Ube’s Journey from Muslim to Christian

FROM MUSLIM TO CHRISTIAN UBE’S Journey

Ube is a Hinds Community College student from a small country in Africa. Her country is ruled under a dictatorship, and both of Ube’s parents secretly were active in an Islamic political group. Her grandfather was an activist and has been arrested, so the Islamic religion was important to the family.

By Dr. Brenda Wilder

In Ube’s country, girls must abide by a set of rules which are not written to read, but understood by the people. Women were taught to be submissive to men, which made Ube mad. As a nine-yearold, Ube was required to wear the Islamic scarf and did not know who God was; however, there was a rebelliousness against the Islamic religion within her.

Ube enjoyed activities such as Kung Fu, Taekwondo, and biking. Every summer she would learn new skills, including crochet, playing guitar, and developing a mini-business selling wallets. Ube discovered books and learned the French language first, then English. She was hungry for the opportunity to read and traveled to the largest library in their country’s capitol city to read.

beautiful architecture and felt a weird attraction to the church; however, it was only open to tourists. She sneaked into confession where the priests spoke in Latin. Ube saw a cross with Jesus hanging on the wall and began having feelings never experienced when attending the Muslim mosques. She cried about Jesus being in pain on the cross and wondered why that happened.

Ube would tell her parents she was going to the library in the capitol city but was really returning because of the church. At the age of seven, Ube’s dad would wake her at 3:00 AM and beat her with a copper device because he felt she was not following the Islamic religion, which included praying five times daily. It was humiliating to have her brother watching as she was beaten.

A Revolution came to Ube’s country, which closed churches, locked Christian websites, and children were taught in school that Christians were evil. After the revolution, Ube desired to travel and study abroad. She was still confused about religion and would go to the roof and talk to God like He was a person. She asked God for guidance to find the right religion. She truly wanted God and felt peace when talking to Him.

At the completion of the senior year of school, students must take an exam that the government uses to choose the college path for the student. This exam was haunting Ube because it would choose her career major. Ube was so concerned about the exam that she became depressed, developed a rash, and thyroid problems, and as a result, froze when she took the exam. She did pass, but the score was not as high as Ube had hoped, and she was placed in the English major for college. Her chosen college was three hours away from her parents and in the countryside. The major was too easy for Ube, and her depression continued.

For her second year of college, Ube applied for a highly selective international scholarship where only sixty out of six thousand students are chosen through a background check and interview. Ube was interested in studying mental health. She contacted the American Embassy and was accepted for the scholarship program. Her major would be psychology, and her placement was at Delta State University in Mississippi.

Ube became involved in the Delta State community, and when she attended a community church, she had the same feelings from long ago when she was in the Catholic Church in her home country. She began regularly attending church and Bible studies, each time bringing a list of questions she wanted to ask. In October of 2016, Ube decided to officially announce that she is a Christian and was

baptized. She had some good Christian friends who gave her support and encouragement.

When first arriving in the United States, Ube was wearing her scarf or a turban, but now she felt freedom as she had never experienced before. She took off the scarf but tried to keep this a secret from her family. Her mom saw the turban in a picture and called Ube crying about how she was not following their religion and how she would go to hell. Ube became afraid of her family and began having panic attacks. Her health continued to decline, and she experienced seizures because of the fear of her family. Her Mom requested she visit some Muslim friends in Washington, DC, which Ube did, but it made her feel uncomfortable. Ube had a necklace cross that she wore 24/7. Her family saw the cross and discovered Ube was to be baptized. Ube was honest with them about not wearing the scarf. They became even angrier, so Ube saw an attorney to consider asylum as a religious refugee. The attorney said she could present her case to the court. One of her American friends invited her to stay with his parents in the Mississippi Delta.

Ube’s family disowned her, and her uncle threatened to kill her. Her Mom wanted her to marry a Muslim. The stress continued to cause seizures, and Ube was hospitalized. The medications she was prescribed made her feel drugged and like a walking zombie. She couldn’t think properly and was praying for direction, feeling that the worse abuse to experience was emotional abuse. After the scholarship program was complete, Ube was required to return to her home country, which she did. When Ube arrived in Paris on her trip home, her mom required her to wear the scarf again.

Back in her home country, Ube had no Bible or anything Christian for encouragement. She became scared in the summer of 2019 and desperately wanted to return to the United States. Her parents refused. Ube was crying and felt trapped in her room. Her parents had taken her passport, her cross, antidepressant medication, and internet access. She would walk to a local center to obtain access to the internet. Her parents took her to a doctor who was an Islamic preacher, who thought Ube had a demon. Ube prayed for a miracle in her life and asked her friends to pray. to Jesus and had many conservations with Him. She had faith that Jesus could do the impossible. A professor at Hinds Community College, Mr. Hall, heard about Ube’s faith and became interested in her life. He spoke with Dr. Muse, the college President, about Ube going to Hinds CC. Dr Muse gave her permission to attend Hinds, even after the registration date had passed.

Ube had no resources and had to pretend about her Muslim faith at home for safety reasons. Ube told her parents she needed to travel to Algeria, and they returned her passport. She went to a cousin’s house to call the Embassy, because something was leading her in this direction. The Embassy gave her permission to return to the United States for five years. Mr. Hall booked her flight. Fortunately, her parents had a political conference to attend, so Ube took a taxi to the airport with only a backpack. There was an earlier flight available, which Ube accepted, and was placed in first class.

Ube turned off her phone so her family would not have access to her. She was in emotional turmoil beginning the sixtyhour journey to America, and when the plane was in international airspace, Ube cried with relief. The person sitting next to her asked if she was ok.

Ube arrived in the United States and began her studies at Hinds CC in September. Her battle to freedom has not been easy. Her American Christian friends and her church give her strength and support. Ube remembers where she came from and realizes that freedom could be taken away from American churches and that Christians need to be praying to continue their freedoms.

Ube can apply for a green card in September of 2020. She is in American on a student visa and can’t work a full time job, so she may choose to complete her studies at Hinds CC and graduate in the summer of 2020. Her future desires are to obtain a bachelor’s degree in Neuroscience and remain in the United States.

As a Christian, Ube often thinks about her family. Her parents are highly intellectual and hold strong conventional Muslin beliefs. They are not monsters, and Ube knows their actions were because they loved her and thought they were saving her. Ube prays for them to become Christian. Her parents have lived in the shadow of their truth and wanted Ube to be a lovely, obedient child. Ube is working to establish a healthy relationship with her parents and witnesses to them about her Christian faith. Her prayer is that one day their hearts will turn to Christ.

Last year Ube was filled with anger and confusion, but she has matured enough now to comprehend that life is too short to have enemies, especially her parents who raised her and assured she had a good education, which allowed her to be saved. Ube stated, “If we want to be in the image of God and honor Jesus, we cannot resent someone who hurt us. We pray for them and try to help them. At least that’s how I see it.”

Anyone who would like to be a prayer partner and support system to Ube can contact her by sending an email to Dr. Brenda Wilder at brenda.wilder@hindscc. edu. Any suggestions for a college who would scholarship Ube’s future studies in neuroscience would be welcome.