Brother Nathan - Love Casts Out Fear: A Jihad Survivors Journey from Revenge to Redemption

I first met Brother Nathan in the mid-1990s, then heard him speak at a conference in Jerusalem. He was one of several Christian leaders from around the world who were involved in reaching their own people with the message of Jesus Christ.

One evening we were taken by bus from our hotel to another site, then secluded in a room with absolute security. For the next hour we listened as Nathan described the horrific events that had changed his life forever. As we prepared to leave that evening, we were urged not to share his story publicly, for fear of compromising his safety.

Now Nathan believes it is time for you to hear that story. It is typical of what is happening every day to believers all across the Middle East. I have disguised some names and other distinguishing elements to protect Nathan and other Christians in this part of the world, but the actual scenes are portrayed in authentic, true-to-life detail.

Recently I traveled to many of the places where these events took place. Along the way I discovered that, in spite of Christianitys first-century arrival in Egypt, Islam has been that countrys dominant religion for centuries. Today over eighty million Muslims comprise nearly 95 percent of the population, and since 1980 Islam has been the official national religion. The number of Christians from all denominations is less than three million, but this still represents the largest Christian community in any Middle Eastern or North African country. The majority of the countrys evangelical believers are found in southern Egypt, where Nathan once lived.

Now I invite you to travel with me to a tiny village in Upper Egypt called Karya Maghola (Kar-EE-ah Mah-GO-lah). You will not find it on a map, but it is still there. The name we have given this town is adapted from an Arabic word that means any place or unknown place. Thats because it is just like countless other villages scattered all across this ancient part of the world, where the people and the culture have hardly changed for centuries.

As we become unseen guests walking its winding streets, my hope is that you will begin to see, through Nathans eyes, how a loving God protects and provides for his children, even in the face of persecution. Then, through the living example of this twenty-first-century disciple, I hope you will catch a glimpse of how our mighty God can do extraordinary things through the lives of ordinary people who fully surrender to his will. Ordinary people like you and like me. Ordinary people just like Brother Nathan.

David Culross