Source: www.worthynews.com
Date: October 13, 2026
by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Chief International Correspondent
JERUSALEM (Worthy News) – An Israeli-born former Muslim-turned-evangelist says his Christian media ministry, which reaches Muslims through television and online broadcasts, has helped more than 100,000 people embrace faith in Jesus Christ amid reports of growing Christianity in Muslim-majority countries despite persecution.
Harun Ibrahim, who was born in Israel to Arab Muslim parents, said his spiritual journey began after he studied at a Jewish school, married a devout Christian woman and spent years examining Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
Speaking to the U.S.-based Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), Ibrahim recalled how an encounter with a stranger challenged his religious beliefs and eventually led him to embrace Christianity.
The man told him that Jesus had said no one could come to God the Father except through Him, referring to the biblical passage John 14:6.
READING THE BIBLE
Ibrahim admitted that he initially resented the stranger’s direct approach. “And I really didn’t like that,” he recalled. “I said, ‘You are rude.'”
However, the encounter prompted him to read the Gospel of John repeatedly, transforming his understanding of Jesus.
“And I read the Gospel of John seven times in a row. I just like really loved the person called Jesus. I couldn’t resist. I just had to accept him as my redeemer, as my Savior,” Ibrahim told CBN’s The 700 Club.
His conversion eventually inspired him to become a missionary among Muslims in Arab countries before helping develop the outreach of Al Hayat Ministries, a Christian media organization dedicated to reaching Muslim audiences worldwide.
MINISTRY REACHES MILLIONS
The organization expanded its Arabic-language television broadcasting in 2003 and now operates through satellite television, digital platforms and Christian publications aimed primarily at Muslim audiences.
Al Hayat Ministries claims its outreach has helped more than 100,000 people, mainly Muslims, come to faith in Christ.
Ibrahim said the ministry’s reach has grown dramatically through satellite television, the internet and social media, allowing Christian programming to reach audiences in countries where evangelism is restricted.
“Just an example that [in] 2023 we received 109 million viewer reactions or responses and thousands of people accepting Christ,” he told the Keeping It Real Israel podcast.
INTEREST IN FAITH
Ibrahim said the figures reflected a spiritual hunger among Muslims. “This means that there is hunger in the Muslim world to hear about Christ.”
Unlike earlier Christian broadcasts aimed primarily at established churches, Ibrahim said his programs speak directly to Muslims in language and cultural terms they understand.
His account comes as Christian organizations report growing underground churches and increasing interest in Christianity in several Muslim-majority countries.
Iran has emerged as a prominent example, with Christian groups reporting that secret house churches continue to attract converts despite arrests, surveillance and imprisonment.
CHRISTIANITY IN IRAN
Christian mission group Elam Ministries says an estimated 500 Christians from a Muslim background lived in Iran at the time of the 1979 Islamic Revolution, compared with hundreds of thousands today, with some estimates exceeding one million.
Open Doors, a Christian advocacy group, estimates that Iran has about 800,000 Christians, while a British government assessment published in June 2026 cited estimates of between 720,000 and one million Christian converts. The figures cover different populations and remain difficult to verify because many believers worship secretly.
Iran ranks tenth on the 2026 World Watch List of 50 countries where Christians face the most severe persecution, published by Open Doors.
Iranian authorities have repeatedly detained Christian converts and house-church leaders on national security allegations, while religious freedom advocates maintain that many were targeted for peacefully practicing their faith.
FAITH DESPITE PERSECUTION
In Algeria, where churches have faced government restrictions and closures, Christian organizations also report communities of converts from Islam continuing to practice their faith despite pressure.
Algeria ranks 20th on the 2026 World Watch List, while Afghanistan, where Christians worship almost entirely underground following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, ranks 11th.
Church groups say Christian satellite broadcasts and online outreach have created opportunities to reach Muslims in countries where public evangelism is prohibited or severely restricted.
However, the extent of Christian growth remains difficult to measure independently, particularly in countries where converts risk rejection by their families, imprisonment or violence.
CONVERTS FACE DANGERS
Ibrahim acknowledged those dangers in an earlier interview with CBN News, saying converts from Islam could face severe personal consequences.
“Many people would lose their jobs, their families, their children, their wives, and then their families,” he said, adding that some converts also lose their lives.
Despite the dangers, Ibrahim believes modern communications technology has opened opportunities for evangelism that were previously unimaginable. “I think that media, TV, internet are here to help us fulfill the Great Commission,” he said, referring to Jesus’ biblical command to spread the Gospel.
He noted that satellite channels, online platforms and social media can reach people who previously had little access to Christian teaching. “I do believe that a great revival is very soon to come to every single Muslim country,” Ibrahim said.
Ibrahim urged Christians hoping to reach Muslims with the Gospel to begin with prayer. “When you start praying for the Muslim world, God will guide you [in] what to do,” he stressed.