Jengish was educated at a school run by followers of the Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Muhammed Fethullah Gülen. He left school eager to “live like a real Muslim.”

 

“But while applying to university I met real Christians for the first time. They had a personal relationship with God. God spoke to them. I had never heard of anything like this before. In Islam the only person to hear Allah’s voice was the prophet Muhammad.”

 

God answered me

 

One night Jengish was cramming for an English exam. There were 90 possible topics but only one would appear on his exam. “I chose a topic and said, ‘God, if Christianity really is the true faith and I can hear your voice, then give me a sign so that I can believe. If this topic is in my exam tomorrow, I will believe’.”

 

The next day Jengish held his breath as he flipped over the exam paper. “I had the topic I had chosen!”

 

Jengish began to seriously investigate Christianity.

 

God convinced me

 

“A Christian friend lent me a Russian edition of the Full Life Study Bible. I quickly realised that my Muslim teachers knew little about Christianity and had misrepresented what the Bible says. Then I borrowed a book of doctrine, Cornerstones of Truth. I learned about God: Father, Son and Spirit. In the book of Romans God showed me how Jesus died for our sins to make us righteous.”

 

“After two months I accepted Jesus as my Saviour and Lord.”

 

God speaks through his Word

 

At theological seminary, Jengish started translating Christian books into his native language. “I am currently translating The Old Testament in Seven Sentences by Christopher Wright. This is the book that helped me understand the grand narrative of the Bible. The Old Testament shows us what God is like, what people are like, and why we need Jesus to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves.”

 

In a remote region of Central Asia, Jengish is preaching the gospel and educating young people who are at risk of being radicalised.

 

“Please pray that I will be like the apostles in Acts and go where the Spirit leads, so that a light will shine upon those living in a land of deep darkness.”

 

 

Jengish has a bachelor degree in theology and works as a teacher, translator and project manager in community development.

 

$4000 will enable the publication of a local edition of Chris Wright’s The Old Testament in Seven Sentences.