Hundreds of Muslim refugees have converted to Christianity across Europe in recent years. What’s driving them to the cross?
In Austria, the rolls of Catholic churches swelled with Muslim immigrants, leading to new guidelines for baptism to ensure sincere faith. Other churches in Lebanon, Germany, and England also report growing numbers of Muslim refugee converts.
Bishop George Saliba of Beirut, says he’s baptized about 100 Syrian refugees since 2011. In another Beirut church, a pastor meets with Syrian refugees to teach them “Christian doctrines” from Scripture.
No national statistics exist, but many local churches across Europe attest to the influx of Muslim refugees seeking to become Christians. Still, they remain a small fraction of the millions of Muslims in Europe.
Reasons for conversion vary, from “heartfelt faith,” to gratitude to the Christians assisting them, to hope that it could boost their chances for gaining asylum. One Muslim in Germany admitted to NPR he might convert in order to avoid deportation back to Afghanistan.”
But others appear sincere. A 25-year-old Iranian Kurd told NPR studying Islam brought disillusionment. Reading the Bible for the first time in a camp on Germany’s border with Poland prompted questions. And he said the more answers he got, the more he realized he was finding God.