From Refugee Camp to Faith: How a Cross-Shaped Scar Opened a Somali Teen's Path to Jesus

Quick Summary: Fleeing unrest in Mogadishu left a Somali teen with an unlikely wound: a scar shaped like a cross. His search for what it meant led him to Christ.

The Facebook message came to Noor Hassan about five years ago. 

“Hi, how are you? I would like to call you. Can I?” 

Hassan is a Somali Christian serving Jesus in Nairobi, Kenya. We told the story three years ago about how God used TWR and the internet to bring him to faith in Christ. Somalia and much of the Horn of Africa remain difficult and even dangerous places for believers. That’s why we're featuring the region this month as we show how God brings “Hope in the Shadows.” It’s part of our long-running Hope Within Reach series. 

Because Hassan is bold in proclaiming his faith, he hears from many people, and some of them have ulterior motives. “We are always cautious, because many people contact us just to waste our time or with other agendas,” he said in an online interview.  

But when the individual wrote that he wanted to learn about the faith, Hassan welcomed his call. The questions began immediately: “What is the cross? What is Christianity?” 

Then 16-year-old Yuusuf told his story.

 

Refugees on a Dangerous Road 

Not long before, he and two teenage friends – alarmed by unrest in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, where they lived – decided to take a car and flee to Kenya as refugees. After they arrived at the refugee camp, their parents called and told them to come back and even sent money for their return. 

It was a rough journey, though, on bad roads. Somewhere along the way, Yuusuf injured his left hand. The wound was in the shape of a cross. 

Back in Mogadishu, Yuusuf’s friends noticed the involuntary tattoo, ridiculing him and calling him a nonbeliever. When he asked his mother what the cross meant, she answered, “That’s the sign of what nonbelievers worship.” 

But Yuusuf wanted to know more. On social media, he searched under “Somali Christian” and was directed to Hassan’s Facebook page. 

A Christian Explains the Cross 

“I told him, ‘I’m a Christian,’” Hassan related. “‘I’ve been a Christian since before you were born.’ … I began explaining the cross, what it means for our salvation, little by little. 

“Thank God, after three months, he came to Christ. He also brought his cousin, who also came to Christ and now lives in South Africa.”  

Last year, after Yuusuf stayed with him for two months, Hassan sent him to an eight-month ministry training school in the coastal city of Mombasa. He now works in a ministry with international workers. 

“He is now 20 years old,” Hassan said. “He calls me ‘Daddy,’ and I call him my son.” 

It all goes back to a quirky wound and – even before that – to the season of unrest that caused Yuusuf to flee in the first place. Authorities cracked down, and Mogadishu is much safer today, Hassan said – as long as you aren’t a Christian.  

How to Pray for Somali Believers 

Since he came to faith in Christ, Noor Hassan has been estranged from most of his family. Would you pray for their salvation? This includes three grown daughters, one of whom visited her father last year. She returned this year to live with him. As of this writing, she was still a Muslim, but she’s being exposed to what real Christians are like. 

Source: Online interview with Noor Hassan