Bita uses her story of converting from Islam to Christianity to reach San Jose’s Muslim community.
When Bita is sharing her faith story with a Muslim friend, she looks into their eyes with compassion. She understands their fear and questions, as she was once standing in their shoes. Leaving Islam can mean broken family connections, sometimes even death—but Bita insists it’s all worth it. “I am a new Bita because of what Christ did for me,” she says.
Spiritual conversations are a regular occurrence for Bita. [She requested we use only her first name for her protection]. The Bay Area is her mission field, representing one of the highest concentrations of Muslims in any metropolitan area in the United States, and it’s where she feels called to minister through friendship and storytelling. “I’ve found it very successful through almost 18 years of ministry,” she says. “Stories move people.”
Born in Iran, Bita emigrated to Australia to escape political unrest. There, she came into contact with a Christian pastor in 1999. Bita was attracted to salvation’s premise but didn’t accept Christianity at first. She challenged its claims and did intensive study. But her objections disappeared the night Jesus appeared to her in a dream and said, “Follow me.”
Upon hearing of her conversion, Bita’s father disowned her, and many of her old friends ostracized her as well. “They said, ‘You betrayed Islam,’ and I became a joke for some others,” Bita says. “But I have gained a heavenly father, even though I lost my human father. And ever since, I cannot stop talking about Christ, salvation, his beauty, and how much I have changed.”
While living in Australia, Bita joined an Anglican church where she was baptized and confirmed, and became an “evangelist” to the Muslims around her. In 2008, she moved to the Bay Area with her husband, and now makes it her goal to share Christ’s transforming love with the Muslim community there. She frequently attends Persian gatherings in the city and tries to connect with two to three people at each gathering. From their first encounter, Bita shares that she’s a Christian, so there are no surprises in the relationship.
In future one-on-one conversations, she listens carefully, avoids argumentation and gently shares the story of what Christ has done in her life. Bit knows the ins and outs of the fear-based culture and she’s read the Koran four times to prepare her to answer questions. Though some people are less receptive than others, she keeps inviting them to come to Christ.
“I build a relationship with them and let them see how a Christian leads by serving them,” she says.
Using an app called Telegram, Bita also starts conversations about faith with her Muslim friends in Iran and Australia. She posts daily on her Facebook account about her faith and testimonies of answered prayer. People sometimes ask her to pray to her Jesus about their problems, because “it seems he has more power than our God.” From time to time, she challenges her friends online to consider Christianity, offering them an out from Islam.
Over the years, she’s seen God’s intervention and power in people’s lives. Bita recounts helping a young Iranian immigrant in a detention center, getting to know him and telling him about Christ. His case was assigned to a judge known for holding a personal grudge against Iranians and refusing to grant them Visas. On the day of his trial, the lawyer told him, “There’s no hope of you getting your Visa today.” Bita replied, “Our God is the ruler. If it’s meant to be, God will deliver it today, in front of you.” She prayed with the young man. Moments later, the judge came out and said, “I don’t know why I’m granting you the Visa, but I feel that today I will grant it to you.”
“I never forgot that day,” Bita says. “The lawyer was like, what just happened? We were saying, Praise God! This is our God!”
Until recently, Bita was still looking for an Anglican church home like the one she’d loved in Australia. One day, a man and woman came into her husband’s store. When Bita’s husband shared that his wife was a Christian, the woman handed him her card and said, “We would love to meet with your wife.” The woman was the Rev. Cindy Stansbury from St. James Anglican Church. Bita and Cindy soon formed a strong relationship, and Bita began attending St. James.
“Cindy is so amazing,” Bita says. “She’s pastoring, she’s helping, she’s making herself available. I love St. James. I’m home.”
Through all her efforts, Bita hopes she is living a life that shows her friends the beauty of the Christian journey and encourages them to come to Christ.
“It’s a challenge but it’s God’s job. It is doable,” she says. “I pray for more soldiers to join the journey, more people who want to really talk about Christ and make a difference.”
