𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗜 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗬 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗠 by Grace, the Ex Muslim

𝗛𝗢𝗪 𝗜 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗜𝗧 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗗 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗠𝗬 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗟𝗘𝗔𝗩𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗜𝗦𝗟𝗔𝗠  by Grace, the Ex Muslim

Yesterday, I shared how the U.S. Embassy helped recover my travel documents and it was handed over to me. But there was still one major problem: 𝗜 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗻𝗼 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗴𝗼 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝗸𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗺𝘆 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 

By God’s grace, someone connected me with a pastor in Guinea who had a friend serving as a police officer. Together, these two men helped me obtain a new birth certificate and the necessary documents to apply for a  new passport.

Meanwhile, my people were searching for me, unaware of my whereabouts. As we began processing my passport application, I disguised myself with a head covering and sunglasses whenever I went out to avoid being recognized.

Finally the passport was ready and the day came for my passport to be signed and picked up. 

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗲𝗱… The official responsible for signing and handing me my passport recognized me. He opened it, read my name, and suddenly looked up at me. He mentioned some name from my family and asked if I’m their daughter.  I was terrified! This man knew my family and my story. I feared he would detain me and contact my family to come for me.

After looking at me for a moment, he said, to my surprise: “𝗜 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁.” I could hardly believe it!

The moment he signed, I collected my passport and rushed outside, where a motorcycle was already waiting. The man accompanying me and I quickly rode away, afraid the official might change his mind and contact my family.

𝗚𝗢𝗗 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗔𝗗𝗘 𝗔 𝗪𝗔𝗬! 𝗜 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗛𝗔𝗗 𝗔 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗-𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧!

We immediately arranged a midnight flight back to the United States. But even at the airport when they saw my name, they questioned me. I was frightened, but once again, they allowed me to go. 

The pastor and police officer accompanied me all the way to the boarding gate and made sure I boarded safely.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗼𝗳𝗳, 𝗶𝘁 𝗳𝗲𝗹𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗮 𝗱𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺. 𝗜 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗟𝗟𝗬 𝗢𝗡 𝗠𝗬 𝗪𝗔𝗬 𝗕𝗔𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗨.𝗦. 𝗔𝗙𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗠𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗛𝗦 𝗢𝗙 𝗕𝗘𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗣𝗣𝗘𝗗 𝗜𝗡 𝗔 𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗘𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗠𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗧𝗥𝗢𝗟!

This was a season of intense prayers. The church and brethren prayed earnestly for my deliverance. That pastor and police officer risked so much to help me. Others helped financially, prayed, and encouraged me when I felt like giving up. I have so much to say but I will end with this: 

𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗚𝗢𝗗 𝗜𝗦 𝗢𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘, 𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗡 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗪𝗛𝗢𝗟𝗘 𝗪𝗢𝗥𝗟𝗗 𝗦𝗘𝗘𝗠𝗦 𝗧𝗢 𝗕𝗘 𝗔𝗚𝗔𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨, 𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗧 𝗔𝗦𝗦𝗨𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗪𝗜𝗟𝗟 𝗕𝗘 𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗢𝗨𝗦!

#GracetheExMuslim 

Grace, the Ex Muslim