On Halloween night, while others were dressed in costumes and searching for candy, the Peoria chapter of the Chi Alpha Christian sorority hosted a night of worship and testimony.
Members of the congregation enjoyed gospel music and prayer, and were offered consolation after the tumultuous events of the past week. Later, Bradley alumnus Sameed Osman took the stage to share the story of his conversion to Christianity.
When Osman was first invited to Chi Alpha, he said he jokingly warned other members that he intended to proselytize Islam.
“I was like, ‘Perfect, I can set them straight,’” Osman said.
Jaqueline Oseguera, President of Chi Alpha, arranged for Osman to speak.
“We invited him to come … speak about his journey,” Oseguera said. “We thought it might be interesting to other students … especially with the way people perceive Muslims in the world today, and Christianity as well.”
“It was awesome,” said Ian Hunter, a freshman entrepreneurship major. “[Sameed] is great. I had heard him speak before, at a Chi Alpha retreat.”
Sameed Osman was born in India, but grew up in Saudi Arabia as part of a prominent Muslim family. 86 people (five generations) lived in the same house. As the oldest of his generation, Osman said he had a lot of expectations to live up to.
“I proved that wrong by becoming a Christian,” Osman said.
Osman converted to Christianity over a period of several years, during which he suffered a dangerous car accident and a near-fatal robbery attempt. In his hospital room, he prayed “Jesus or Allah, I don’t want to die tonight.”
“When I woke up the next morning I had four fractures in my skull that had healed,” said Osman. “The doctor said ‘in the medical field, we call this a miracle.’ In the religious field, we call that a miracle, too.”
He said he felt the presence of Jesus in his hospital room, and later received signs and messages telling him to convert.
“I had so many dreams,” Osman said. “Where I could just … feel God’s presence.”
While he took pains to establish he had nothing against Islam, he spoke of his conversion as something that gave him great relief.
His first exposure to his future religion was through a Google search about the religions of the world, and later he attended Catholic school for a year and bonded with a nun, Sister Mary.
Although he earned his undergraduate degree in India, Osman said he came to Bradley for his Masters because of a feeling in his heart.
Chi Alpha hosts a Bible study every Wednesday night from 7-8 p.m. on the second floor of the Michel Student Center. Non-believers are welcome to attend.
