Page 98 - MY GREAT LOVE FOR JESUS LED ME TO TROUTH

How My Conversion Affected Others’ Lives

Having received this great divine gift, I felt a strong desire to convey this final message
to those who had not heard about it. My efforts were not successful in the beginning.
Some people took the whole matter as a joke, while others advised me to convey this
message to the children since older people's beliefs were hardened and thus would by no
means accept any change. For a long time my only support, besides Allah's assistance,
was my wife, who shared my belief in Islam.

In 1990, I returned to the United States to do a master's degree in safety engineering at
Texas A&M University (TAMU). And it was during this trip that I decided to increase my
efforts to propagate Islam. I followed an Islamic training program which I created for
myself from material available at the Bryan College Station Islamic Library. I used to write
to my family in Venezuela about whatever Islamic topics I studied. By the grace of Allah,
when I returned to Venezuela in 1992, after only a few brief discussions, my parents and
my older brother embraced Islam. Soon afterward, two of my sisters, another brother,
and a nephew followed suit.
The director of the largest mosque in Caracas approved my proposal for a Sunday
program to invite non-Muslims to visit this mosque, which was the largest in Latin
America. I volunteered to coordinate this program with the imam of the mosque and,
praise be to Allah, our initial effort was a complete success. About 250 people attended
what was the first public lecture I had ever given to Venezuelans about Islam. Perhaps
for the first time in Venezuela, a mixture of Jews, Christians, atheists and others attended
a lecture about Islam. The program was such a great success that, by the grace of Allah,
many Venezuelans embraced Islam. The Sunday outreach program is still ongoing, and
anyone interested in knowing about Islam can attend it.

I have noticed that wherever I give my lectures, many people show interest in Islam.
Countless people have embraced this religion; many others take whatever Islamic
literature is available and go through it gradually, just as I did over thirty years ago. Still
others are more resistant to Islam on the plea that they have too many vices that they
cannot get rid of. It is worth mentioning here, however, that that when a person
embraces Islam, this does not mean that their life will undergo a drastic change overnight.
This may happen, of course, but it is not always the case. What generally happens is that
change takes place gradually as one progressively learns about the new faith and its