Cedar Hill Baptist Church in Ringgold is rolling out the welcome mat for guest speaker Zachariah Anani, who converted from Islam to Christianity. Anani will speak in the church sanctuary Aug. 7 at 10:50 a.m.
“He has a dynamic story,” said Northwest Georgia and Lookout Valley Baptist Association associational minister Eddy Rushing, who met Anani in Yemen in 2001. “He will share his testimony about his life and all that has happened to him. He has a question-and-answer session at the end of the presentation.”
He said Anani, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, and raised in a Muslim home, was supposed to be an imam, “the highest teacher of Islam over the mosque,” but instead joined a militia group and trained to become a black belt and an expert with daggers and knives. He said Anani killed more than 200 people by the age of 17 before being saved through a missionary he heard speak one day in Beirut.
“He was born into a home where his father and grandfather were imams,” Rushing said. “He had threats on his life and was ex-communicated. They told him he had three days to recant or they would kill him.”
To date there have been 15 attempts on Anani’s life, who relocated to Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Rushing said.
“He has helped convert seven Muslims to Christianity,” said Rushing. “He is a Christian apologist and debates on TV with Muslims around the world.”
Cedar Hill Baptist Church pastor Neal Brown said he is excited to hear Anani speak during his one trip to the southeastern United States this year. Brown’s eldest son David Brown, who serves as pastor at Centergrove Baptist Church in Rock Springs, Ga., has hosted Anani before and recommended him to his father.
“David told me, ‘You can’t imagine. It was amazing what he said,'” said Neal Brown. “He told me his church was spellbound. It was through the efforts of Southern Baptist missionaries that Anani came to Christ. It will be interesting to listen to someone that grew up practicing Islam tell about the difference that Christianity made in his life.”
Cedar Hill Baptist Church, at 60 Dyer Bridge Place in Ringgold, can be reached at 706-858-0976 for further details.