Two converts to Christianity from Islam killed in Yemen

Image: Yemen's beautiful capital Sana

In the past few months, two men who had converted to Christianity from Islam have been killed in Yemen, according to WEA. In Taiz in southwestern Yemen, a Christian man was attacked and shot dead by a suspected member of al-Qaeda in September. On October 2, another Christian man was shot and killed in his home. Those killed were known to openly profess their Christian faith.

Yemen, a country where 99.9% of the population is Muslim, is governed by Sharia law and is currently plagued by civil war.

The Danish European Mission has previously helped converts from the country escape fanatical Muslims who were out to kill them, including attending Bible school in another Muslim country with slightly freer conditions. One of them, Rami*, was subjected to an actual murder attempt, but being a strong and agile young man, Rami managed to defend himself and escape his pursuers. He was helped out of the country and first sought refuge in a Muslim country where he had Christian contacts.

He later attended Bible school in a third Muslim country. Rami is a personal acquaintance of the Secretary General of the Danish European Mission, and he returned to Yemen after attending Bible school to participate in the missionary work of one of the small evangelical churches, but when he traveled to visit his wife in her home country for the birth of their first child and returned to Yemen, he was arrested upon entry and imprisoned by the security police. He was threatened with execution if he did not renounce his Christian faith. He had just become a father, so of course the pressure was incredibly high.

Rami's wife approached the Danish European Mission with a plea for help. We immediately contacted high-ranking diplomats and influential politicians who brought their influence to bear on the Yemeni government. Diplomacy worked and Rami was released, but only after almost two months. However, he was initially banned from leaving the country. He only got his passport back after another three months, and then he had to travel to his wife's country, which is also Muslim, but not as strict as Yemen. If he had brought his wife and young son to Yemen instead, the son would have been forcibly Islamized, i.e. registered as a Muslim because the father was born Muslim, which is passed on to the children and can never be officially lifted, even when the mother is a Christian woman.

Rami is well-educated and best equipped to preach the gospel to Muslims, not least because his native language is Arabic.

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