An increasing number of Muslim refugees in Europe are converting to Christianity, vouch churches that have reportedly carried out mass baptisms in certain places. Even though reliable data on these conversions is not yet available, anecdotal evidence suggest a pattern of growing church attendance among Muslims, who have recently fled economic hardship and religious conflict in countries across the Middle East and Central Asia. Complicated factors behind the emerging trend include rejection from mosques, gratitude towards churches that have offered refuge, blind faith in a newfound religion and expectations that converting will only aid asylum applications.

“I've been looking all my life for peace and happiness, but in Islam, I have not found it. To be a Christian means happiness to me,” said Iranian refugee Shima while another refugee Solmaz said, “In Islam, we always lived in fear. Fear God, fear of sin, fear of punishment. However, Christ is a God of love.”

At Trinity Church in Steglitz, a suburb in Germany, the congregation has grown to approximately 700 people from 150 two years ago. Speaking to Atheist Republic, Pastor Gottfried Martens confirmed that many of the current congregants used to be Muslims before they converted. Earlier this year, there were reports of churches in Berlin and Hamburg holding mass conversions for Muslim refugees at municipal swimming pools. The Austrian Catholic Church said it had logged as many as 300 applications for adult baptisms within the first three months of 2016, with 70 percent of those converting being Muslims. At Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral in the United Kingdom, a weekly Persian service drew close to 150 people, nearly all of whom were migrants from Afghanistan, Iran and other parts of Central Asia. Bishop of Bradford, Toby Howarth, said every one in four conversions conducted over the past one year were comprised of Muslims, who had fled from Iran to seek refuge in the United Kingdom.

Mohammad Eghtedarian, a refugee from Iran who converted to Christianity and was later ordained, said Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral was not only helping people like him develop their faith but also aiding them in securing a legitimate refugee status.

“These two are intertwined. Most people apply for asylum on the basis of their religion,” he said.

Eghtedarian’s own journey, from Shiraz, Iran to the United Kingdom, saw him travel through half a dozen European countries, by train, truck and foot. Impoverished and terrified, he received emotional as well as financial support from Christians along the way. Before finally being granted asylum, Eghtedarian lived at Tinsley House Detention Center near Gatwick Airport for four months.

“Every day was challenging and beautiful. Challenging because I didn’t know if they would deport me; beautiful because I was in the Lord’s hands. I promised the Lord: if you release me, I will serve you,” he said.

Eghtedarian has now devoted himself to serving other refugees who may be seeking asylum.

“People are desperate. They spend a lot of money and waste a lot of money. They are vulnerable, abused and sometimes [they have been] raped. The experience of being a refugee was degrading and dehumanizing,” he said.

Another Iranian, Johannes, left Tehran for Vienna. Born and brought up in a Muslim family, the 32-year-old, who earlier identified as Sadegh, started questioning the roots of Islam while attending university.

“I found that the history of Islam was completely different from what we were taught at school. Maybe, I thought, it was a religion that began with violence? A religion that began with violence cannot lead people to freedom and love. Jesus Christ said ‘those who use the sword will die by the sword’. This really changed my mind,” he recollected.

Johannes wanted to convert to Christianity while still living in Iran. One day, when he was walking out of a Bible lesson with fellow Christians, he was ambushed but managed to escape and go into hiding. When his Austrian visa, which he had already applied for, eventually came through, he left for Vienna almost immediately. Now awaiting the outcome of his asylum application, Johannes has not yet informed his parents about his conversion to Christianity. As of now, only his sister knows of his dark secret.

According to Iranian authorities, there are approximately 90,000 Christians in the country even though human rights organizations put the number as high as 500,000. While Iranian law does not hand out the death penalty to those who convert from Islam to another faith, courts have often ordered death sentences based on misinterpreted Sharia laws and legal edicts issued by religious scholars.

In 2015, Austria’s Bishops’ Conference published revised guidelines for priests, warning them that some refugees may want to convert to Christianity only so they can increase their chances of acquiring an asylum status.

“Admitting persons for baptism who are during the official procedure classified as ‘not credible’ leads to a loss in the church’s credibility across the whole of Austria,” the new guidelines state.

Since 2014, those who wish to convert to Christianity with the Austrian church have been required to undergo a year-long preparation period during which they are likely to be assessed.

“There has to be a noticeable interest in the faith that extends beyond merely the wish to obtain a piece of paper,” said Friederike Dostal, coordinator of preparation courses in Vienna’s archdiocese. “We are not interested in pro-forma Christians. You have to be able to register some kind of process of change in people. In 5-10% of cases, applicants have broken off their course before being baptized.”

In Liverpool, Eghtedarian said there are complex and multilayered factors that have led Muslims to convert to Christianity.

“People are desperate for a better life and sometimes they will lie for it – that’s understandable… The church had a difficult road to navigate. We have a mission to give them the message of Christ – a message of peace, salvation and freedom. The only person who knows what’s in people’s hearts is God. It is not for me to judge,” he said.

At Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral, a much simpler process needs to be followed before a conversion can take place. When they come to church, refugees are first registered in case evidence of their attendance is required for an asylum application. Then they may have to undergo five sessions of baptism preparation and 12 sessions of confirmation preparation.

“This way we get to know them and see how they’re involved in the life of the church,” said Eghtedarian. “If necessary the church will provide a letter of attendance for the immigration authorities and support them through the appeals process.”

Eghtedarian agreed rather unabashedly when asked if some refugees convert to Christianity just so they can ease their asylum applications.

“Yes, of course. Plenty of people. I do understand there are a lot of mixed motives. There are many people abusing the system – I’m not ashamed of saying that. But is it the person’s fault or the system’s fault?

And who are they deceiving? The Home Office, me as a pastor, or God?” he said. “Besides, abuse takes many forms. Don’t people abuse the tax system or the NHS? Look at MPs. And look at people who go to church to get their children into good church schools. Is there any difference, morally? You want to find the best school for your child, we want to find the best life for ourselves. We still try our best to serve people. Jesus Christ knew Judas was going to betray him but he still washed his feet. Thank God it is not my job to judge them.”

The Church of England apparently refrains from collating figures on conversion.

“This can be a delicate issue and we want to be sensitive to the backgrounds that people are from,” said Howarth. “There are many reasons [for conversion] but among them is undoubtedly the mass movement of people and the increasing interconnectedness of the world… Conversions were happening across different faiths, he added, citing the example of black prisoners converting to Islam. The world– and people’s identities – are being shaken up. When we do confirmations, we work hard to make sure the person is serious. We all have mixed motives. But if someone says ‘I believe this’, who are we to make windows into people’s souls? The only thing I can do is see if people are still there a year later – and often they are.”

As recently as July 16, a group of Muslim refugees converted to Christianity after they were baptized at St Mark’s Church in Staffordshire, England. While the congregation at this church used to look very different, with only white congregants turning up for services, on Saturday, people of varying skin tones, including Iranians, Iraqis, Syrians, Eritreans and Bangladeshis, were present to seek blessings and embrace their newfound religion.

While Reverend Sally Smith continues to transform St Mark’s Church into some sort of refugee processing center with help from certain members, others have chosen to leave the congregation after feeling uncomfortable around asylum seekers from other countries. They believe these refugees are merely taking advantage of Smith’s goodness. Smith is known to help those in need by offering them food, clothing and shelter – a gesture that has caused an average of three of four refugees to convert to Christianity.

“My biggest challenge has been the attitude of some of the people within the church,” said Smith. “I have had a lot of opposition. Criticism, negative attitudes and trying to undermine the work that we are doing – that's from the white British congregation.”

Smith elucidated how trying to incorporate refugees within St Mark’s Church has cost her several members from her initial congregation.

“They don't want the hassle and they don't want the church being messed up. They see the church as having a very definite role and opening the doors to refugees isn't one of them,” she said. “They expected a vicar's role to be looking after the people inside the church and one of the insults often leveled at me is: 'She cares more about the people outside the church than those inside.' Well, this is what I am meant to be doing and you're meant to be doing it with me. We should be doing this together.”

Smith also said she is aware how some Muslim refugees are turning to Christianity just so they can push for their asylum applications. 

“It is about being part of a kingdom where there are no border agency officials, where there are no passports necessary, where there are no immigration detention centers. One worldwide family where there are no dividing barriers,” Smith said.

At St Mark’s Church, asylum seekers are not only offered food, clothing and shelter, but also taught English so they can better fit into the West.

“With the mass movement from across the world we have got people of faith coming into secular society and faith really matters to them. And they are not too bothered, as bothered as we may think, about how that faith is expressed,” she said.

Photo Credits: Times of Israel