Pastor lives about a 10 minute walk from my house. He and his family are the nearest Christians in my neighborhood. When I went to visit them one time, he told me a bit of his past. It was very interesting, so I asked if I could hear the whole story and write it down.
Who am I? How did I become a Christian? In fact, it is a long story but let’s see how the Holy Spirit will help us.
My name is called Wahab Mohammed or Abdul Wahab Mohammed as Muslims say. I was born in a village called Sankpala about 22kms away from Tamale which is in the Savannah Region of Ghana. My parents are there, and all my brothers and sisters. On my mother’s side we were 9 but 6 children died leaving 3 of us, all boys. My father had 3 wives and they gave birth to many children. My father’s children are more than 25.
When we were growing up, they sent us to Arabic school. Though there was a school in the community which belonged to the Catholics, the mallams in the community said that when you allow your child to go to a Christian school, if the child dies or grows up and dies, the child will not go to heaven and the family will pay for that. So, they stopped us from going to school and sent us to Arabic School. This was my education as we grew up.
Growing up we wanted to learn about Islam. They told us it is the only religion that will send you to heaven. We loved Islam and we worked hard in our learning. As time went on, people traveled south to study the Koran even more and I followed them. When I completed the training, I was 18 years old. I returned to my village, Sankpala, and started gathering my people, teaching them what I had learned.
For some time, I felt within me that I would like to go to school. When I came from the Arabic school, we formed a group of 6 to help each other with farming. I was 20 years old. We helped each other but they all started to get married. I said, “not me, I want to go to school,” and they thought I was joking. “You are 20 years old, and you want to go to school? We cannot understand you.” I told them within me I don’t want to get married; I wanted to go to school.
I went to my father and told him I wanted to go to school. My father said, “I cannot understand you. Look at your friends.” But again, I said, “this is what I feel inside me.” He did not agree with me. I went to a mallam who was friends with my father and still my father did not agree. He told me I should farm. So, I decided to sell some of my crops, like ground nuts, to get money, and I moved to Tamale to live.
Before I came to Tamale there was a time I was in contact with a church, an Evangelical Presbyterian Church. These people came to start a church in Sankpala. Many people from Sankpala came out to sit under the tree to listen to them. I went to one of the mallams and said, “these people are coming to mislead our people. These people are not good,” and the mallams agreed with me. I gathered my friends and my father’s donkey. I used the donkey to fetch water and then I sold the water. I used the money to buy slingshots.
The next Sunday, we waited for the church people to finish. There were some benches and old ladies and people from Tamale. We were hanging around as the church people came in their pickup truck. They started singing and clapping their hands and calling out, “Issa, Issa the Son of God”. We really didn’t like that. We didn’t like to hear that Jesus is the Son of God. It is like pouring fire on somebody. I told my friend we should use the slingshots and hit them which did. The pastor and catechist and people ran into their car and others into their homes. After this incident I moved to Tamale.
I was 21 years old when I started primary school. I had never been to school. The Arabic school was only studying the Koran and Islam. I had not even learned the ABC’s. I came to Tamale by myself and put myself into school. I went to stay with some uncles, but they sacked me from their home. They said I should go back to the village. Three of them said I should go back to Sankpala. I refused. If I went back to the village I would only farm and then I would have to marry.
Fortunately, one of my uncles, not a close family member, had a wife who was disabled. She was a teacher but used a staff and wheelchair to get around. She needed someone strong to fetch water, push her, and help in the house. I saw that uncle and he said I could stay if I helped his wife. She taught at the Lamashigu Primary School. Since I was helping her, she said I could attend the school.
The headmaster was named Mr. Kala, and when he saw me, he said he did not want me coming because I was a grown up. At that time when grown-ups would come to school, they were known to beat the teachers. Some were older than the teachers! He did not want me to come because he thought I would do that to his teachers. I kneeled, I begged, “Please I won’t do that.” The headmaster said he would give me admission, but he would keep his eyes on me. If I misbehaved, he said he would sack me. So that is how I started school.
Primary one (Grade 1) at the age of 21 years was where I started. Then because I worked hard and was serious about my education, I was promoted to Primary 4 within the year. The teacher was impressed that I was so serious. He invited me to come to his house for extra learning. We would eat and go to his house, and he would teach me. His father had a garden, and I would help him weed. The teacher was happy that I helped him. It was good. He really helped me learn.
When students from Primary 6 were moving to junior high, my teacher said I could also go. I was like, “no, I don’t know anything, you can’t send me.” He said, “I am your teacher; I know you. You are even better than others in town. So, I will send you.” He sent me to Kaladan SDA Junior High School.
There was a prominent mallam near that school which was connected to a church. He took the church land by force and built a mosque. He also took some property of the school but by doing that the mosque was close to the school. It is where we did our Muslim prayers and even though, the school was a Christian school, we the Muslims were the majority. We did whatever we wanted to do. The teachers were afraid of us.
I was made the Student’s Imam. Anytime it was time to pray, and we heard the call to pray, no matter if the teacher was teaching or not, when I got up and said, “it is time,” all the Muslims would get up and go out leaving the teacher. It was in this way that the Muslims were misbehaving.
As time went on, I hated Christians. Those I could beat, I would beat them, especially when they said Jesus is the Son of God. I got so annoyed at them. When I was in the school, I would not even give you a chance to say something against Islam, or that God is the Father of Jesus. I would argue with them to the extent we would even exchange blows and I would beat them up again!
In February 2005 the Gideons came to the school to share New Testament Bibles. I was part of the school leaders. I oversaw the students to keep the school grounds clean. The headmaster of this school called us student leaders to come and help distribute the Bibles. I told my friends, “Nobody should touch the Bible, it is a sin! It is full of lies. There is no truth in it, if you touch it and die you will go to hell.”
The Christian students among us went and told the headmaster. He called me and said, “if you say that again I will sack you from this school and I will write bad reports about you, and you will never get admission into another school.” That made me afraid. I did not want to stop school. So, I helped them share the Bibles class by class. The remaining ones were brought back to the headmaster. He looked at us and told us to take one for ourselves. I refused. He repeated it and said don’t forget or I will sack you and write bad reports against you. So, I then went and took it. When I took the Bible, everything began to change.
At that time, I was leading two mosques in town in their prayers. I was teaching people how to read the Koran. When people saw me carrying that little Bible, they asked me why I was carrying it. I just said it was something from school. But nothing came into my mind that I should throw it away. I was holding it until I got to my house. Immediately I opened the door to my room it was like some spirit entered me and I became angry with the Bible, but instead of me throwing it outside I rather threw it into my room, and it remained there in my corner.
The mallam who taught me how to read the Koran was someone who could write and do charms. Charms are, let’s say, things to do to someone to control their actions. For example, if somebody would have a bad spirit or be possessed and someone would bring the person to the mallam, the mallam would write something on a chalk board and wipe it off with water. Taking the water, he would make the person drink the water with the dust from the board. We would write things from the Koran and then add some things into it like perfume. Or we would go to the bush and get some herbs or roots to make some incense and perfumes and put it on the fire and the scent would drive away the demon. Or somebody can come and say, “my business is not going well. I don’t get customers.” So, an Imam could make some incense, or you could use a powder form and mix it with oil or lotion for the person to be using to get customers. Or maybe you wanted to propose to a particular lady, and she is not accepting. You can do some charms and put it in money and rub it with the money and then give the money to the woman. When the woman receives it there is no way the woman will escape you.
There were a lot of other charms we were using to do things If you wanted to separate a couple, because you are also interested in that girl. We could use charms to break them apart. This is the work that some mallams do. We would write verses from the Koran and add perfume into it. Those evil perfumes attracted people to the power. We used different perfumes which were attractive and helped people get what they wanted. Of course, when you helped people to get what they wanted, the person would have to give you some money for what you were ablet to do for them.
I was a committed Muslim like how I am committed to Christianity now. I was somebody who if you needed me, you could find me in the mosque. I truly loved Islam. I would call for prayers, lead prayers, teach and I would also do charms. People said they liked the way I did the call to prayer because it was done in an Arabic way. I was doing all this in Tamale.
So, like I said before, they gave us Gideon New Testaments. They asked us to take one. I didn’t throw it away on my way home. But when I got to my house, I became annoyed, and I threw it inside when I opened the door, and it was lying there until the month of April.
It was the second week of April, before Easter. It was a Friday evening that I had an encounter with Jesus Christ. This was the way it happened; I am convinced now that this was Jesus speaking to me. I heard the true voice twice. It was His voice. What happened you see, was that we believe in witches, and they attack people. So, I was in my room on a Friday evening or maybe 3am Saturday morning. I was sleeping but it was not a dream, I felt some heaviness on me. I tried to get up, but I could not get up. It was heavy like someone was sitting on me pressing me down. I struggled… I was like hmph…I struggled until I was sweating. So, I laid there wondering what is this? Maybe a witch or bad spirit? I could not even cry. So, after a few seconds, the load left me. When the load left me I began to hear a voice, “Go and pick up the Bible.” I heard it loud and clear; it was not a dream. I said, “No, this is a demon.” So, I went and picked up my kettle of water and performed ablution to pray against that bad spirit that attacked me.
In the Koran there is a chapter that Muslims use for occasions when wanting protection, so I began reading the chapter for protection. Our mallam said there are portions that you should read when you are attacked by demons. They believed that by reading them, God would let them leave immediately. When you recite it, we believed you might see fire and demons jumping on trees. But God willing, he will intervene. So, that night I wanted to recite it, but I couldn’t.
(One thing about the Koran, it is not like reading the Bible. Reading the Bible, while you read the Holy Spirit helps you to understand the meaning. For the Koran, you must read the true Arabic and then go back again and then start learning the meaning. Or you only read and recite it like singing, but you wouldn’t know the meaning unless you go back to someone who knows the meaning. They are the ones who will teach you the meaning which will take you years and sometimes includes going to Saudi Arabia to learn it even more.)
When I tried to recite the prayer, I couldn’t do it. I messed up. My body was shaking. I couldn’t pray and found it difficult to stand. I said, “what is going on?” A second time I heard the voice, “Go and pick up the Bible.” I heard it. I said, “no” but I went and picked it up.
It was afraid something bad would happen to me if I didn’t pick it up. Fear came on me and I went and got the Bible. I never opened it. But I heard the voice, “Open to John 14:6.” I was holding it in my hands and my hands were shaking. I had never opened a Bible before. I didn’t know what John 14:6 was or what it meant. Still, I opened it, and it was like a light from my eyes went into the Bible. This verse was written in bold and stuck out to me. It was like that was the only verse there was to find.
Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life no one goes to the Father except thru me.” Ei! When I read that, I don’t know what happened. It was like something went out of me and something came in. The sadness I was feeling was gone replaced by a deep joy within me. Questions were flowing out of me from left to right to center. The questions kept coming and I felt my heart beating very hard.
I used to call out for morning prayers at 4 am with the loudspeaker. But that morning at 4 am I did not go out, someone else did it. I stayed inside. It felt like the Spirit was saying to me, if Jesus said, ‘I am the way the truth and the life and nobody goes to the Father except thru me,’ then what is the meaning of Al-Fatiha, Aya 5-7 in the Koran? When we go to pray, we recite it. The Aya says, “show us the straight way, the way of those whom you have bestowed your grace. Those who are not wrathful and who do not go astray.”
More questions began to come, “who are those people that God has shown the right way or the straight way?” So, I thought, “if God has shown some people the way and Jesus said I am the way then those people have found Jesus. It must mean that Jesus is the way.
Again, it seemed as if the Holy Spirit took me to another chapter in the Koran, Al-Baqara sura 2 Aya 62. It says, “Those who believe and those who follow Jews, and Christians, and Sabeans, anyone who believes in Allah and the last day their work of righteousness shall have their reward with their Lord and on them shall be no fear nor shall they grieve.” This is in the Koran. When I was a Muslim, and you came across something like this you ask your mallam or Arabic instructors about it and they said it is referring to Christians before Mohammed. When they say that, you are under the spirit of Islam, and you accept all that they say.
But the Holy Spirit revealed to me, if we are saying Christians are going to hell but God is saying Christians are going to heaven then I don’t think there is truth about them going to hell. I must listen to God. The Spirit used these thoughts to convince me 100% that John 14:6 was true.
At this time the house I was living in, when it is time for prayers and children are playing, I was given power by my landlord to beat them if they would not go and pray. This was how important it was that I could teach them the Koran. I was so serious. The day after this encounter happened everyone was out or went to work. I came out from the room Saturday afternoon at 12. My encounter started almost 24 hours before. During that time people came and knocked on my window, which was close to the mosque, but I couldn’t talk to anyone. I stayed inside. I wasn’t hungry. I was just there, and the questions were flowing. When I finally came out, my landlord’s wife was still around. She said, “Abdul Wahab, you are in your room? We called you and you didn’t respond.” When I opened my mouth I told her, “Ma, from today I am no more a Muslim.” She said, “Ei! (an expression of surprise) what are you saying?” I said, “I am no more a Muslim.”
I had a brother, but his house was far. As for that brother, I didn’t like him at all. But after that encounter with Christ, I went to his house. He was someone who likes singing and he was singing and playing music in the house. I knocked. He came to the door, and he said, “why are you here?” “I want to tell you something” I said, “my brother, when you go to church tomorrow pass thru my house, I will go with you.” “What?! I can’t hear what you said.” I repeated myself. He was looking at me and then he started singing and praising God. He prayed with me. I left him and took my bicycle and went to my village. However, at the same time, the landlord’s wife was running to the mallam’s house, and telling Imams that I was possessed. They should try and talk to me.
I took my bicycle and went to Sankpala. My father was there preparing to go to the farm. “Wahab, why are you here at this time?” “Daddy, I have come to tell you something. I have come to tell you I am no longer Muslim I am a Christian. He was like, “what is the problem?” I said, “I just came to tell you because you are my father.” He said, “no problem some friends of mine are Christians when I used to work in town.”
But when I left my father’s place, he told other family members and then the problems started. Those family members told Imams and the Imams would not agree. They influenced my father saying things like, “if Wahab greets you and you respond and you die, you will go to hellfire.” So, my father became afraid. He turned around. When my father would go to mosques, he would tell people that if they see me, they should kill me. I went through a lot during that time. Sometimes, I would be walking in the village, and someone would pass me and give me a slap. When they slapped me, I would say, “God forgive them”. Also, just like Jesus, I said, they do not know what they are doing.
Six months after my conversion they planned to poison me. They put it into a porridge. I went to visit them in the village, and they offered me porridge. Actually, I really like porridge and they knew me well. The woman who gave it to me was a woman I trusted, not knowing she was influenced by the men in the community. They told her, because I have left Islam that when they kill me, heaven is the reward for the one who does it. This influenced her so she put poison in the porridge. As I was stirring it in my bowl. I heard a voice two times, “Do not take the porridge.” But I heard another voice, “If you do not take it, they will think that you are suspecting them.” As I continued stirring. I thought, “Let me just take one spoon so they know I am not rejecting their gift.” When I had the spoon near my mouth, I heard a voice say, “Don’t take it.” but I took just one spoon. Less than 30 minutes later, I began to feel bad. My stomach was rumbling, and I had severe pain. I went to the roadside and got transportation to Tamale. Later on, the pain was terrible and someone took me to the hospital. They put a tube into my stomach for drainage which allowed green stuff to come out. The doctor said they had to get the poison out before it could go all over my body. It was like I died and came back. The doctors treated me special. They wouldn’t let people in to visit except for a brother, we had different mothers but the same father. He was an Imam, but he respected me and didn’t look down on me. Even now, he is a faithful brother.
The night before they sent me to surgery, I had a dream. I was crying during this dream and had to be tied down. A nurse asked me, “Wahab, what is wrong?” I said, “they are chasing me.” She was a Christian and started praying. I saw three people; they were like chimpanzees. They were chasing me to arrest me. In the dream I was running calling, “Jesus, Jesus.” As I was running, I came to a wide deep gutter. I couldn’t jump over it. I cried, “JESUS!” and found I was on the other side. The chimpanzees stayed on the other side. The doctor was a white man. He was talking to me as they gave me anesthesia… and then I was out. Poom! I felt something going on, but I didn’t know what was going on. I had no pain. I was operated on and then brought to a recovery room.
A pastor friend explained the dream for me a few days later as I talked with him on the phone. The pastor had a revelation of the meaning of that dream. He wanted to know how I was. My pastor friend asked me, “Wahab what has happened? I saw a revelation of 3 people who wanted to kill you.” So, then I told him the story. He said, “praise the Lord you have overcome!”
After I was discharged, I had to return for dressings until the wounds were healed. I was in high school at that time. I finally recovered and finished high school. In school, I was telling people about Jesus and was doing evangelism. It was only natural that I became an evangelist. I was going from village to village telling people about Christ. Some churches, too, were asking me to come to help those who felt like going to Islam. However, when I shared my testimony about Islam it encouraged them.
I was telling people about Christ and then later that year at Easter there was a program at a Presbyterian church. I was one of the speakers but still a baby Christian! They gave me opportunity to share my testimony – who I was and how I became a Christian. That day about 5-6 Muslims gave their lives to Christ. If I am not mistaken, since that time until now, the Muslims who gave their lives to Christ is more than 50. I have told them all not to go back to Islam.
In the village of Sankpala, they used to hate me, but now they love me. Only a few are those who don’t like me, and the number is not even up to 10. Those who used to slap me are my friends. I not only tell them about Jesus, but my life also speaks to them. They love me because they knew me before when I was stubborn, very stubborn. In fact, even if you were my grandmother, and you do something to me I would get back at you. I would beat people and use my slingshot and use stones to hurt them. Those village people knew me well. At one time when mangoes were ripe, I would steal people’s mangoes and they would chase me. I would take my slingshot and shoot them with stones.
Now they look at me and say, “Ei!” I once went to greet my stepmothers and the head of the family was there. The man said among all my father’s children he thought I would never turn out to be good, but he was surprised. I know this is because I follow Jesus. He used to be against me but now that man, whatever I say, he listens. I can even talk to my father about Jesus.
When I am sitting with my father I would say, “Daddy, how do you see me? when I was a Muslim and now, do you see a difference? Do you see changes?” He laughs at me and says, “I know what you want me to tell you.” The way I humble myself now compared to before is so different. I respected no one, I had no humility. But he has seen a difference in me. I said that is how Christ has made me and he has changed me. That same Jesus can do that for anybody who gives their life to him. I told him Jesus loves him. My father has made no decision yet.
The woman who gave me the porridge, she later confessed to me. She said my brothers told me to do it, but later she regretted. I told her I have nothing against her. The woman again was nice to me. When I gave my life to Christ, it was not it easy. Even now I go through some challenges because I am a Christian.
One thing I believe is if you are led to talk to someone and they accept Christ, if they do not really accept Him and do not have the Holy Spirit, they will not stand the challenges. I look at myself and I can’t understand how I became a Christian without someone even asking me if I wanted to. Though people did evil things to me, the joy has come. I never felt discouraged to walk away and I have found real joy. It is my understanding that if someone has the Holy Spirit, even when the world is pushed to kill you, you will stand.
When some people look at me, I say look, I am happy in Christ. The joy I am having even when I do not have food to eat, the joy is still there because I have Christ. I believe Jesus no matter what. But when someone follows you without being convinced by the Holy Spirit and the way he lives his life is nice, and they say they accept Christ... hmmmm…discipleship really needs to happen because first you will be their god, not the true God, they will follow you and your message and life but not be convicted by the Spirit. Their faith will not last.
You will really have to work on that person until they understand who Christ is to them. Because when the storms come, that person will not last or when you disappoint them their faith will disappear. I have had many encounters with these people. They decide to follow Jesus and they start going to church. However, when the family comes out and says, “if you don’t leave Christianity, you are not part of the family. Don’t come to us again.”
When this happens often the person will just leave Jesus. Or some of them, when they have needs and they come to you, and are unable to solve the problem they become discouraged. I believe when the Holy Spirit convicts you there is no language you can tell me that will pull me away or make me think negatively about Christianity.
What I want someone to remember from this testimony is that we are not going to remain on this earth, whether we like it or not, we will leave. You cannot just go to heaven without passing thru a way, not just A Way but the Right Way. The right way we are talking about is Jesus Christ. Know then that Jesus is the Way. Yes, without Jesus you can’t have access to heaven.
