ICC Note:
Steven Masood, a Pakistani Christian now living in the U.S., had to travel a very difficult road to his spiritual salvation. Born a Muslim in Pakistan, Masood had to risk his life in order to convert to Christianity. Buried alive, nearly beheaded and jailed many times for his conversion, Masood is thankful that he has been able to find religious freedom in the U.S.. 
11/29/2013 Pakistan (Ocala Star Banner) – Buried alive, nearly beheaded and jailed numerous times, Steven Masood acknowledged he has many reasons to be bitter over the persecutions he says he suffered in Pakistan for having turned from his Muslim faith to Christianity. But after finding freedom in America eight years ago, he says he is filled with words of gratitude on this Thanksgiving weekend.
“First of all, I am thankful to God,” Masood said. “Had it not been for the food sent from America and Canada to the northern region of Pakistan, my generation, at that time, back in the ’60s, would have died. Secondly, I am thankful that these American missionaries brought us spiritual food. God already sent someone to die for me. So, I’m thankful for that, as well.”
Born into an Islamic reformist sect called Ahmadiyya, Masood left home at 18 to become a Sunni Muslim. Prior to that, he had received Christian Bibles in the Urdu language on separate occasions. They were immediately taken from him. Even though he continued studying the principles of Islam and memorized the entire Quran, Masood began to question the tenets of his faith. While a student of Islamic studies, he faced persecution from other college students for speaking out, he said.
“I would say, ‘No, that is wrong,’ and I would get myself in trouble by telling the truth,” Masood said. “One day, Muslim students at the same university drugged me and buried me alive in an open grave in the graveyard.”
Masood believes his escape was something of a miracle.
 
“It was the rainy season,” he said. “In the middle of the night, the monsoon rain came. The graveyard was at the bottom of the hill, the reservoir overflowed from the top. Not only was it full of water, but more rain came and washed away everything, including the grave where I was. I started breathing in and became aware that I was going to be drowned in the water. I was floating. I didn’t know how to swim. I started worrying about what should I do. There was a big banyan tree. I climbed in it and sat there. Anyway, God saved my life. The next day, I was reading in the newspaper that 238 people died because of the monsoon rain, and you can imagine, here I was alive.”
When Masood announced his concerns about Islam to his family, his father disowned him. According to Masood, his father dragged him by the collar into the street where a Muslim priest uttered a funeral prayer over him. His hands bound, he was placed on a donkey and was about to be beheaded when the donkey became agitated and ran off. Masood believes God protected him again that day.
Suppressing fear for his life, Masood continued to seek answers, he said.
“The more I wanted to be a good Muslim, the more I had these questions, but there was no assurance for me,” Masood said. “I was performing all the prayers and everything. I was studying the traditions of Islam. Mohammad said, ‘By works we will not be saved.’ So, people asked him, ‘What about you?’ And he said, ‘Even I, unless God covers me with his grace and mercy.’ So, here I was, searching for that grace and mercy. I was so upset, because nobody was telling me the truth.”
In December 1971, while India and Pakistan were warring over what is now Bangladesh, Masood huddled in the dark as shells fell all around. Afterward, he went to a church in Karachi. The pastor gave him a Bible and Masood spent the next two years studying it.
“I was reading and checking for myself,” Masood said. “I was quite surprised that there was an answer for me. I went back and forth. This is what Christians say, this is what Muslims say. I saw the answer in John 1:17, ‘For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.’ I said, ‘Oh, I’ve been looking for this grace.’ ”
Masood became even more outspoken and was jailed several times. He said a Muslim secret service man, who had become a friend, felt compassion for him and bailed him out of prison.
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