I still remember to this day my first encounter with a Muslim.  One of the boys brought his friend to the youth house.  […]  What I do remember is the boy saying “I brought my friend ‘so and so’, he’s a Muslim and I want to help him become a Christian”.  I was absolutely amazed by this 14 year old kid, he was calm and friendly! […] It blew my mind!

The Muslim kid left a copy of the Quran on the shelf, […] I started reading it.  I soon became infuriated with this book when I saw that it made more sense than the Bible.  […]The youth group used to go to various Churches on weekends to prayer events and Saturday nights were spent in a huge Church instead of at the bar.  I remember being at one such event called ‘The Well’ and I felt so close to God and wanted to humble myself and show my Creator my love for Him.  I did what felt natural, I prostrated.  I prostrated like Muslims do in the daily prayers, yet I didn’t know what I was doing, all I knew was, that it felt really good… it felt right. […] 

I felt myself slowly slipping away from the Church as my faith ebbed away.  It was at this time that my best friend, the Christian man who had helped me come to Christ, along with another close friend of mine, raped my girlfriend who I had been with for two years.  […]  A couple of weeks later, it was revealed that the man who ran the youth house had molested one of the boys that I was friends with.

My world was shattered!  […] I had nothing left to give, I was empty again. […]  A little while after, my manager at work told me that a “Moslem” would be working with us, he was really religious and we should try to be decent around him. […]

He didn’t swear, he never got angry and was always calm, kind and respectful.  I was truly impressed and decided that he would make an excellent Christian.  We went back and forth asking things about each other’s religions, but after a time I felt myself getting more and more defensive.  […] I felt it was he who was on the truth!  […] I was convinced that if I could only pray there again, I could get the feeling back and the strong faith and then I could convert the Muslim.  […]

I started to realize that I was being pushed in a certain direction, so I prayed over and over to my Creator to surrender my will to His[…] I sat up in bed and cried, ‘Jesus, God, Buddha, whoever You are, please, please guide me, I need You! […] If Christianity is the correct way then make me strong, and if it is Islam, then bring me to it!’  […] I went to work the next day and said to the Muslim brother “how do I say ‘hi’ to you?”  He asked me what I meant and I said, “I wanted to become a Muslim”.  He looked at me and said “Allahu Akbar!”  We hugged for a good minute or so and I thanked him for everything and I began my journey into Islam.

I look back at all the events that happened in my life over time, and I realize that I was being prepared to become a new Muslim.  I was shown so much mercy from God.  Out of all that happened in my life, there was something to learn.  I learned the beauty of the Islamic prohibition of intoxicants, the prohibition of illegal sex, and the need for the Hijab.  […]

For those of us who have accepted Islam at some point in our lives, we truly are blessed and fortunate.  […]Islam truly is a way of life, and even if we suffer poor treatment by fellow Muslims or non-Muslims, we must always remember to be patient and turn only to God. […]

May God increase our faith and make it in accords to that which pleases Him and grant us His Paradise, Amen!

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The current of life can drag you to a place you would never think of going.  Our fate is not in our hands, although it would seem to be; in its very veins are traces of handprint totally in contrast to ours.  I have learned this wonderful truth in my own personal laboratory called life.

My spiritual adventure started when I was a teenager.  Worldly life gave me no fulfillment so I turned my head to a different road-“Religion”.  I joined the Born-again movement and was very enthusiastic.  My passion brought me to full time ministry and I was trained to become a Pastor.

Years went by, the challenges and my personal assessment in the church led me to question my faith.  What came after was years spent in struggle that eventually led me to distance myself away from the church and into the worldly life once again.  But maybe because I was really searching for fulfillment my craving for spirituality continued.  This time I experimented with other religions: Vaisnavism (a branch of Hinduism), new age philosophy, Buddhism then Islam.

What I found in Islam was totally different from what I heard in the news and saw in the movies.  I discovered that it is a religion of peace that seeks the betterment of society.  The laws and moral codes are there to forge equality, justice, and dignity among the people.  Islam dwells more on solving real life issues than ecclesiastical doctrines by providing practical solutions. […]  By the guidance of Allah I was able to find one here in Cebu, Alhamdulillah!

Now I am training to become a good Daa’ee (propagator of Islam).  The more I read about Islam the more I am falling in love with it.  There are more jewels to be discovered as long as we stay focused and look for solutions rather than burying our hands in the mud of negativity.  As long as we are determined, we will be successful.  Ameen! Ameen! Ameen!

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