Refugee Assimilation Involves the church

Thousands of refugees in Germany are converting from Islam to Christianity, although it could carry a huge personal risk for them. Independent churches are especially seeing many new converts.

The conversion itself, however, carries many risks. Converts to Christianity are exposed to hostility - in Iran and Afghanistan they face religious persecution. In some instances they could be dealt the death penalty. In the past years there have been more and more reports about converts being attacked in Germany.

"Right now we have five people with us who have been assaulted. One has lost some of his teeth and one of the others has a wound that had to be sewn up. " The authorities, according to [Pastor] Martens, haven't reacted. The security personnel are mostly on the side of the attackers and even though the police are involved "they are not looking further into the matter."

It's gone so far that the converts are secretly sneaking out of the refugee homes to attend the church services and are hiding their cross necklaces which they receive after baptism. One refugee convert who was attacked and filed a complaint then received 10 complaints from the other residents saying that he assaulted Muslim women. These claims were made up and served as a way to intimidate him.

The aggression towards converts is not new, the Pastor confirmed, but has become normalized. The attacks are partly the other people of the same nationalities of the converts but also "radical Muslims from different countries." Although he knows the change of faith represents a danger for people
Source: http://www.dw.com/en/german-churches-see-rise-in-baptisms-for-refugees/a-38771600