I am a former Kenyan Sunni Muslim who was educated in madrassa (Islamic religious school) during my formative years. (Hussein is my given first name, the name I received at birth. Hajji Wario was my father and he passed away on Wednesday, June 17, 1987. In madrassa I used to go by Hussein Hajji Wario. I legally go by Wario Hussein because the order of my name reversed with additional names added in April 1995.) Upon graduation from madrassa, I became a madrassa teaching assistant and a muadhin (a person who calls Muslims to pray) in my hometown, which is near Garsen. I converted to Christianity in August 1989 when I was 14 years old. My people group, the Orma, is one of the “unreached” people groups in the world because more than 99.98 percent is Muslim. I am only the second Orma to convert to Christianity.

My family found out about my conversion through my Muslim schoolmates at a boarding school six months later. Subsequent persecution resulted in the Kenyan government representative in my home area giving a final directive that led to my separation from my family in May 1990. I stayed in different parts of the country with various Christian families from different people groups and nationalities for about six years until I came to the United States in August 1996. I graduated from Hope College in 2000.

My faith journey is featured in my autobiography, Cracks in the Crescent. It discusses some esoteric aspects of Islam by conspicuously illustrating them throughout my upbringing as a Muslim, my conversion to Christianity and the ensuing persecution. It utilizes the Qur’an and Prophet Muhammad’s sayings, the Hadith, to make its case.

Portions of my conversion story and the subsequent persecution have been featured in a 1998 book, The Call of Africa; the Grand Rapids Press in October 1996; a nationwide radio broadcast through Radio Bible Class (RBC) Ministries’ weekend program Words to Live By in the United States, Canada and in some select countries in October 2003; and a reformed semi-monthly magazine the Standard Bearer in September 2006. I have shared my story with churches, schools, colleges, and Christian groups in Kenya and the United State.

I live to give glory to the Lord for saving me from among my people. I am grateful, among many things, for His protection from my detractors. I believe that the Lord has called me to be an encouragement to His church and also be an instrument in mitigating difficulties it faces in understanding Islam and reaching out to Muslims.

Read the first four chapters (upbringing, conversion and persecution) of Cracks in the Crescent on Google Books here.