Mahrus has been used of the Lord to plant seven or eight churches over the last fifteen years. HeartCry has been supporting him in his most recent work as he labors among a mixed demographic of Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims. This latest work began in January 2013 in cooperation with Dr. Andrew; it has seen a great deal of fruit from the Lord.

Testimony of Conversion

I was born in a small village in a rural area of Egypt. My parents were religious and taught us to fear God and to go to church whenever we could.

The church I attended was a Coptic Orthodox Church. I always participated in the rituals and prayers because I always wanted to do everything to please God.

On February 25, 1981 my aunt invited me to a meeting in an evangelical church in our village. Despite my hatred for the evangelicals, she convinced me to go to the meeting. After I arrived, I was surprised by the evangelical way of worship. In the Orthodox Church, we always worshiped in silence. We listened to what the priest was saying and we simply repeated the words without thinking about them. But in the evangelical church things were different. The people were alive – singing, closing their eyes, and praising the Lord. I was amazed and wondered whether God accepted their worship or not.

In the same meeting, the preacher spoke about John 5:29. He told us that the blind sinner realized one thing after meeting Jesus – though he was blind, he could now see. At that moment, the Holy Spirit touched my heart. I saw my sinful nature as a fallen human being and recognized my deep need for God’s salvation.

On that day, February 25th, 1981, I became a new person in Christ and had so much joy and peace in my heart. Since that day, I have been walking with the Lord and growing in my relationship with Him. I know that my God is the one who takes care of me and that He is the only one who is worthy of worship.

In 1992, the Lord called me to leave Egypt and to go into another Arab country, where I planted a church. This church grew as the Lord brought more and more people into His family. Ten years later, the government of that country deported me because of my evangelism among Muslims. However, the Lord brought me back to the same country a year later to join Dr. Andrew in planting another church in the capital city. Because of God’s faithfulness this church is growing and we have more opportunities to share the truth with the people around us.

Please keep me in your prayers as we are living in the Arab world and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the unreached groups there.