The Season of Singing has Come is published by Authentic Media on 5th October. 9781780784663, £9.99
Why did you decide to write this book?
One day I was just walking down the street and suddenly God spoke to me that I would write a book about what God had done in my life and he would make this book a great blessing to many. I prayed and fasted a lot about it and then inspiration came and I began to write step by step.
You have had to look back over your life in order to write The Season of Singing has Come. What do you think are the main things you have discovered about God through your life?
His Father heart: I used to know mostly a religion with rules and regulations and its harsh condemnation, but now I have met God the Father who loves me, understands me, speaks to me, and helps me to change and grow spiritually.
His holiness: I experienced his amazing grace and yet he was much more holy than any other religion could tell me. I have known God's holiness manifested in his unfathomable faithfulness, love and goodness.
His discipline: I learnt that his holiness and love are also expressed in discipline and I learnt to appreciate it. I learnt that his discipline is to help me not to hurt me. Love expressed in grace and discipline together help me to change and renew into his image and likeness.
What was the hardest scene for you to write about?
There were many hard scenes in my life. It is very important to say that while I wrote my book and went through my stories all over again, the Lord still continued to perform deeper healing and liberation in me. It's one thing when God has healed you, and it's another thing to bring it all to the general public. But, God wanted not just to do this miraculous work in me but also to use my story to encourage and to set free many others who are suffering in the slavery of pain, guilt, shame and self-condemnation. So perhaps it's better to say that the hardest thing for me was to agree to write the book at all and to make many things I went through open to the whole world – it was a challenge and a most difficult step. But when I accepted it and agreed to write whatever God wanted, then freedom came on a level that I could not even imagine before.
Revealing your Christian faith to your Muslim family was a brave thing to do. How does your family feel about it now?
The attitude of some of them has changed radically towards me and my own family over the years. Surely that is only because of the sacrificial love of God demonstrated through me and my family in often difficult situations for us. They have also seen the true holiness and fear of God lived out in our life. But there are still others who continue in their attitude of hostility towards me.
Converting from Islam and being a Christian missionary, going into remote towns and villages to do your work has been dangerous at times. Do you still often find yourself at risk because of your Christian faith?
The price for faith is a normal concept for me. I've known Christ in this way from the beginning, but in everything I clearly realise that the one who is in me is stronger than the one who is in the world. Even when things become very tough there is peace in my heart that transcends all understanding and deep unspeakable joy that only the Lord can give to his own.
There are threats from time to time, dangers at every step. But I don't think about it. I think about God and how to conquer everything by his love and wisdom.
A key theme in your book is developing a close, loving relationship with the Father. What made you seek this out, and what difference has this made in your life?
It was God's initiative, his approach to me. I was not able to understand God as Father, it was too painful.
After I got a little stronger in God, he started to lead me into something more than I could understand to start with. He wanted me to know him as Father and find healing, security, freedom, and above all the true identity that one can gain only through a father's love and care. It was only when he started revealing himself to me as Father that I fully realised what a terrible hole was in my heart and how much pain was there associated to my very negative experience with my earthly father.
When he revealed himself to me as Father and I really experienced his fatherhood in my life, I was able to understand, love and accept my earthly father. There was no longer a gaping black hole in my soul, and the Father healed all the wounds there.
What is the most memorable part of your faith journey?
Honestly, every part of my faith journey is important and memorable for me.
The early years were very bright and unforgettable in the sense that I discovered a new dimension of God that I had not been able to comprehend before in the religious framework of Islam; I came to know the true personality of the Lord Jesus Christ and the personal close relationship with him… Then there were the years outside our homeland, when we had to flee to save our lives. These were also amazing years when we experienced his faithfulness and care in a powerful way in our family.
If you could give a message to your past self as she was experiencing everything that happened, what would you tell her?
Thank you for this question! This is really a heart touching one.
The message would be: "Take courage girl. You have such a great future! It's a lot better than you could ever imagine. God knows you and loves you; the day will come for sure when you will know him personally."
Can you give us one top tip on how to talk to our Muslim friends and neighbours about Jesus?
They must see godliness and his holy love in us before we talk to them about God.
It is important to learn to be friends with them. Muslims are best reached through friendship. But most importantly, we have to walk very closely with God, so that the power of the Holy Spirit will be manifested through us in our ministry to Muslims.
What do you hope readers will most get out of reading The Season of Singing Has Come?
I hope and pray that they will experience a powerful encounter with the True God and want to live full out for him.