EL CAJON, CALIFORNIA (ANS) -- Muslim converts to Christianity face torture and death.

So said two converts from a Middle Eastern country at "Islam and The Church" conference, a two-day event held at Foothills Christian Church Oct. 5 and 6 in El Cajon, California.

Both converts were raised by fervent Islamic parents, and spoke under pseudonyms, as they continue to face persecution in their home country.

One convert told stories of female converts to Islam abused by family members. These converts subsequently fled to the streets, in some cases sleeping in front of churches whose pastors and priests, fearing Islamists and police, had refused them refuge. Another convert said some young female converts had been poisoned to death by irate family members -- one within weeks of receiving baptism.

Both converts said they began to doubt the teachings of Islam as young children. Both continued to search for an understanding of God as they entered adulthood. They said God is portrayed in the Koran as capricious, and unloving. One wondered how such a God, who had created all people, including those professing Christianity and Judaism, could demand maltreatment of Christians and Jews, in edicts expressed through various Koranic and Islamic teachings.

Both agreed the Koranic paradise promised no eternal abode with God -- just a greater level of carnality. One convert said promises of a paradise of sexual delights with perpetual virgins -- an Islamic doctrine taught to him as a young child -- offered no real incentive to him as a young boy who wondered about the God who had created the heavens and the earth. The other convert also rejected the Islamic paradise, realizing the Koran held women in low esteem, and as such, devout Muslim women could expect little reward in the afterlife.

Both described a similar process of coming to know Christ through intensive personal searching and reading Christian literature and the Bible. One described being captured by Christ as if in a web, unable to escape the deep love he experienced for the person of Jesus after he had read the Gospels.

David Joseph, president of The Last Harvest, Inc., in El Cajon, California, spoke about the spirit of Islam -- the demonic power the ensnares Muslims with the delusion of Islam, and persecutes those who want to become Christians. "Christians need to be informed about Islam and the spirit of Islam in order to be able to pray strategically for the spread of the Gospel among Islamic countries," he said. "We love Muslims. They are not our enemies. We do not fight against flesh and blood -- we fight against spirits and principalities."

Joseph, a native Egyptian and now a U.S. citizen, described his vision of preparing the highway of the Middle East referenced in Isaiah 62:10. He told the 150 people in attendance that Christians today are called to prepare the highway for the second coming of Christ that is mentioned in Isaiah 19:23-24 -- a highway described as going from Egypt to Assyria to Israel.

"We are called -- every church, I believe, is called -- to help prepare this highway in the Middle East," said Joseph. "We are called to prepare this highway by helping to remove the stones that prevent Muslims from understanding the Gospel."

Joseph said The Last Harvest is working among a dozen Islamic nations in the Middle East to provide help and support through local pastors and churches to witness to Muslims and to provide practical aid to Muslim converts. Many converts have to leave their families after becoming Christians, and need places of refuge. Another organization Joseph was instrumental in founding is Advocates For The Persecuted, Inc., also of El Cajon, Calif. He said this organization will focus on providing advocacy and help to converts in Islamic countries.

Joseph is an expert in producing materials in Arabic specifically designed to answer questions Muslims commonly have about Christianity. His ministry to the Middle East includes radio broadcasts, websites, and a network of indigenous workers in over a dozen Middle Eastern countries that encourage and equip Christians to evangelize Muslims despite the difficulties and persecution they will encounter as they work in Islamic countries.

Joseph is author of a newly released book, "Let My People Go So They Can Worship Me," (August 2007), published through The Last Harvest ([->www.thelastharvest.com]). The book details the founding of his ministry in Egypt 26 years ago, and the account of how God led him to leave Egypt and come to the U.S. in 1991 in order to establish a ministry reaching Muslims for Christ.

The two-day free conference --"Islam and The Church" -- discussed various spiritual and practical issues involved in Christian ministry in the Middle East. The event also featured testimonies from Middle Eastern Christians.

The Last Harvest, Inc., of El Cajon, sponsored the conference, and Foothills Christian Church, of El Cajon, hosted the event at 315 W Bradley Ave, El Cajon. The Last Harvest is a Christian nonprofit organization that ministers biblical truth to Arabs and Muslims worldwide.

David Joseph, founder and president of The Last Harvest, discussed the main forces at work in Islamic nations that he says are causing pressure upon native churches, and are inflaming spiritual passion among Muslims. Joseph also talked about the spiritual oppression of Islam, and his vision regarding the "stones" that need to be removed from the "highway" (Isaiah 62:10). "These stones keep Muslims from understanding the Gospel," he says.

Other presenters included Muslim-background believers who discussed the challenges faced by those who have left Islam for Christ. Conference leaders also described the special challenges of ministering to women who leave Islam for Christianity.

"But, it's not just challenges," said Joseph. "There's good news, too. We also wanted the Christian community to hear some of the encouraging accounts of the many Muslims who are coming to Christ. We want them to know how God is circumventing the obstacles, and how the Lord is moving among the Islamic countries," said Joseph.

Charlie and Jan Fletcher, of Advocates For The Persecuted, Inc., in El Cajon, California, presented ways Americans can partner with Middle Eastern believers in changing the spiritual landscape of the Middle East.

Joseph is pastor of The Last Harvest Middle East Church, in El Cajon, and is the author of "Let My People Go So They Can Worship Me." (August 2007)

A U.S. citizen since 2000, David Joseph first came to the United States in 1991, following God's lead in order to establish a base of operations for a ministry to the Arab and Muslim world that now operates throughout the Middle East. He is president of the Middle Eastern Evangelical Churches Fellowship of America (MEFCA), and a former professor of Islam and Middle East culture at Southern California Bible School and Seminary, in El Cajon, Calif. The Last Harvest equips indigenous churches, supports church planting efforts in the Middle East, and proclaims the gospel through radio and television broadcasts and the distribution of Christian materials.

By Michael Ireland
www.spcm.org