Dear Agatha,

I am so happy that I have at last summoned courage to send you this e-mail. I am a medical student in one of the Northern based universities in Nigeria.

The problem I am about to share started while in secondary school, when I developed interest in Christianity. This was despite being from a very strict Islamic family with a father who wasn’t only an Islamic teacher, but also a very fanatical one ready to do anything in the interest of his religion.

I sometimes sneaked to church when he wasn’t around or the coast sufficiently clear enough for me.

Somehow he found out and I instantly became his number one enemy so much so he threatened to stop me from going to school and marrying me off to a man his age.

Shortly after he found out the particular church I was sneaking to for service, it was gutted by a mysterious fire said to be an accident, yet I know who must have sent people to set the place ablaze.

During my brief interactions with Christians, I leant something important: prayer is the key to solving all problems.

Agatha, right now I’m so scared. I have come to cherish the freedom of Christianity where I really want to be.

I have begged my father to allow me complete my programme, but he has given the condition that he would only agree to my request if I denounce my new faith and return to Islam. He called me a disgrace to the family. Although I don’t want to go back, I have dreamt of becoming a surgeon.

I am so confused. Do I commit suicide? Would I go to heaven if I take my own life? I need help, advice and encouragement from real Christians. Is this what it takes to became a Christian-so much suffering and emotional torture? I might not have the chance to read your advice on your page, that is why I am giving my number, 07055657904 and email alayuaminna@yahoo.com, just for your prayers because the pressure is to much on me now.

I decided to share my own story and problem with you after I read about one Mr. Abdul sometime last year. I called him; he sounded so happy as told me his new life in Christianity is the best now. He told me to be strong that God will see me through. He also told me about who helped him. Beg I want to join the Christian family because that is where my heart belongs.

Amina.

Denounce whatever he wants you to denounce, get your degree, and pick it up later. That is wisdom.

I think i'll go with Seun on this one.My dear it will be foolhardy to try anything foolish like calling his bluff & you won't go to heaven either if you commit suicide God does not work on expediency.Thus i'd recommend you play along until you've graduated,anything else wld be suicidal,literally.

My dear Amina, it is better you look before you leap. Simply because someone's life is better somewhere does not guarantee yours to be ditto.
If only you know the repercussion of what you are about do not only to you but also to your parent, u start worshiping them because what you can see on a roof top on your foot, they see on their sit.
So far you are not married, it's better you heed because they know best. It is you life. But better save than sorry. Good luck

Sadly for you, if you're looking for a religion, then Christianity ain't for you!

Christianity is not a religion, but a way of life! A way that shows you the true reflection of yourself in the mirror. Religion is all about fanaticism and most times leads to aggressiveness and destructions.

Christianity is a way that convince and tell you the difference between good and bad through the Spirit of the most High GOD ( not Allah).

Go for Christ and you'll witness no more crisis in your life.

@post
so you love your new religion so much that your more than willing to sacrifice your precious education to serve god of the bible? If you had sense you'd complete your education first and get a good job then you dump your old religion for your new one.

Seun:

Denounce whatever he wants you to denounce, get your degree, and pick it up later. That is wisdom.

ur definition of wisdom is ridiculously wrong.

@ OP

Stick to ur belief. . .have faith . . .and ur faith will c u through.

@OP there's no crown without its cross, to be a xtian does not guarantee a life without problems and mind you if you truly become a xtian it's very much likely that you'll be persecuted. In my own case I was born a xtian into baptist church but when i decided to go pentecostal (this does not mean baptist church are bad) at the age of 15 years my parents refused to cater for me anymore! but here i am today having passed through all these persecutions I came out better off. It was rough initially but through prayer, perseverance and the help of other xtians (unfortunately not many are available these days) I was able to sail through.

I want you to remember that the Bible says that no man that set his hand on a plough and turn back is fit for the kingdom, denoucing Jesus now just to enable you have you degree is not a very good attitude for any heaven seeking Xtian. As a xtian you just don't serve God when its easy and convenient for you but also during difficult situation, temptation and persecution. You must remember that having your degree may be good but it does not guarantee success, only God almighty determine who'll be succesful. He is a God that can even bring out someone from the dunghill to become king.
I pray that God almighty will lead you and guide you in this difficult period of trial.

I can see you are in a deep state of dilemma tough decision has to be made but if i were u. I d obey then after my degree i wil continue with my choice of religion

Call their bluff first,

@OP: This happened to me 12 years ago (and no, it wasn't a Muslim background, it was something else entirely) but I held on to my Faith in Christ and it was really very rough but I was victorious in the end! However, I can't force my own experience into yours because for one, Amina is a lady and I'm a guy. There are some levels of social liberty that incline more towards guys than ladies. e.g. a guy may just leave the house if the torment is unbearable, most ladies may not really be able to do so.

I will like Amina to think of it this way: She should imagine she is an undercover agent for Christ, in the mean time; and try to be at peace with her family, but in her heart, know where your allegiance lies. EXCEPT if she prays about it and God says she should take drastic steps, she shouldn't do anything stupid. Some over-protective fathers believe that killing their wards may be the solution to an internal religious crises in the family. If the father kills Amina, her testimony ends there. And I'm not even certain she really knows what she is doing right now, still talking about suicide.

What I understand about these matters is that God sees the heart when man sees the outward appearance. She does not need to go to church to grow. She can smuggle Christian materials into the house or even study them secretly in school, and stay away from home as much as possible (thank God for medical school, you can say you are busy studying). And when she needs to go home, she can go through the motions along with the family, until she can break free. All this stuff I'm saying is assuming that she is not yet independent enough to break free right now.

---

Personally, if I was in an iron-curtain country and Christianity was prohibited, it will be fool-hardy of me to go to the streets and start yelling the gospel at the top of my voice except that is exactly what God asked me to do. if God asks you to do so, he will either provide a way of escape or it would be to his pleasing that you are completing your assignment on earth.

Either way, you're good to go. Otherwise if you are on your own, its FOOLISH! VERY FOOLISH!! Rather, I will just be very quiet and reserved in the streets, that way nobody knows which side I'm on. But when it's one on one or I know I can get away with it, I will do my best to minister the gospel.

Joh 8:58 Jesus replied, I assure you, most solemnly I tell you, before Abraham was born, I AM. [Exod. 3:14.]
Joh 8:59 So they took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus, by mixing with the crowd, concealed Himself and went out of the temple [enclosure].

---

I see no big deal in complying if I'm FORCED to enter a mosque and go through the motions because I know I'm not worshipping anything, it's just like a piece of dance-drama with diverse sonorous songs. I guess that's a controversial view but see here: (The Message, 1 Cor 8:3-10)

1Co 8:3 We never really know enough until we recognize that God alone knows it all.
1Co 8:4 Some people say, quite rightly, that idols have no actual existence, that there's nothing to them, that there is no God other than our one God,
1Co 8:5 that no matter how many of these so-called gods are named and worshiped they still don't add up to anything but a tall story.
1Co 8:6 They say--again, quite rightly--that there is only one God the Father, that everything comes from him, and that he wants us to live for him. Also, they say that there is only one Master--Jesus the Messiah--and that everything is for his sake, including us. Yes. It's true.
1Co 8:7 In strict logic, then, nothing happened to the meat when it was offered up to an idol. It's just like any other meat. I know that, and you know that. But knowing isn't everything. If it becomes everything, some people end up as know-it-alls who treat others as know-nothings. Real knowledge isn't that insensitive. We need to be sensitive to the fact that we're not all at the same level of understanding in this. Some of you have spent your entire lives eating "idol meat," and are sure that there's something bad in the meat that then becomes something bad inside of you. An imagination and conscience shaped under those conditions isn't going to change overnight.
1Co 8:8 But fortunately God doesn't grade us on our diet. We're neither commended when we clean our plate nor reprimanded when we just can't stomach it.
1Co 8:9 But God does care when you use your freedom carelessly in a way that leads a Christian still vulnerable to those old associations to be thrown off track.
1Co 8:10 For instance, say you flaunt your freedom by going to a banquet thrown in honor of idols, where the main course is meat sacrificed to idols. Isn't there great danger if someone still struggling over this issue, someone who looks up to you as knowledgeable and mature, sees you go into that banquet? The danger is that he will become terribly confused--maybe even to the point of getting mixed up himself in what his conscience tells him is wrong.

---

Although the scripture above attends to eating meat, I believe it applies to all aspects of life. God is more concerned with your real spiritual status, and not what is apparent for the sake of your IMPOSED situation. UNLESS God tells you to do something drastic, don't be stupid.

But in all, we must be careful not to lose our faith or allow another to lose theirs.

Nuff said.

u got Jesus like many muslims.Honour ur Dad for once.get ur degree and when u are on ur own u can tell him to buzz off.

@shadrach77,

Watch this and other accompanying clips and do as the Spirit of God leds you. He will guide you as you depend on Him.

[flash=500,400]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19FU7Yyx4D4&hl=en_GB&fs=1&[/flash]

You can always switch your religion later; God will forgive you after you graduate.  It's not worth it.