A Muslim Who Became a Christian: The Story of John Avetaranian

"One day I noticed among her books one, I had never seen before. I looked inside and read the beginning--it was the Gospel in Turkish."

This would be Muhammed Shükri's first encounter with the truth of Jesus Christ as testified to in the writings of the Christians, the New Testament. It would not be his last.

This Muslim and mullah, this dervish and descendant of the prophet Muhammad, from the distant province of Erzerum in the Ottoman Empire, would continue to follow in Jesus' footsteps, leading him to Persia, Russia, Sweden, China, England, Germany and Bulgaria. He would come to live and work with Americans, Europeans, Turks, Armenians, Persians and Chinese from various backgrounds.

And his desire, that his own Turkish people and Muslims in general should hear the words of the Gospel, would never diminish.

Here is his story in his own words.