Does our name really tell about who we are? In my case I would have to agree 100% percent. My legal name is Josh Mensinger, but if you knew me growing up my name was actually Josh Ahmed. In fact my High School diploma says so. The name itself almost seems contridictory to itself but then, it really does fit me now better than Josh Mensinger. You see my mother married my step-father Mahmoud Ahmed when I was two years old, from that point on I was Josh Ahmed. I didn’t know he was my step-father growing up, in fact to this day it’s an insult for myself to use that term because he is my father. I grew up in a multi religious home where my father was Muslim and my mother was Christian. As do most boys I desired the love and effection of my father. Seeking out that acceptance that I believe we were created to yearn for, I decided I was going to become Muslim around the age of 13, that’s when I began to learn from my father to pray and fast and what it meant to worship Allah in the Mosque. My father even taught me about Jesus and the great prophet that he was and the wonderful things that Allah sent him to do to prepare the way for Mohammed. Around the age of 16 something happened in my father’s life that caused him to withdrawl from his Islamic friends and his muslim faith. At that point I was becoming my own man and seeking my own acceptance in the world, believing there existed a god that loved everyone that was good. At the age of 25 a co-worker (Mike Bledsoe, I will give his name because he deserves that respect) felt the Holy Spirit convicting him to share Christ with me. He didn’t give up easily, and after 1 month of witnessing to myself and prayer I gave my life to Christ. From that point on my life has been nothing but Glorifing the Risen Father in Heaven. So you see what I mean about my name really fitting me now, even though I’m legally Josh Mensinger, Josh Ahmed contradicting as it may seem (a chrisitan and muslim name) really fits me now more than ever. Although I guess in a funny way I could testify that since I”m now a Christian I sure am a “man who sings”. As I have grown in my new found faith, my father has returned to his Islamic beliefs. My prayer to Christ, is that He would use my life to not only reach the world, but to one day reach my earthly father, Mahmoud Mohammed Ahmed.
Josh Mensinger
Josh, I will be praying for your father as I pray for you.
This is Q’s wife. I was just browsing and reading some of the bios of his classmates. Thanks for sharing your background! We will be praying for your father, please keep us posted.