Boredom sparks change
A young man reads the Bible out of boredom, leading him to convert to Christianity.
By Clark Frederickson
Omar Fakhri had no interest in that Bible given to him by his friend a few months ago. He accepted it to be polite but a Bible isn’t the most useful gift for a Muslim. He had been working on a boat dock when he was 19 and attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst when he realized that often there was nothing to do but read at his job. Which reminded him that he barely had any books except that Bible. Counting the waves on the lake only held his interest for so long. He decided to bring the Bible to his next shift, which changed his life.
“One thing about grandchildren is they soften grandma’s heart” – Omar Fakhri, philosophy professor.
Fakhri, a first-year philosophy professor at Bethel University, was born and raised in the Middle East before moving to California with his family when he was 10. He converted from Islam to Christianity in college. His Iraqi family all practice Islam. This created serious tension between his family and him for years. He has had three children with his wife over the past seven years who helped ease that tension.
“One thing about grandchildren is they soften grandma’s heart,” Fakhri said.
He never expected to see his mother give Christmas presents to his two sons and daughter and set up a tree for them. She also attended church with them to see them get baptized.
After the few early morning boaters were just distant figures, already there was downtime for him to read in the first light. Those early morning shifts seemed to be filled with empty space.
He started to read Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the book of John. The words of Jesus in the book of John called to him in a way he had never felt before. He had begun to wish his friend had given him one of those Bibles with all of Christ’s words printed in red.
“His words were mesmerizing to me,” Fakhri said.
