The bite of the sub-zero Chicago winter stung Paul’s bare skin, as he trudged through a foot of snow in just a t-shirt and pants. Just moments earlier, Paul had stormed off after an argument with a friend and was trying to make his way home to his apartment. He was freezing by the time a driver of a pickup truck stopped and told him to jump in. Once inside the warm vehicle, Paul fell asleep. He awoke a short time later when the driver tapped him on the shoulder to tell him they were outside of his apartment.

Dazed and stunned, Paul fumbled to open the truck door. The driver looked at him and said, “Jesus loves you. It’s open. Don’t be afraid.” Paul was confused, but thanked the man anyways and began walking to his front door . . . only to discover he did not have the keys to his apartment and was locked out. To his astonishment, when he turned the doorknob, he found the apartment was unlocked. Paul turned to thank the driver again, but to his surprise there was no truck. No tire prints in the snow. Replaying what had just happened in his mind, Paul realized that he had never even told the driver where he lived. Paul was shaken to his core.

Born and raised in a devout Muslim family in Egypt, Paul tried to do the one thing he knew to do: pray to Allah. Even though he had recited this Muslim prayer his entire life, at that moment, Paul forgot the words to Islam’s most well-known prayer. For weeks after this incident, Paul tried-and-tried to recite this prayer, but he could not do it. When he was finally able to pray, out of his mouth came words that shocked even him: “Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ”! Paul tried to silence the words by covering his mouth with his hand. After a few times of this, he slapped his mouth so hard that he chipped a tooth with the ring on his finger.

Something had changed inside of him. He had personally experienced the saving power of Jesus Christ firsthand, and he could no longer deny it.  He called a couple of Christians that he knew who had been trying to minister to him. Paul said to them, “Your God is my God. Your Savior is my Savior.”

Since that day, Paul has been ministering to Muslims and sharing the truth of Jesus Christ. Paul speaks around the world, evangelizing, sharing his testimony and teaching converts how to use mass media for apologetic teachings.  Paul’s journey and testimony has impacted thousands of Muslims, many of whom have experienced radical conversions much like Paul experienced that bitter-cold night in Chicago.

Paul says, “My heart goes out to my Muslim people… I know what godly people they are. They love god. They worship god. They will do anything for god. But which god? They are deceived. They don’t know the true God. Imagine how they would be with a loving God that interacts with them and takes them in as children, instead of a deceiving, hard, far away god?”

The goal of his ministry is to present the truth in love to Muslim believers. Paul believes this population is the least reached on the planet. But, he says, “God is working. He just needs pieces of pottery to deliver His message.”

Thank you, Paul, for being one of these pieces of pottery.