Ghana Muslim daughter of a strict Muslim Imam follow Jesus

She told her brothers and sisters about Jesus and many of them became Christians too. Eventually she couldn't hide her faith. She told her father she had become a Christian.

"I'm no more your father. It kind of a bad feeling but then when I looked at what I have in Jesus Christ and having the support of my other brothers and sisters. I knew it's going to be okay because it's not all about my father. It's about being safe and standing firm in your faith."

Shalom, this is her testimony:

Hephzibah Agai:
"When I was a kid sometimes you go out playing and then you forget it it's time for the prayers."

Hephzibah Agai was the daughter of a strict Muslim Imam.

Hephzibah Agai:
"You go and pray when he is coming back with a stick then he'll come and use it on you very hard. So make sure you do your five prayers every day."

When Hephzibah was five years, old her mother died. Her father and grandmother raised Hephzibah and her eight siblings in Ghana, West Africa. Her father sent her to an Arab School where she studied Islam along with other subjects. She had a special bond with her English teacher. Her teacher was a Christian who told Hephzibah about Jesus.

Hephzibah Agai:
"She talks about a lot of things, about the love of Christ and I wanted to hear more and more about Him."

Hephzibah studied at that school from grades one through five. All the while learning more about Christ. But she believed she had no choice in her religion.

Hephzibah Agai:
"I've seen what happens to people when they turn away from the Islam religion. You're going to be disowned. You're not going to be part of the family."

After junior high school Hepzibah wanted to continue her studies but her father spent her school money on a lavish wedding to his new bride. Hephzibah was devastated.

Hephzibah Agai:
"So I was crying every day. I had to go to him beg him again."

One night she had a dream, that a man came to her house looking for her.

Hephzibah Agai:
"He looked at me. He said. 'Hey you, my dad is looking for you.' He said, 'I should give you this number.' So he gave it to me and said, 'My dad said you should call him.' He walked away. So in the morning when I woke up I remember those numbers and the dream as if it was right in front of me."

Hepzibah didn't call the numbers right away but kept them in the back of her mind. She wanted to go to school so badly. She'd do whatever it took. She couldn't shake the thought what if the answer to her problems was just a phone call away. She called the number she'd seen in her dream on her second try someone answered.

Hephzibah Agai:
"He said my name is pastor Joseph and wherever that you are, the hand of God is upon you. And merely I told him my name. He knew I was a Muslim."

Hephzibah met pastor Barocci in person and made a life-changing decision.

Hephzibah Agai:
"I prayed with Him. Lord I've come to you this day and I accepted Yu as my Lord and my Savior."

Pastor Joseph:
"I knew it was God intervention in her life. I feel like I was a whole new person and I thought something new has begun with my life."

The next day her father told her he was sending her back to school. Her prayer was answered.

Pastor Joseph:
"And I told her that every heart of every man is in the hands of God. So I then could her that whatever her father like it or not he was going to take care of her."

Hepzibah graduated high school. She also went to church but kept it a secret from her father.

Hephzibah Agai:
"He warned me very strictly that if I ever ever find out you are going to church you wouldn't like what I'll do to you. That was when I had to be extra careful."

She told her brothers and sisters about Jesus and many of them became Christians too. Eventually she couldn't hide her faith. She told her father she had become a Christian.

Hephzibah Agai:
"He came to a point I had to take my cross. You can serve two masters at the same time so I stood out for my fate. He said if you don't want to pray then you had to live by your own. I'm no more your father. It kind of a bad feeling but then when I looked at what I have in Jesus Christ and having the support of my other brothers and sisters. I knew it's going to be okay because it's not all about my father. It's about being safe and standing firm in your faith."