𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗠

 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗛𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗡𝗘𝗗 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗡 𝗙𝗥𝗢𝗠 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗜𝗔 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗨𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗔 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗠

𝗔 𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘁𝗹𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗺𝗮𝘆 𝗯𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆: After becoming a Christian, I went to Guinea, where I was pressured to return to Islam. I later escaped and traveled six days by road to Nigeria, but I was eventually found, returned to Guinea, and monitored closely again.

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁.

After I was taken back to Guinea, I was watched closely so I would not escape again. I was also told to shut down my Facebook account and disconnect from everyone they believed was influencing me toward Christianity.

By then, everyone in my neighborhood knew my story—the girl who became a Christian, escaped, and was brought back. Whenever I stepped outside, people pointed at me and whispered. It was discouraging, and I often wondered, 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗺𝘆 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗲? But then I remembered how Jesus Himself was mocked and insulted.

My family was no longer threatening me as before, but they made one thing clear: 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝘂𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗝𝗲𝘀𝘂𝘀.

They still held my travel documents.

Since I still had a phone, I secretly contacted the U.S. Embassy in Guinea and explained what was happening. They told me to come.

One day, I said I was going to a nearby shop, quickly got into a taxi, and went straight to the embassy. After hearing my story, the embassy contacted my family and demanded that my U.S. documents be returned immediately. I was afraid to go back home. At the time, I was not yet a U.S. citizen, so the embassy was limited in how much protection they could provide me.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽.

A kind Nigerian man and his family, who knew my story, allowed me to hide in their home. I removed my SIM card so I could not be tracked. A few days later, the embassy contacted me to say my U.S. documents had been returned. I went and collected them.

But there was still one major problem: 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.

Because I was not yet a U.S. citizen, I still needed a Guinean passport to travel, and my family refused to give me the one they had. Getting a new passport became another long story. It seemed almost impossible because the passport office had already been made aware of my situation and had reportedly been instructed to hold me if I appeared there.

I wanted to tell it all here, but I realized it will make this too long. 

Tomorrow, by God’s grace I’ll share the final part—𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗜 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨.𝗦. 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗮𝗻𝘆𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗴𝗼𝗻𝗲.

𝗟𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸, 𝗜 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗸 𝗚𝗼𝗱.

He helped me recover my U.S. documents and sent people to help me at exactly the right time. I am grateful for the man who went everywhere with me to make sure I was safe, and for the Nigerian man and his family who opened their home to me when I was afraid to return home.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱, “𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁?” 𝗚𝗼𝗱 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝗽 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗮𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝘄𝗮𝘆.

#GracetheExMuslim

Grace, the Ex Muslim