought about my fate in the afterlife, I always became sad, but I continued in Islam by giving myself courage. I was an avid reader and would read any book that fell into my hands. Despite my hostility toward Christians, I always took and brought home the New Testaments that some Christian groups came to distribute to us at school. I had several at home. One day, I decided to read them to see what was written there. That’s how I came into contact with the Gospel. In my reading, every time I read about the suffering of Jesus up to the crucifixion, I would hide and weep bitterly. But it was a passing emotion without my heart being touched. After a while, my aunt, who was also Muslim, started a newly established church in the neighborhood. I resisted her a lot when I learned that she was going to church. While she was going, all my sisters and even my mother followed her in search of solutions to their problems. I often felt alone without being tempted to accompany them. One day, they were talking among themselves about a screening program that was to take place at the church. It was the testimony of a man to whom the Lord revealed heaven and hell. They invited me to the program and I attended, I went mainly because of the question of heaven and hell. After the testimony, I was troubled. But the same aunt who had invited me reassured me not to trust these testimonies which are often nothing but pure lies. She managed to calm me down a little. In fact, she was not looking for salvation. She had just started the church to find a solution to her problem and then withdrew. But since that day, a great doubt has been born in me. I wanted to know more, so I voluntarily participated in another program of the church. At this program, the Pastor spoke with confidence about how salvation is impossible without Jesus. I had never experienced such confidence in Islam. After the teaching, they began by praying for me, I was only vomiting but I did not understand what was happening to me. I had not made any resolutions that day but the quest for the truth began from that day. I needed to withdraw to put my thoughts in some order. So I stopped attending any church programs. I stayed away from church for a long time when one day I met Pastor Bernadin in the neighborhood. He asked me why I no longer came to church. I told him that I am Muslim and on Sundays I don’t often have time. After that meeting, I went to church again to please Pastor Bernadin because I saw in him that he had something that I didn’t. After the service, he had a private conversation with me about salvation through Jesus’ death on the cross. It had become so clear to me. I realized that I was a certified sinner who deserved God’s judgment. But Christ took my punishment so that I would no longer continue in the old life but in obedience to Christ. The message of the cross was so true and so logical to me. And the theory of good works in Islam seemed completely false to me. I confessed my sins and received the Lord Jesus as my personal Savior. I subsequently had several other meetings with Pastor Bernadin on the comparative study of Islam and the Christian faith. During these meetings, I received answers to many of my questions that kept me in disbelief. I remembered that after believing, I still had questions about Islam. If salvation is only through Christ, the fate of these billions of Muslims is therefore hell. How could God allow all these people devoted to religion to be destined for hell? It is in the comparative studies of religions that I discovered day by day that Islam appears attractive on the outside but on the inside is rotten with crime, murder, assassination, rape, adultery and full of other abominations. One of the verses of the Quran that troubled me is Surah 19 v 71_72 where it is written in black and white that every Muslim must go through hell. In addition, I knew that the prophet of Islam died by poisoning and many other truths, without forgetting the sexual disorder in which Muhammad lived. All this gave me disgust for Islam and the love for Jesus continues to increase. When I received Jesus and I began to truly seek God, my parents stood up to prevent me from following Christ. My dad was bothered by my Bible reading. Every time my dad saw me reading the Bible, he would chase me out of the house. He came and surprised me one day while I was reading my Bible while it was raining. He was so furious that he chased me out of the room. So I went out in the rain with my Bible in hand to continue reading in another place. There was an uprising in the extended family and to intimidate me, my aunts in the village made threats to make me return to Islam. But I was taught enough to stand firm in the faith. I received the Lord while I was still a student. As I stood firm in the faith despite the threats, my parents disengaged. No more schooling, no more pocket money. It was very difficult but I still held on. One day, my dad sat me down to ask me to make a choice between continuing in the church and my academic future. I didn’t hesitate to tell him that I could never renounce Christ. It was final. From that day on, I would have to fend for myself to feed myself and continue my studies. I sincerely thank the Lord who rescued me through Pastor Bernadin, who welcomed me as his own daughter and took care of me to this day. I had become a subject of mockery and ridicule in the neighborhood. All those who, in search of a solution to their problem, had started the church in my family, gave up. I was left alone, and they sought to destroy my faith. There is a difference between seeking God and seeking what God gives. Many want what the Lord gives, but not the Lord himself. But I came to know Christ for the salvation of my soul. That is why I continued with Christ despite the uprisings. Today, I am one of Brother Bernadin’s co-workers in the house of prayer for the conquest of the Malsis. My heart abounds in gratitude to the glorious risen Savior. May all glory be given to Him!!! Amen