IIPH (International Islamic Publishing House)

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Capt. (Rtd) M. A. Ondigo
رحلتي من النصرانية إلى الإسلام
الدار العالمية للكتاب الإسلامي
My Journey from Christianity to Islam
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC PUBLISHING HOUSE
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Chapter One
A BRIEF AUTOBIOGRAPHY
Childhood to teenage years
was born in a very strict Christian home of the S.D.A. (Seventh Day Adventist) denomination. I grew up in a place called Kisumu in Kenya where I took my primary, secondary and high school education, after which I joined the Kenyan Armed Forces.
During our childhood and teenage years, our parents always took us to church on Saturday, but the day before church services, that is on Fridays, at sunset, we always stopped doing any work and dedicated all the time left until midnight reading and studying the Holy Bible, singing different hymns like The Rock of Ages and praying to God through Jesus Christ. Our family was very strict in moral values and dietary laws. There was no smoking, drinking of alcohol, dating, listening to music, watching movies or going to theatres.
Our parents were intent on raising us as devout and responsible people who would be successful in life and care for others. As a matter of fact, our parents were so serious about Christianity that they named us all after the prophets mentioned in the Bible. Even our sisters were named after the wives of the prophets. Our parents always gave their tithes, that is, ten percent of their total earnings, to the church where we attended our Saturday services. Also, at the end of every month, they invited the church leaders (pastors and reverends) for dinner combined with special prayers and sometimes ten o'clock tea and special prayers, after which the leaders would take the tithes.
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Recruitment and military training
Recruitment and military training
I managed to be recruited into the military, my intention being to help bear the responsibility of educating my younger brothers. Subsequently I was trained as an Officer Cadet for one year. The training was not easy at all. At one time during the military training, I ran away back home but nobody accepted my running away. My parents in particular, unequivocally said that since I had discontinued my studies and joined the military on my own accord, I had no business coming back home.
My eldest brother whom I had consulted before joining the forces was very harsh and cross with me. He also told me in very clear terms to go back to the military training camp for there was absolutely nothing I could do at home. And so the ball was now in my court. If I stayed at home I would be considered a complete failure in life and would not be able to help my younger brothers with their education as I had intended.
For two days I was deep in thought, evaluating the difficulties involved in the remaining part of the military training and the financial situation at home. At long last, I decided I had no choice but to go back and accept the punishment that was awaiting me at the military training camp for absconding training and leaving the camp without official leave, which is known as AWOL (absent without official leave).
I went back to the training and took the responsibility of AWOL by accepting the punishment gracefully and carried on with the training, of which I had barely completed three months. There were still nine more tedious months to go. However, I soldiered on until I finished the training and graduated as a Second Lieutenant in 1986 from the Kenyan Armed Forces Training College in Nakuru.
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Christianity to Islam
My Journey from
Born into a strict Christian household in Kenya, Yahya Ondigo was always a man of
faith. He went on to join the military and it was during this time that he was given his first exposure to the Muslim way of life. When his questions about Christian faith were left inadequately answered, and with the help of his elder brother who had recently converted to Islam, Ondigo's search for the truth led him towards Islam.
My Journey from Christianity to Islam is an autobiographical work, charting this faith journey with some reflections on both religions Ondigo made along the way. He discusses discrepancies in the Christian faith, in particular with regards to the position of Jesus Christ (as). He also touches on some of the uplifting discoveries he made about the Islamic faith and way of life.
This story follows the increasing trend in modern times of people coming to Islam and also provides an insight for those interested in comparative religion.
About the author
Yahya Ondigo's questions about his Christian faith and his search for the truth led him towards Islam. Since then, he has pursued Islamic Studies, become a caller to Islam, and authored several books on Islamic topics, all under publication with IIPH, including Muslim-Christian Interactions, Forty Hadiths on Good Moral Values and Forty Hadiths on Poisonous Social Habits.
IIPH