Salvation from Islam

One of the most exciting things that I have seen through CARE for AIDS during this past month was the salvation of our first Muslim client, Amina Machuma Shebari, in the Kangemi CFA center.  David and Esther, the center workers at Kangemi, met Amina soon after they started recruiting the first group of clients for the new center.  She was very weak, mostly as a result of taking her medication improperly.  It seemed that she lived in a kind of self-denial, where she would refuse to take her ARV's for days at a time and had extremely low self esteem.  Her living conditions were poorly cared for, and she existed almost entirely alone.  They discovered that her extended family and her faith community had rejected her, and "she felt as if she had no home."

Esther and Amina

While many of these factors come into play in a majority of our clients, the fact that Amina was a Muslim presented David and Esther, and the rest of the CFA team, with a completely new situation.  Esther admits that she was "in great fear of her religion."  As in America, many people here in Kenya don't really understand Islam, and violence is strongly associated with Muslims because of stories and reports from neighboring countries like Somalia and Ethiopia.  Nevertheless, Amina became part of the client group at Kangemi and began attending center days and seminars at the Full Gospel Church of Kenya - Kangemi.  After an introductory service, which included a time of worship and a message from the head pastor, Bishop Chege, Amina confessed to David and Esther that she had finally "found a place she could call home."  She was amazed at the love and care she received from the church, and she started to have deeper and more involved conversations with David about the Bible and the gospel message.  A few weeks later, she made the decision to accept Christ as her savior.

Only a month into the operation of the center at Kangemi, we are already seeing God do amazing things through the church and the community.  In addition to Amina, five other clients have already made first-time decisions to follow Christ.  Many more clients, like Amina, have now learned the importance of properly taking their medication and are demonstrating drastically improved health and strength.  Over the next eight months, we pray that God will continue to work in all 80 of the clients - spiritually, physically, economically, and socially - transforming their lives in the way that only He can.  As we open centers closer to Nairobi and eventually on the eastern side of the city, we will progressively be exposed to more and more Muslim-dominated communities.  Please pray that God would use CARE for AIDS as a light in these dark places.