Muslim refugees converting to Christianity in Berlin church

By Marvie Basilan, Christian Post Contributor Tuesday, September 08, 2015

Hundreds of Muslim refugees are converting to Christianity and committing their lives to God at a Berlin church in Germany.

According to the Christian Broadcasting Network, many Muslims who have fled their homes in Iran and Afghanistan are converting to the Christian faith, with the Evangelical Trinity Church reporting that the community has grown from a mere 150 to 600 members in just two years.

Mohammed Ali Zonoobi, an Iranian who sought asylum in Germany was recently baptized and shared his story. "I feel like I am born again," he said in tears.

Zonoobi's name has now been changed to Martin as he is no longer a Muslim, but a full-blown Christian who made an oath with God that he will "break away from Islam."

Zonoobi fled his Iranian city of Shiraz and moved to Germany with his wife and two children about five months ago. He is only one of the hundreds of Iranian and Afghan asylum seekers who have turned away from their Islam faith and surrendered to God at the church located in a leafy neighborhood in Berlin.

The church's pastor, Gottfried Martens, said he believes that God is working and slowly but surely changing the lives of the refugees. "I know that sometimes people also come here because their hope is that they will be granted asylum status," he said. "I invite these people in because I think that coming here does change people, despite their original motivation for doing so."

Martens accepted the fact that some of the refugees purposefully convert so they can have more chances of staying in Germany, but the pastor also noted that motivation is important to change the viewpoint and beliefs of the refugees who can't be blamed for doing what it takes to have a place they can call home.

The Associated Press says Muslims who convert to Christianity in Afghanistan and Iran are punishable by death or imprisonment, thus Germany would most probably not decide to deport Iranian and Afghan refugees back to their original homes.