“THERE IS NO PLACE WHERE CHRIST CANNOT BE FOLLOWED”

Aweis’s story is not one we should know about. In Somalia, the church is invisible – hounded by violence, extremism and the fear of discovery. But Aweis’s defiant ministry testifies to God’s ability to do the impossible in one of the most dangerous places to be a Christian.

Aweis grew up on the outskirts of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. He comes from an Islamic background and his father, a Muslim cleric, sought to make him his successor. But when Aweis inadvertently came across a Christian radio station one evening, all that he had known was turned upside-down. 

He would use the radio to learn English, listening to the BBC World Service for hours every day. Suddenly, through the white noise of the radio trying to find a foothold in the different stations, there came the sound of Somali worship. 

For Somali people, being Somali is synonymous with being Muslim. When Aweis heard a Somali proclaim Jesus Christ, it was both strange and wonderful.  He remembers: “I said to myself, ‘Whoa, these are Somali people who are preaching Christ!’”  

As he listened, his life began to change. 

The first threat 

In the following days, he kept tuning in to find out more about Jesus and asked the station for a New Testament. This was while the postal system was still working in Somalia, and he received it by post, not even considering what his family might think or the danger it could cause.  

“It was just a matter of intellect, spiritual curiosity,” he recalls. “I had no plan to convert and follow Jesus.” 

However, when Aweis shared his findings with his father, that was when he received his first threat. 

“My father said, ‘I cannot stop you from reading your Bible, but if you become a Christian, I will be the one to kill you.’”  

From that time on, Aweis explored the Christian faith in secret. 

Rejected by family 

To become a Christian in Somalia is turn one’s back on one’s entire clan.  

“In Somali culture, you are nothing if you are on your own. If you are not connected to your clan, you are weak,” explains Aweis. “If your clan is removed from the equation, you have no value, you have no importance, you cannot make it in life. You don’t stand a chance to survive, let alone thrive.”  

So, when Aweis became a Christian three years later, he was ejected from his tightly knit community. His life was transformed. 

“My family refused to communicate with me, eat with me, spend time with me or include me in family dynamics and discussions. I was an outcast, someone who had defiled the family name,” he says. 

But Aweis never regretted his choice, finding deeper communion with Jesus in his suffering: “Every time I faced intensive persecution, I identified with Christ, and I felt closer to him.” 

Finding COMMUNITY

For seven years, Aweis walked alone, clinging to Christ but increasingly overwhelmed by loneliness. His desperation drove him to talk to someone who he thought must be a Christian. The risks were immense. 

“I said, ‘I need fellowship, do you happen to know any Somali Christians?’ She told me, “Wait here,” and left, for much longer than I expected,” Aweis recalls. “She came back with a young man, whom she introduced as Liban*.  

I later learned from Liban that she’d gone back to her office and prayed to Jesus to reveal if I was a genuine Christian looking for fellowship, or a mole trying to collect names and information to persecute the church. She prayed for about 20 minutes until God confirmed that I was safe.” 

Through this step of faith, he found a fellow believer – an entirely unthinkable discovery in Somalia. 

“It was like the whole world was open to me,” he says. “What was once seen as impossible became possible, because God was in it.” 

Together, they started looking for more believers. Little by little their community grew, and they reached 14.  

“It was the happiest time I’d had, since I’d come to the Lord,” Aweis explains. 

God had made the impossible possible. 

Remnant believers 

However, it wasn’t long before persecution began to catch up with them.  

Members of the church began to receive visions of persecution. Yet, in one of these visions, a believer said that he heard a voice from a bright light say to him, “Do not be afraid. You will not be eliminated; you will not be wiped out. Some of you will remain. You will become stronger.” 

One by one, the Christians were hunted down and killed. Liban, the first whom Aweis made contact with, was the also the first to be killed. 

“We were receiving these regular affirmations that the persecution would continue, and it would get bad, but at the end of the day we would emerge stronger,” Awe is explains. “God was guiding us throughout. It made us bolder. We prayed longer and we prayed better.” 

In the end, only two were left: Aweis and another believer. The rest were martyred for their faith in Jesus. 

Glory in sufferings 

What he had experienced was so painful that Aweis decided to leave the country to recover. In the Lord’s kindness, he received theological training to continue the work God had begun through him in Somalia.  

Today, Aweis diligently pursues his work in biblical translation and pastoral care for Somali believers in the Horn of Africa. He believes in the importance of discipleship and trauma care for his brothers and sisters, working for the day when the church in Somalia will be a bright presence amongst its communities.  

The threats against Aweis’ life continue, but so does God’s work through his ministry. 

“We know the risk, but if you have a calling, you count the cost and you proceed,” he says. “You do not stop, no matter what. Jesus means everything to me, so much so that my life will be worthless, not worth living if I did not have Him.” 

His prayers are for his brothers and sisters in Somalia, and also for those who persecute them. He says, “We have no anger against them. Our prayer is that they see the light and become disciples of Christ.” 

“There is no place where Christ cannot be followed. It’s impossible. The Holy Spirit can penetrate every wall.”AWEIS

Ultimately, the true impossibility for Aweis is stopping the work of the gospel. He testifies with boldness, “There is no place where Christ cannot be followed. It’s impossible. The Holy Spirit can penetrate every wall.” 

*Name changed for security reasons