H. S. was born and raised in a Muslim family yet spent nearly fifteen years sifting through books about converting to Christianity and preaching sites looking for convincing reasons to convert from Islam to Christianity.

“I have spent long nights looking for convincing arguments to proselytize,” says H.S.

H. S. was born and raised in a Muslim family yet spent nearly fifteen years sifting through books about converting to Christianity and preaching sites looking for convincing reasons to convert from Islam to Christianity.

“I have spent long nights looking for convincing arguments to proselytize,” says H.S.

As he searched, H. S. lost a lot of his weight due to excessive worrying, insomnia and a lack of appetite and developed an addiction to reading Christianization books. He finally decided to convert to Christianity, which he considers to be “more tolerant than Islam that has been distorted given the emerging extremism.”

During his childhood, H. S. used to attend a Koranic school to memorize the holy Islamic book. He however still recalls how the instructor was violent. “He used to harshly scold and punish us for simple reasons,” he says. “I think this is what pushed me early to seek another nonviolent religion.”

While in university in Tunis, H.S. communicated with several missionary organizations spread all over the country. “They provided me with many books,” he says. “I also had meetings with foreign as well as Tunisian preachers who embraced Christianity.”

The critical moment for him to take his decision was following the outbreak of the Tunisian revolution. The resulting climate of freedom allowed for the emergence of Salafist and Jihadist movements and an increase in terrorist operations.

Tunisian media reports claim that a number of Tunisian young people have converted to Shia Islam or Christianity, although the topic is still taboo.

H. S. told Correspondents that during his meetings with a number of Tunisian young people he noticed that they were drawn to Christianity “but feared the reaction of their families and society,” he says. “Taking such a decision requires a lot of courage to face society which considers those who break away from Islam to be godless and apostate and should be killed.”

A while ago, H. S. joined activists on www.elmassihfitunis.com (Christians in Tunisia) to advocate Christianity, which enabled him to publicly disclose his new religion to his friends, but not to his family.

Despite the large number of Christianization pages on social media in Tunisia, the number of Tunisians who have embraced Christianity cannot be determined, especially since Tunisian churches do not elaborate.

These pages offer phone numbers for those wishing to convert to Christianity to facilitate communication with their admins and learn how to become Christians.

Although the Tunisian Constitution provides for the freedom of religious belief, the mostly conservative society accepts no religion other than Islam and accuses those converting to Christianity as “mercenaries selling their religion for money.”

Terrorism driver for Christian converts?

Social psychologist Sami Nasr attributes Tunisians’ conversion to Christianity to “the rising wave of terrorism in many Arab countries, including Tunisia. The atrocities committed by IS have pushed some young people to look for less violent religions, especially since their imaginations link happy life and scientific and technological development to Christian people. The bleak picture portrayed by media about Islam has also caused Muslims’ trust in Islam to a decline.”

Tunisian law prohibits Christian proselytizing. Previously, foreigners who tried to proselytize were deported and their religious documents and other materials (books, video tapes and CDs) were confiscated.

This however has not prevented missionary organizations from continuing their activities under different banners, taking advantage of modern means of communication and direct advocacy to attract young people to “the gospel of Jesus.”