Hundreds of Muslims fleeing their home countries are finding their peace in Christianity, according to recent reports.
In his Berlin church alone, Pastor Gottfried Martens has seen his congregation swell to close to 600 as refugees accept Christ, the Associated Press reports.
However, the nagging belief remains that the men and women are only in church to claim asylum and not give their hearts to God.
“I know there are—again and again—people coming here because they have some kind of hope regarding their asylum,” Martens tells the AP. “I am inviting them to join us because I know that whoever comes here will not be left unchanged.”
Martens’ Evangelical Lutheran Trinity Church started as a small community earlier this year, according to a translation of their website.
Now, it’s a congregation full of refugees from Iran, Afghanistan and Syria. CNN reports millions are flocking to Europe amid the violence in their homelands.
The news site reports France will take in 24,000 in the next two years, and Britain will take in up to 20,000 in the next five years. It was first reported the United States will only accept 1,500 each year, but White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest announced Thursday President Barack Obama will increase that number to 10,000.
But Germany appears to be the new choice location for many fleeing persecution. Bloomberg News reports the European nation has accepted more than 200,000 migrants this year alone, and is expected to overtake its record of 438,191 set more than two decades ago.
For Germans, Bloomberg reports, immigration is not a political issue, but an economic one. Instead of stopping the flow of refugees in their country, “there is a lot of sympathy for ‘true’ refugees from Syria—that they’re fleeing war makes sense—Germans have little time for ‘bogus’ asylum seekers.”
Many look to German Chancellor Angela Merkel as the reason the refugees make their way to her country.
The minister’s daughter, also known as “Mama Merkel” by those seeking asylum, has been called “Europe’s conscience.”
“Angela Merkel shows a lot of understanding for people who flee from war and despair,” Stefan Kornelius, author of Angela Merkel: The Authorized Biography, tells Newsweek. “There is no moral questioning of her motives.”
And so her country begins to fill with refugees seeking more than a safe haven, but also searching for peace.
These Muslims are turning their hearts away from Allah and toward Jesus at a rate which Pastor Martens calls “miraculous.”
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