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"Somali Christians are among the most extremely persecuted in the world. You could be sitting in a cafeteria, enjoying your meal, and somebody could come and attempt to decapitate you, to cut your head off." Aweis Ali doesn't hold back in sharing the realities of being a Somali Christian, particularly in Somalia.
Aweis mostly grew up on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia's capital, as the son of a Muslim cleric who was preparing Aweis to follow in his footsteps. For Somali people, being Somali is synonymous with being Muslim, but when Aweis heard the gospel over the radio, his life was forever changed.
"I receive constant threats, regular emails, WhatsApp messages, social media pages about me threatening my life."
Aweis Ali, Somali believer
In the following days, Aweis kept tuning in to find out more about Jesus. He even wrote to the radio ministry to ask for Bible study materials and a New Testament. He received it by post, not even considering what his family may think or what danger it could cause. This was many years ago when the postal system was still working in Somalia.
"[My father] said, 'I cannot stop you from reading your Bible, but if you become a Christian, I will be the one to kill you.' And that's when I realized, it could really cost me my life. So, I kept a low profile from that day on."
"When I chose to become a Christian three years later, I was cut off," Aweis says. "I was an outcast, someone who had defiled the family name. There were threats against my life, and it was very painful."
For seven years, Aweis followed Jesus by himself, not knowing any other Christians to share his life and faith with. This isolation and the desire to find other believers led Aweis to risk visiting someone whom he had deduced must be a Christian.
"To be able to have fellowship with another believer was a joy," Aweis says. "I felt peace. It was like the whole world was open to me. What was once seen as impossible became possible, because God was in it. Now I had somebody I could sit down with to learn the Bible, read together and minister with them."
Together they started looking for more believers, believing that they could not be the only Jesus followers. Little by little, their community grew.
"That's when the persecution started," Aweis says. "Liban was the first to be killed… Within a short time, another person was killed. So, we had no doubt that we were being targeted."
"But we had started receiving visions and dreams from God," Aweis continues. "We were receiving these regular affirmations that [the persecution] would continue, and it would get bad, but at the end of the day we would emerge stronger."
Shockingly, after a couple of years only two members remained. The rest were martyred for their faith.
"I'd lost almost all my friends," Aweis says. "I couldn't eat, and I lost so much weight. I couldn't sleep due to the constant threats and spiritually I was not doing well."
Aweis fled the country, and whilst recuperating in another country, Aweis was given the opportunity to attend theological college by a missionary couple, giving him the strength and support he needed to continue his ministry. As Tertullian, the early Christian church father from North Africa famously said, 'The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church'."
Today, Aweis is a scholar, prolific author, bible translator and continues to minister to Somali believers in the Horn of Africa through discipleship and leadership training.
Aweis is bold in his assurance. "Some Somali Christians now believe, and I'm one of them, that the era of hiding is over," he says. "We will not live in fear. We refuse to be intimidated. We refuse for our existence to be denied. We want to show the world and the Somali people that we do exist."
For Aweis, this means that he doesn't hide his face, as you can see in the photo above. But it's not foolhardiness: "Being bold, also requires wisdom," he says. "We can't be too timid, but we can't be foolish. Most Somali Christians in Somalia who are under the sword want to remain underground, and there's nothing wrong with that because it's an extremely volatile situation. They have to be very careful, and we respect that. But those Somali Christians who have the freedom to speak up, who have the privilege to say, 'We are followers of Christ, and we do not apologize for it', should do it."
However, Aweis' bold choice to be open with his faith, identity, and ministry is not without real risk.
"I receive constant threats, regular emails, WhatsApp messages, social media pages about me threatening my life," he says.
"It's true that the Somali church is the second or third most persecuted church in the world according to the World Watch List," Aweis says, "but do not feel bad for us. Rejoice with us because we're seen worthy to be persecuted as Christ was persecuted… Pray for us to be stronger spiritually, that we thrive in the midst of persecution, that we become more Christ-like."
That's where everything begins for Aweis: The desire to see more and more people encounter the saving love and grace of Jesus. "We want the persecutors to follow the Lord," he says. "We want God to open their eyes."
Aweis concludes: "There is no place where Christ cannot be followed. It's impossible. The Holy Spirit can penetrate every wall."