Dassin grew up Kabyle, in the mountains of northern Algeria, and he was angry. He had joined a radical Islamist group. When his older brother became a follower of Jesus in 1987, Dassin turned on him. He persecuted his own brother for the faith.
But something in Dassin would not settle. "I was a Muslim. I was walking according to the tradition of the family and culture," he said, "but inside I felt like an orphan."
The orphan who found a Father In 1992 that emptiness met its answer. Dassin gave his life to Jesus. He put it simply. "I repented my sins, and I thanked the Lord and started a new life."
The man who once hunted believers now gathers them. Dassin leads worship in a Kabyle church of 250 people in Tizi Ouzou, and he teaches those who are new to the faith, walking them into the same freedom that found him.
Algeria has not made this easy. Churches have been pressured and closed. And still the Kabyle church has become one of the largest gatherings of former Muslims who follow Jesus anywhere on earth. Dassin is proof that no one is too far, too hard, or too hostile for the love of God to reach. The orphan feeling was a lie. He had a Father all along.
