… REV MUHAMMED IBRAHIM
Call him a man who has a deep passion to make the lives of the people around him better, you won’t be wrong, as this man of God is committed to changing the lives of the people around him for good, through tolerance, sound teaching and understanding of the Bible.
In his 50’s, Rev. Muhammed Ibrahim is the founder and executive director of Passion for Converts International Ministry. a non-government organization founded years ago, with the sole aim of providing holistic discipleship of Christian with Islamic backgrounds by popularly called (Muslim Background Believers). It primarily aims of reducing the risks of converts backsliding to Islam due to inevitable and manageable challenges and also provide resources that can be helpful in bringing Muslim converts to Holistic maturity.
Speaking to CityPeople in an interview, Rev. Ibrahim, noted that the organization aims at also providing options for every convert to choose a source of livelihood without necessarily becoming a pastor. “We try to make sure that only genuinely called Pastors from Islamic backgrounds are in the pastoral ministry through proper teaching”.
Rev. Muhammed Ibrahim who is also an Anglican priest told CityPeople that, Passion for Convert is a child of necessity, as it comes at a time when “we need to prepare an Army for the Lord”, by providing converts with necessary tools that can help them find their rightful place in the earth and eternity, “Passion”, he said also aims at providing biblical ideas that can be very helpful to either Church or Mission bodies on how to disciple new converts.
Rev Muhammed, who was born a Muslim from Zangon-Kataf Local Government in Kaduna State, said when Muslim students turn to Christ, Passion is also faced with the task of changing the course of their lives forever, by enabling them to receive an education, which would have been inconceivable to them before conversion.
He told Citypoeple that he had an early education in Arabic studies, until 1988 when he had a radical change through a personal encounter with the Lord “I changed from a fundamental Sunni Muslim to a born again believer in Christ” he said.
On conversion, he was admitted to the Anglican Bible College Kafanchan, then got the call into full-time ministry, and was employed as an Evangelist in the Anglican Diocese.
His desire for an in-depth study of the Word of God, to equip him for evangelism, earned him admission into St Francis of Assisi Theological College, Wusasa Zaria, and also a Diploma in Theology and Christian Religious studies Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. These Educational qualifications he got are all in his burning desire to see that Muslims, which Passion for Converts can reach, get salvation.
This Anglican Priest who also has a degree in Divinity from the Theological College of Northern Nigeria, Jos, expressed joy that God has restored a peaceful relationship between his birth family and himself, which has also given him the opportunity to introduce the Gospel to them.
He told Citypeople, that Passion for Converts has been able to provide discipleship to converts from various parts of the world, such as Afghanistan and India, “We have been doing this for the past 8 years to the glory of God”.
Rev Muhammed Ibrahim, also told CityPeople that Passion for Converts International Ministry’s objective is also to reach out to the needy and vulnerable groups in the society, especially the grassroots by providing basic amenities like foodstuffs to them. “We provide food items to widows and the downtrodden yearly, all in a bid to ameliorate the suffering of these group of people”.
December, last year, he said the organization distributed food items worth millions including a live cow to Makarau Community in Zangon–Kataf Local Government and Angwan Musa Community in Mararaban Rido, Chukun Local Government.
These, he emphasized, the NGO has been doing for years, all in a bid to put a smile on the faces of these widows. “This has become necessary because some of these widows find it difficult to feed themselves, while some of these communities have been affected by insecurity, and displaced by banditry thereby finding it difficult to feed themselves. “We will continue to reach out to the downtrodden and those affected by disasters”. He concluded.
