"Q" 's Testimony (March 2002)
I knew about Christianity when I lived in Iran. I met a lot of Christians there, and they had many good characteristics that drew me toward them. There is a big difference between Christians and Muslims, their behavior, their speech, everything. It's very easy to tell if someone is a Christian or a Muslim. The Christians act like they have been in God's presence. But everyone knows that, in Iran, if you go to church or ask questions about Christianity, it's dangerous...you risk your life. There is no way to learn more about it. Still, I wanted to learn all I could about Christianity.
Two years ago, I left Iran. I wasn't escaping from any particular, big problem (unfortunate for my case file story when applying in other countries for asylum). I just wanted freedom. In Iran, there is no freedom; everything involves religion. They stop your mouth with religion...you must keep your own thoughts in your own head or else worry that you will get in trouble.
I was there three years ago when the elections led to huge student demonstrations in Tehran, and I saw the way the protestors were treated. I watched demonstrators being arrested, people who have never been heard from since. I watched twelve and thirteen year old boys...children...beating the protestors, not knowing anything except what they had been taught about religion. This is the way animals act, not people.
So I left Iran for Turkey. When I had been there one month, I heard from some Christian friends of mine back in Iran, who told me there was an Iranian church there in Istanbul. So I went because I was curious. I loved Christian people and their behavior. I wanted to steal their characteristics but not their religion; I wanted to be like them but not one of them. I didn't want to change my religion.
Reza, one of my friends in Istanbul, told me he wanted to go to church one Sunday and asked if I would go with him, and I told him I would. It happened to be a baptism day. (My friend didn't tell me it was HIS baptism day!) At this church in Turkey, they wore white robes and had a special ceremony, baptizing inside the church building. I was Muslim, and my friend had been Muslim. It was a huge testimony to me that he would change his religion. He asked me, "Do you want to change your clothes and be baptized too?"
I told him, "I think you're homesick and alone, and that's why you are changing your religion, because these people have accepted you." I was very angry with him. But he didn't listen to me. I was sad that he was so lost.
When the congregation was singing, the worship songs were printed out on sheets of paper, and I followed along with the words, but the paper shook because my hands were trembling. I loved the way the people prayed with joy instead of weeping. They could dance for their God instead of flaying themselves until they bled, like good Muslims do. I wanted to be able to pray to God with joy, too, not sadness.
I stayed until the end of the service when the baptism took place, but I was sad. Even so, the next week I told my friend I would go to church with him again. I decided, "If the questions I will ask get answered, then I will come again." I went to the church for five months, every week...a regular member, attending Bible studies and Sunday morning services. In the Bible class, I always told the teacher, "If you say anything about the Koran, you must bring me a translation so I can read it for myself. And if you say anything about the Bible, I want a translation of the verses you quote too." Mahmud, another student in the class, said, "You should first think about the question and see if you can figure out the answer yourself before you ask." As I was reading Genesis, I would be asking a question, and the answer would suddenly occur to me. As time went on, I could answer my own questions, as if something were pushing or helping me along the way.
Whenever we had class, I would always sit in a place where no one could see me from the street, but Mahmud told me that people would eventually find out and treat me badly. My roommates wondered what I did three times a week, even on my day off when I left the house well dressed. When I went to the church, it was the only time I wouldn't invite my roommates out with me. The house that we had, we rented in my name and another guy's name, but other people lived there too. One day, my roommates followed me on my way to church. One of my best friends came into the church and saw me there. He sat next to me and said, "I'm sorry for you." After the service, I knew that, if I went home, my roommates and friends would not treat me the same, that they might do something to me. Before, my best friend had given me a blanket, but when I got home, he was sleeping under it and had left me a note that said, "I'm sorry that it's cold, but I can't do anything about it." My roommates teased me unmercifully. The house was like a prison for me. I had rented the house in my name, but now I wanted to leave it. Still, somehow, I didn't treat them like I might have treated them before. Instead, I wanted to help them. God was working in me. Slowly, he brought me to forgive my best friend and other old roommates for their attitude and behavior. They tried their best to make me angry, but I think God gave me the power to treat them with love in exchange for their ridicule.
Reza, my friend who first brought me to church, wasn't around much because he was trying to get into Greece. I tried myself unsuccessfully to go to Greece three or four times. I didn't want to live in Turkey. I wanted to live in a better country, a land where I could work. One day I saw Reza, and he told me that he had found a new way to get to Greece, by the sea. We bought a plastic boat that was so cheap you could poke a hole in it with your finger. Nevertheless, we were determined to paddle across the Mediterranean in it.
We put the boat in the water and immediately lost one of the oars. I said, "We have to go back."
"Don't worry," said Reza, "God will help us."
"It's one in the morning! It's impossible!" I answered. But in five minutes we had found the missing oar. I was afraid because the weather was windy and the waves were too big. I told Reza, "I want to live!" But Reza encouraged me to keep paddling. We were in the sea for four and a half hours. We tried to get closer to our destination, but the wind just blew us back. Our arms were tired, we couldn't row anymore, but we called on God to help us. Suddenly, twenty meters away, a big ship was coming toward us. I said, "Okay, now we will die, because the ship is coming toward us, and we don't have any more strength to paddle away." Instead, the ship missed us by five meters, but the people on board didn't see us, and we didn't even get caught in the wake...instead it helped us go further. We had prayed, and God had helped us. We paddled with our feet and hands and finally got to Greece at six in the morning.
I decided to get baptized. We heard that there was a church in Greece that could do it. I told Reza that this was my new goal, to get baptized. When I arrived in Athens, I had a friend who told me about a Christian place called Helping Hands. We came together to attend the Baptism classes because I wanted to be baptized. I even translated for the teacher. I was finally baptized one day at a nearby beach, and was baptized with the Holy Spirit the same day.
My life has changed very much since I've become a Christian, my behavior, my speech, my attitude toward other human beings, the ability to feel their problems...many things. When I got baptized I felt clean andI was very happy. I try not to have sin in my life anymore. I ask God to guide me Himself. I don't know what the future holds, but I hope that I will be able to start a new life in a new place.
I live in one of Helping Hands' Nests. Even so, in Greece, I have many problems. I hate being called a "refugee." It is very difficult to find work, and even more difficult to leave for another European country. But at least I am free...politically and spiritually.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
"Iranian M" 's Story
I am from Iran. I left my home country because I wanted to go to university and it is very difficult to get accepted there. Out of the one million people who take the entrance exam each year, only 100,000 are accepted. I also wanted to find a good surgeon to operate on my foot, which hurts.
I left Iran for Turkey, legally with my passport. Then I made several unsuccessful attempts to enter Greece from Turkey by walking across the border, but I was finally able to come by paying a smuggler to take me on a big ship; that worked very well. I made my way to Athens, where I moved into a downtown house packed with Kurdish people. The rent was only $36 a month, but it was a dirty, old, decrepit building that shook whenever you walked in it. A Greek man leased each room to a different Kurd, who then sublet his room to as many people he could squeeze inside. There were three floors, six rooms on each floor, and twelve or more people in each room. There were about 270 people living in this one building! There was only one bathroom for one hundred people, and all of us had to shower to go to work, but there was never any hot water. I stayed there for a month and a half and tried to learn Kurdish, but it took me until the day I left to be able to communicate in it.
I found a job the very first day I came to Athens. Finding a job was essential because my family could not possibly send me enough money with which to survive. My first day, I got paid twelve dollars for two hours of work. I thought to myself, I can make good money working here, so why should my family have to send me anything? I decided to work in Athens and repay the money my mother had borrowed from the bank for me. Then I decided that I could get even better work in another country.
But the next day, I couldn't find a job anywhere. The following day was a Sunday, and a friend told me there was a place that offered free English classes. When class was over, I came out and heard Nader preaching in Farsi and discovered that a church meeting was taking place. My friend was from Kurdistan and couldn't speak Farsi. I told him, "Let's go sit and see what's going on here."
But he said, "Oh, it's all garbage about Christianity." I told him that I didn't know much about Christianity and I was curious to learn more. But he told me that listening was unclean and that God would curse me. I responded that I wanted to sit there and know more and increase my knowledge. Didn't our Prophet say the same thing, that to increase your knowledge, you should be willing to go as far as China? So why should I go to China if I can sit right here? So he sat with me, unable to argue with that.
Nader was preaching about all of the difficulties of life, and all my hardships came to my mind. As I sat there, I prayed that God would find a job for me. I told God, it doesn't matter where I am, in a mosque or a church, I can still ask you. It's your house, and if you answer my prayer, I promise I will come to wherever your house truly is.
When the service was over, I wanted to leave, but I realized they were serving Iranian food afterward. The food was horrible! A man named Hamzeh, who didn't know how to cook very well, had prepared the food. It was so bad, that I couldn't eat. Later, when I had become friends with Hamzeh, I told him so. (He is getting better at cooking now.)
After that day, I found a job very quickly. Since then, I have worked the whole time I have been in Greece. The first five months, my employer paid me. But the last two months, even though I have worked hard despite my painful foot, he has refused to pay me, offering only to give me a third of what he owed me "as a gift." I am still trying to get him to give me what he owes me.
The first time I came to Helping Hands, I didn't know what they offered... food, English classes, etc... From the first day, I sat because I wanted to learn more about Christianity. It wasn't until the next Sunday that I came again, because I had been working the whole week. I tried to find out about more classes about Christianity and then attended all the Bible classes and some of the English classes, but the Bible class was more important to me. I tried to take time off from my job when the Bible studies were going on. My knowledge increased about Christianity little by little. When all the Kurds I lived with found out that I was coming to Bible classes, they told me Aybeh, aybeh, "No good, no good. Christianity is heretical and all the people are infidels." I couldn't give them answers or proof, only calm them down. I took a Bible from Helping Hands, but I hid it in my suitcase so no one would see it. But they found out when they searched the suitcase and found it.
I didn't work at Helping Hands at that time. I asked God to use me as his servant somehow. The only way I knew how to serve was to come and grow in Jesus. One Sunday, Hamzeh called me. From that day, I started to help him in the kitchen each week. My life in the house was very difficult, them fighting with me all the time about Christianity, so I packed my suitcase one night at eleven at night. I lived on the 3rd floor, and the people in one of the rooms on the 1st floor told me they would not let me leave to sleep in the park that night, so I spent the night with them. I stayed in their room for two weeks. I didn't have any choice because I didn't know any Iranians with whom to rent a house. I found one place, but the people there told me I had to pay a $500 deposit and then the rent. I had the salary to pay the rent but not enough for the deposit. One Sunday, I came to church and asked Nader to pray so that God would solve my problems about a place to stay, to provide an apartment. I was searching everywhere for an apartment I could afford. One day I was in Bible study, and brother Themis called Nader over to translate and said, "I hear you have problems with housing." I thought, "He has found a house I can rent." But he told me about a shelter where we could live and leave our clothes, a place called The Nest. In this way God helped me a lot so that I could send money to my parents instead of using it to pay rent. Three months later I accepted Jesus in my life in that house. I can say I believed in Jesus from the beginning, but it wasn't with strong faith. Those three months in that house helped strengthen me in my faith so that I could say I believe in Jesus.
I asked to be baptized with the next group who was going to be baptized, but the baptism teacher and his translator wouldn't let me because they thought I wasn't ready. I was really upset, because there were people being baptized that had been believers for a shorter time than I had, so why should they have papers to prove their belief? But the teacher asked me to attend the next baptism class, and after the class it was really funny that I received my baptism certificate one day earlier than the people in the group ahead of me!
As for the future, I want to go to Canada and attend university. I think God wants to train me by sending me to university and helping me learn more about him so I can be his servant. I want to go to a Christian university. But if God wants me here in Greece, I could go to university here. I believe God has a call on my life, but I don't know what it is yet.
I can say that the good attitudes of the team helped me to grow in my faith. I have problems, but I ask God to help me, and I know he will.
I left Iran for Turkey, legally with my passport. Then I made several unsuccessful attempts to enter Greece from Turkey by walking across the border, but I was finally able to come by paying a smuggler to take me on a big ship; that worked very well. I made my way to Athens, where I moved into a downtown house packed with Kurdish people. The rent was only $36 a month, but it was a dirty, old, decrepit building that shook whenever you walked in it. A Greek man leased each room to a different Kurd, who then sublet his room to as many people he could squeeze inside. There were three floors, six rooms on each floor, and twelve or more people in each room. There were about 270 people living in this one building! There was only one bathroom for one hundred people, and all of us had to shower to go to work, but there was never any hot water. I stayed there for a month and a half and tried to learn Kurdish, but it took me until the day I left to be able to communicate in it.
I found a job the very first day I came to Athens. Finding a job was essential because my family could not possibly send me enough money with which to survive. My first day, I got paid twelve dollars for two hours of work. I thought to myself, I can make good money working here, so why should my family have to send me anything? I decided to work in Athens and repay the money my mother had borrowed from the bank for me. Then I decided that I could get even better work in another country.
But the next day, I couldn't find a job anywhere. The following day was a Sunday, and a friend told me there was a place that offered free English classes. When class was over, I came out and heard Nader preaching in Farsi and discovered that a church meeting was taking place. My friend was from Kurdistan and couldn't speak Farsi. I told him, "Let's go sit and see what's going on here."
But he said, "Oh, it's all garbage about Christianity." I told him that I didn't know much about Christianity and I was curious to learn more. But he told me that listening was unclean and that God would curse me. I responded that I wanted to sit there and know more and increase my knowledge. Didn't our Prophet say the same thing, that to increase your knowledge, you should be willing to go as far as China? So why should I go to China if I can sit right here? So he sat with me, unable to argue with that.
Nader was preaching about all of the difficulties of life, and all my hardships came to my mind. As I sat there, I prayed that God would find a job for me. I told God, it doesn't matter where I am, in a mosque or a church, I can still ask you. It's your house, and if you answer my prayer, I promise I will come to wherever your house truly is.
When the service was over, I wanted to leave, but I realized they were serving Iranian food afterward. The food was horrible! A man named Hamzeh, who didn't know how to cook very well, had prepared the food. It was so bad, that I couldn't eat. Later, when I had become friends with Hamzeh, I told him so. (He is getting better at cooking now.)
After that day, I found a job very quickly. Since then, I have worked the whole time I have been in Greece. The first five months, my employer paid me. But the last two months, even though I have worked hard despite my painful foot, he has refused to pay me, offering only to give me a third of what he owed me "as a gift." I am still trying to get him to give me what he owes me.
The first time I came to Helping Hands, I didn't know what they offered... food, English classes, etc... From the first day, I sat because I wanted to learn more about Christianity. It wasn't until the next Sunday that I came again, because I had been working the whole week. I tried to find out about more classes about Christianity and then attended all the Bible classes and some of the English classes, but the Bible class was more important to me. I tried to take time off from my job when the Bible studies were going on. My knowledge increased about Christianity little by little. When all the Kurds I lived with found out that I was coming to Bible classes, they told me Aybeh, aybeh, "No good, no good. Christianity is heretical and all the people are infidels." I couldn't give them answers or proof, only calm them down. I took a Bible from Helping Hands, but I hid it in my suitcase so no one would see it. But they found out when they searched the suitcase and found it.
I didn't work at Helping Hands at that time. I asked God to use me as his servant somehow. The only way I knew how to serve was to come and grow in Jesus. One Sunday, Hamzeh called me. From that day, I started to help him in the kitchen each week. My life in the house was very difficult, them fighting with me all the time about Christianity, so I packed my suitcase one night at eleven at night. I lived on the 3rd floor, and the people in one of the rooms on the 1st floor told me they would not let me leave to sleep in the park that night, so I spent the night with them. I stayed in their room for two weeks. I didn't have any choice because I didn't know any Iranians with whom to rent a house. I found one place, but the people there told me I had to pay a $500 deposit and then the rent. I had the salary to pay the rent but not enough for the deposit. One Sunday, I came to church and asked Nader to pray so that God would solve my problems about a place to stay, to provide an apartment. I was searching everywhere for an apartment I could afford. One day I was in Bible study, and brother Themis called Nader over to translate and said, "I hear you have problems with housing." I thought, "He has found a house I can rent." But he told me about a shelter where we could live and leave our clothes, a place called The Nest. In this way God helped me a lot so that I could send money to my parents instead of using it to pay rent. Three months later I accepted Jesus in my life in that house. I can say I believed in Jesus from the beginning, but it wasn't with strong faith. Those three months in that house helped strengthen me in my faith so that I could say I believe in Jesus.
I asked to be baptized with the next group who was going to be baptized, but the baptism teacher and his translator wouldn't let me because they thought I wasn't ready. I was really upset, because there were people being baptized that had been believers for a shorter time than I had, so why should they have papers to prove their belief? But the teacher asked me to attend the next baptism class, and after the class it was really funny that I received my baptism certificate one day earlier than the people in the group ahead of me!
As for the future, I want to go to Canada and attend university. I think God wants to train me by sending me to university and helping me learn more about him so I can be his servant. I want to go to a Christian university. But if God wants me here in Greece, I could go to university here. I believe God has a call on my life, but I don't know what it is yet.
I can say that the good attitudes of the team helped me to grow in my faith. I have problems, but I ask God to help me, and I know he will.
"F" 's Story
The Testimony of " F"
I was born in a religious family. I started to use drugs when I was fifteen years old. When my family found out, I left home, but after some months I returned to my family. My life has certainly been an adventure. It was incredible how I came to Greece. It was really a miracle. On my first day in Greece, I went to Helping Hands. It was around two o'clock. There, we watched the Jesus film with four people, one of whom was Nader. Nader said that Jesus is the Son of God. That made me angry, so I left saying, "They made a son for God." After that day, Nader and I met many times, but we could not understand each other.
At that time, I lived with two Kurds from Iraq. They believed that the bread served at Helping Hands is unclean. They said if you eat bread in a bar it is better than eating it there, so they didn't let me go to Helping Hands. When we gathered together at night, we talked about Nader and what he said about Jesus. We were so angry because we couldn't find any answers to his challenging questions! We decided to get some more friends, go find Nader, and beat him up to the point of needing a long hospital stay.
Our house was near an area full of factories which produce various alcoholic drinks. Every night we went and stole from the factories and we drank until morning. We slept with homeless women from Albania and Hungary. We even used drugs! One night, we were drunk and we went to a bar. Around one o'clock one of us took off his clothes and started to dance without any clothes on. (The bar owners called the police.) We fought with the police and we broke everything there. Then we went back home and used opium until morning.
One day, we went to Helping Hands and heard a sermon preached by an English pastor who was visiting Athens. He could speak Farsi and we met him afterwards. His name was Malcolm. We went into a classroom and talked about the Koran and Christianity, but we didn't understand each other.
After Malcolm returned to England, I talked with Nader several more times. I wanted to know more about Jesus and what it meant that he was the Son of God. Nader told me to go and read the Bible for myself instead of listening only to him, so I did. I left my previous house and moved in with a communist named Khaled. We read the Bible together. At the same time, we found a lot of information about many religions. We also had a lot of immigration problems. We decided we would do anything we could to solve our immigration problem. Khaled and I went to a seeker's class at Helping Hands. After that, we went to a Baptism class. Each time I went to the Baptism class, I used a different name. One night, Khaled and I prayed together. I said, "Lord, please show yourself to me and show me your true way." After that night, I have had no desire to do drugs or steal things.
I began to believe in Jesus with all of my heart. And my roommate and I began to ask for only the things that we needed. That is the feeling which all believers in Jesus have. I have experienced it. Jesus came into my life as my saviour and my God. We read the Bible every day and I go to church every week. I've prayed in church and He answered all of my prayers quickly. I prayed for a place to live and he gave me one. I am free now from my sins and I am not the same person I was before because Jesus has changed me. I found hope and eternal life through Him. I have given up smoking completely because I now believe that my body is the home of the Holy Spirit. I would like to thank Brother Scott, Themis, Ilir, Nader and all the sisters here. I ask God to bless them.
Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you forever,
"F", from Iran
I was born in a religious family. I started to use drugs when I was fifteen years old. When my family found out, I left home, but after some months I returned to my family. My life has certainly been an adventure. It was incredible how I came to Greece. It was really a miracle. On my first day in Greece, I went to Helping Hands. It was around two o'clock. There, we watched the Jesus film with four people, one of whom was Nader. Nader said that Jesus is the Son of God. That made me angry, so I left saying, "They made a son for God." After that day, Nader and I met many times, but we could not understand each other.
At that time, I lived with two Kurds from Iraq. They believed that the bread served at Helping Hands is unclean. They said if you eat bread in a bar it is better than eating it there, so they didn't let me go to Helping Hands. When we gathered together at night, we talked about Nader and what he said about Jesus. We were so angry because we couldn't find any answers to his challenging questions! We decided to get some more friends, go find Nader, and beat him up to the point of needing a long hospital stay.
Our house was near an area full of factories which produce various alcoholic drinks. Every night we went and stole from the factories and we drank until morning. We slept with homeless women from Albania and Hungary. We even used drugs! One night, we were drunk and we went to a bar. Around one o'clock one of us took off his clothes and started to dance without any clothes on. (The bar owners called the police.) We fought with the police and we broke everything there. Then we went back home and used opium until morning.
One day, we went to Helping Hands and heard a sermon preached by an English pastor who was visiting Athens. He could speak Farsi and we met him afterwards. His name was Malcolm. We went into a classroom and talked about the Koran and Christianity, but we didn't understand each other.
After Malcolm returned to England, I talked with Nader several more times. I wanted to know more about Jesus and what it meant that he was the Son of God. Nader told me to go and read the Bible for myself instead of listening only to him, so I did. I left my previous house and moved in with a communist named Khaled. We read the Bible together. At the same time, we found a lot of information about many religions. We also had a lot of immigration problems. We decided we would do anything we could to solve our immigration problem. Khaled and I went to a seeker's class at Helping Hands. After that, we went to a Baptism class. Each time I went to the Baptism class, I used a different name. One night, Khaled and I prayed together. I said, "Lord, please show yourself to me and show me your true way." After that night, I have had no desire to do drugs or steal things.
I began to believe in Jesus with all of my heart. And my roommate and I began to ask for only the things that we needed. That is the feeling which all believers in Jesus have. I have experienced it. Jesus came into my life as my saviour and my God. We read the Bible every day and I go to church every week. I've prayed in church and He answered all of my prayers quickly. I prayed for a place to live and he gave me one. I am free now from my sins and I am not the same person I was before because Jesus has changed me. I found hope and eternal life through Him. I have given up smoking completely because I now believe that my body is the home of the Holy Spirit. I would like to thank Brother Scott, Themis, Ilir, Nader and all the sisters here. I ask God to bless them.
Our Lord Jesus Christ be with you forever,
"F", from Iran
"Nh" 's Story
April 10, 2006
The following was written by our Iranian co-worker Nader...
In the Tea House Ministry...
Joel 2:28 - "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughter shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also on My manservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."
It was Thursday, same as any other day we are open at the A.R.C. Before we open the door we have a prayer time. Scott said, "Time to talk to Father!" And in that time we are prayng for the people who are lost to come to know Him. And for several months we are praying for the Arabic-speakers to come to the Lord. Recently, an Iraqi came to Jesus and continues to grow in Him, but on this particular day God answered our prayers again.
Another Iraqi guy came to the Lord and told us his story. His story will show you how God is working among the refugees, and also how in this ministry we need His active presence, and apart from Him we are nothing.
"Nh" is from northern Iraq. He was a communist and his father was a fanatic Muslim. They were always arguing about God and His existence. Here is his story in his own words...
"I left Iraq for many reasons, and I went to Iran. After one year I left Iran and went to Pakistan and applied for political asylum. They accepted me at the United Nations, and they gave me a small salary but my life was insecure. Many Islamic groups have activity there and many of them invited me to their meetings and spent time with me. But they were not successful. I never accepted that God exists and I thought for myself to have a good life and come to Europe.
10 days after I arrived Greece, I became very sick. I was shaking, coughing, with fever and I couldn't eat nor drink. It was difficult even to swallow. My roommates brought me medicine but it did not work. I thought I was going to die.
After 7 days in bed, I saw a dream. A voice said, "Open your eyes and look up." In my dream I opened my eyes and looked up. Somebody was standing there with a white robe shining bright around him. He told me, "If you want to get up from that bed, you should open your eyes and stop what you're doing. If you want to be healed, you should follow me." He showed me a beautiful garden, and he said, "If you want to experience this garden you should be my disciple." And I asked him, "Who are you? What is your name?" And He said, "I am the Christ. He said, "There is no other name in heaven or earth for salvation except Me. Whatever you have, leave and follow me. If you please the earth, the earth will please you. If you please me, I will please you." MANY things He said to me, and in the end He put his hand on my head and said, "Peace be with you." And I woke up.
When I woke up I was sweating and started to cry. Not from sadness, not because of pain, but crying with PEACE and JOY in my heart! After I told my roommates (who are communists like I was), they could not believe it! They said, "Go back to sleep--you have a high fever".
A couple of days later, I woke up from my bed and told my friends again that I saw Jesus! And I told them the things He said to me. I promised Him that I would follow Him so I needed to find out from the Christians how to do that. I went to the Orthodox Church and I did not find the answer. An Iraqi friend told me to go to the "American church" (Helping Hands is frequently called the American church by the refugees). So I came here to ask some questions. What did He mean when He said, 'Follow Me?' What does it mean to be disciple of His? How can I be good disciple? Who is really Jesus? How can I know Him better? What did this dream mean?"
Eddy from the short-term team and I gave him the information about the Truth of Jesus, and Scott also joined us in the conversation. He accepted what we shared with him and prayed to receive Jesus! We were also able to show him places in the Bible that echoed the words Jesus had spoken to him in his dream. "Nh" said that he had never read the Bible before. We prayed for him and gave him Bibles in a few of the languages he speaks. He asked for more Bibles for his friends who live with him.
The next opening day Tea House, he brought with him TWO MORE people and they all attended the Bible study, and then stayed after to talk with me about the Bible! On Sunday, at Persian Christian Fellowship, he came with his two friends! They are hungry for the Truth. He told me, "All that I heard from you in the preaching was very new to me. I have never heard that."
He has never read the Bible but the Word spoke to him in His dream. We have an amazing God! We are seeing the wonderful works of God among the refugees. He is always adding souls to be saved for His glory. Apart from Him we can do nothing. He alone is worthy to be praised. For to Him alone belongs all the glory, all the power. Once again we see that the Lord is the one working in this ministry to refugees.
The following was written by our Iranian co-worker Nader...
In the Tea House Ministry...
Joel 2:28 - "And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughter shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions; and also on My manservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."
It was Thursday, same as any other day we are open at the A.R.C. Before we open the door we have a prayer time. Scott said, "Time to talk to Father!" And in that time we are prayng for the people who are lost to come to know Him. And for several months we are praying for the Arabic-speakers to come to the Lord. Recently, an Iraqi came to Jesus and continues to grow in Him, but on this particular day God answered our prayers again.
Another Iraqi guy came to the Lord and told us his story. His story will show you how God is working among the refugees, and also how in this ministry we need His active presence, and apart from Him we are nothing.
"Nh" is from northern Iraq. He was a communist and his father was a fanatic Muslim. They were always arguing about God and His existence. Here is his story in his own words...
"I left Iraq for many reasons, and I went to Iran. After one year I left Iran and went to Pakistan and applied for political asylum. They accepted me at the United Nations, and they gave me a small salary but my life was insecure. Many Islamic groups have activity there and many of them invited me to their meetings and spent time with me. But they were not successful. I never accepted that God exists and I thought for myself to have a good life and come to Europe.
10 days after I arrived Greece, I became very sick. I was shaking, coughing, with fever and I couldn't eat nor drink. It was difficult even to swallow. My roommates brought me medicine but it did not work. I thought I was going to die.
After 7 days in bed, I saw a dream. A voice said, "Open your eyes and look up." In my dream I opened my eyes and looked up. Somebody was standing there with a white robe shining bright around him. He told me, "If you want to get up from that bed, you should open your eyes and stop what you're doing. If you want to be healed, you should follow me." He showed me a beautiful garden, and he said, "If you want to experience this garden you should be my disciple." And I asked him, "Who are you? What is your name?" And He said, "I am the Christ. He said, "There is no other name in heaven or earth for salvation except Me. Whatever you have, leave and follow me. If you please the earth, the earth will please you. If you please me, I will please you." MANY things He said to me, and in the end He put his hand on my head and said, "Peace be with you." And I woke up.
When I woke up I was sweating and started to cry. Not from sadness, not because of pain, but crying with PEACE and JOY in my heart! After I told my roommates (who are communists like I was), they could not believe it! They said, "Go back to sleep--you have a high fever".
A couple of days later, I woke up from my bed and told my friends again that I saw Jesus! And I told them the things He said to me. I promised Him that I would follow Him so I needed to find out from the Christians how to do that. I went to the Orthodox Church and I did not find the answer. An Iraqi friend told me to go to the "American church" (Helping Hands is frequently called the American church by the refugees). So I came here to ask some questions. What did He mean when He said, 'Follow Me?' What does it mean to be disciple of His? How can I be good disciple? Who is really Jesus? How can I know Him better? What did this dream mean?"
Eddy from the short-term team and I gave him the information about the Truth of Jesus, and Scott also joined us in the conversation. He accepted what we shared with him and prayed to receive Jesus! We were also able to show him places in the Bible that echoed the words Jesus had spoken to him in his dream. "Nh" said that he had never read the Bible before. We prayed for him and gave him Bibles in a few of the languages he speaks. He asked for more Bibles for his friends who live with him.
The next opening day Tea House, he brought with him TWO MORE people and they all attended the Bible study, and then stayed after to talk with me about the Bible! On Sunday, at Persian Christian Fellowship, he came with his two friends! They are hungry for the Truth. He told me, "All that I heard from you in the preaching was very new to me. I have never heard that."
He has never read the Bible but the Word spoke to him in His dream. We have an amazing God! We are seeing the wonderful works of God among the refugees. He is always adding souls to be saved for His glory. Apart from Him we can do nothing. He alone is worthy to be praised. For to Him alone belongs all the glory, all the power. Once again we see that the Lord is the one working in this ministry to refugees.
"R" 's Testimony
"R" ’s Testimony, March 2002-03-28
I am from Iraq, but from the time I was six years old, I have lived as a refugee in Iran. My father was a Kurdish rebel. I lived in Iran for 29 years. My wife is Iranian. My three children are Iranian. But when I asked the Iranian government for citizenship, I was rejected. I asked them to issue me a passport, but they wouldn’t. I wasn’t even allowed to leave the country and travel. I couldn’t buy anything, like a house or a car, because I was not allowed to work. I had to go to the police and re-register as a refugee, every three months…for 29 years! I even tried to go to Iraq to get an ID card, but the Iraqi officials told me that I was not registered in Iraq, that they had no idea who I was. I have no nationality.
I wanted to be able to support my family, so I left Iran illegally. I walked, shared a horse, even paid a smuggler, and finally got to Greece.
When I came to Athens, I was looking for a place to eat, a place that provided food for refugees. I slept in the park. My friends I met there told me about a place they called “The American Church” (but I found out later it is called Helping Hands). They told me I could get food there, but the first time I came, Scott wouldn’t let us in. The place was already full. The next week, I was able to get in, and little by little I met the different people who worked there. And after a while, I started coming to help, and I became a regular volunteer. I don’t know why, but something was prodding me to help. I was going to go to Italy, but God didn’t want me to go. There was a seekers’ class, and I went there to ask questions. I wanted to know more about Christianity, because I was curious. While I was asking questions, I was also translating for the other people, from Farsi, the language of Iran, to Kurdish, the language of the area of Iraq where I was born.
I didn’t want to become a Christian, but Helping Hands gave me a place to stay, even though I wasn’t one. It was one of the rules of the house to go to Bible studies and discipleship lessons, so I went obediently. Little by little, I learned more about Christianity, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I started to love going to class, instead of just going because I had to. I read the Bible. Then I started to pray, talking to my God, and I asked Him to show me the right way, the true way. I found reality in the Bible, so I believed in it. But nothing special happened in my life to change me. In Islam, I was taught that if you did bad things, God would send you straight to hell when you died, and God was not a God of love, but of fear and wrath. But when I read the Bible, I discovered that God is a God of love. So I chose the God of love instead of the God of fear.
I have tried to go to Italy ten times. I tried different methods, different smugglers. I used to want to live like I lived before, to be a Muslim as I was. I wanted to go to Italy and then on to another country and apply for refugee status there and continue my daily life. I didn’t know that being a Christian means that I can have God close to me.
I am convinced Scott is preventing me from going to Italy until I attend the Timothy Project, (a weekend retreat with other new believers held outside Athens). I made him promise that he would pray I could go to Italy after I came.
I haven’t told my family that I believe in Jesus. If I told my parents, they would probably kill me. It’s possible that the love of parents would keep them from killing me, but they would disown me from their family, my brothers and sisters as well. I don’t know what my wife will do. She is a very good Muslim. I think I can only tell my wife after she comes to join me in the new land where we will live. Perhaps I will drop hints first. I will tell her I am a Christian, present her with all the information, and then let her decide.
God help me, I want to go to a country where I can live as a human being with human rights. I can’t live in Iraq, because I have never lived with guns, and I can’t live that way. I want to live somewhere where I will have freedom, where I can live like a normal person. I want to bring my family there, legally. I miss them so much. I used to be very depressed before I became a Christian, sad because I was away from my family. But now I have peace.
I am from Iraq, but from the time I was six years old, I have lived as a refugee in Iran. My father was a Kurdish rebel. I lived in Iran for 29 years. My wife is Iranian. My three children are Iranian. But when I asked the Iranian government for citizenship, I was rejected. I asked them to issue me a passport, but they wouldn’t. I wasn’t even allowed to leave the country and travel. I couldn’t buy anything, like a house or a car, because I was not allowed to work. I had to go to the police and re-register as a refugee, every three months…for 29 years! I even tried to go to Iraq to get an ID card, but the Iraqi officials told me that I was not registered in Iraq, that they had no idea who I was. I have no nationality.
I wanted to be able to support my family, so I left Iran illegally. I walked, shared a horse, even paid a smuggler, and finally got to Greece.
When I came to Athens, I was looking for a place to eat, a place that provided food for refugees. I slept in the park. My friends I met there told me about a place they called “The American Church” (but I found out later it is called Helping Hands). They told me I could get food there, but the first time I came, Scott wouldn’t let us in. The place was already full. The next week, I was able to get in, and little by little I met the different people who worked there. And after a while, I started coming to help, and I became a regular volunteer. I don’t know why, but something was prodding me to help. I was going to go to Italy, but God didn’t want me to go. There was a seekers’ class, and I went there to ask questions. I wanted to know more about Christianity, because I was curious. While I was asking questions, I was also translating for the other people, from Farsi, the language of Iran, to Kurdish, the language of the area of Iraq where I was born.
I didn’t want to become a Christian, but Helping Hands gave me a place to stay, even though I wasn’t one. It was one of the rules of the house to go to Bible studies and discipleship lessons, so I went obediently. Little by little, I learned more about Christianity, and the more I learned, the more I wanted to know. I started to love going to class, instead of just going because I had to. I read the Bible. Then I started to pray, talking to my God, and I asked Him to show me the right way, the true way. I found reality in the Bible, so I believed in it. But nothing special happened in my life to change me. In Islam, I was taught that if you did bad things, God would send you straight to hell when you died, and God was not a God of love, but of fear and wrath. But when I read the Bible, I discovered that God is a God of love. So I chose the God of love instead of the God of fear.
I have tried to go to Italy ten times. I tried different methods, different smugglers. I used to want to live like I lived before, to be a Muslim as I was. I wanted to go to Italy and then on to another country and apply for refugee status there and continue my daily life. I didn’t know that being a Christian means that I can have God close to me.
I am convinced Scott is preventing me from going to Italy until I attend the Timothy Project, (a weekend retreat with other new believers held outside Athens). I made him promise that he would pray I could go to Italy after I came.
I haven’t told my family that I believe in Jesus. If I told my parents, they would probably kill me. It’s possible that the love of parents would keep them from killing me, but they would disown me from their family, my brothers and sisters as well. I don’t know what my wife will do. She is a very good Muslim. I think I can only tell my wife after she comes to join me in the new land where we will live. Perhaps I will drop hints first. I will tell her I am a Christian, present her with all the information, and then let her decide.
God help me, I want to go to a country where I can live as a human being with human rights. I can’t live in Iraq, because I have never lived with guns, and I can’t live that way. I want to live somewhere where I will have freedom, where I can live like a normal person. I want to bring my family there, legally. I miss them so much. I used to be very depressed before I became a Christian, sad because I was away from my family. But now I have peace.
"S's" Testimony
"S" 's Testimony
I was born in Tehran, Iran into a very wealthy family. My father was not religious at all, and his skepticism rubbed off on me. I even had to attend a private high school (made up of mostly Christian students) so that I would not get in trouble at the public high school. My Armenian Christian classmates would ask me questions about my religion, questions I could not answer. I was interested in learning more about Christianity and even attended my friend's sister's wedding just so I could see the inside of a church building.
One day an American woman wandered into the expansive enclosure around our house. I was surprised to see that anyone had managed to get by the four guards, not to mention the guard dogs, that usually watched our gate. She was lost, so I walked her back to the street and pointed her in the direction of the address she was seeking. "Thank you," she said, "and, here, I have something for you." She gave me a New Testament in Farsi, my native tongue. When I asked about her later, no one in the area had seen her or knew anything about her.
The New Testament sat on a shelf in my room for a long time before I finally picked it up one night after discussions about Christianity with my classmates. I began at the beginning of Matthew and read straight through. When I got to Mark, I realized that it was telling the same story, but I couldn't put it down. When I had finished John, I realized it was four o'clock in the morning!
This Jesus character fascinated me, and I wanted to learn all I could about him. One day I telephoned my cousin and told her I wanted to talk to her about something interesting. I stuck my New Testament and a book criticizing Islam, which my friends at school had given me, into my bag and left for her house. I would always take a cab when I went to see her, but this time I walked. I was stopped by the religious police, who investigated my bag. Then they immediately arrested me.
When my father found out, he went to the police station and talked to the guard on duty. "How much do you make in a year?" he asked the young soldier. The guard told him. "How would you like four times that amount right now?" The guard released me.
Since we had been to Greece before on vacation, it was not very difficult to get a tourist visa. My father gave his half of his factory to his partner. My father, mother, and I got on a flight to Athens three days after I was arrested.
Life suddenly became very difficult. We lived with my uncle's family and worked in his restaurant. Three months after we first came to Athens, I realized I would never be able to return home. Around that time, my uncle cheated my father out of his money, and one of my cousins in Iran died. I was tired of living and tried to kill myself twice, but both times I was interrupted.
The next day after my second attempt, I passed by the First Evangelical Church of Athens and saw the cross and remembered why I had come to Athens in the first place. I came home and announced that I would be attending church that Sunday. To my surprise, both of my parents said they would come with me. From that day, the three of us attended church every Sunday, starting with Sunday school at ten o'clock.
Even though I went to church every Sunday, I was still afraid to change my religion, afraid of being the only Iranian to stop being Muslim to become a Christian. But one Sunday I met an American woman who said that she knew a lot of Iranians. I didn't believe her, but accepted her invitation to her English class at the Athens Refugee Center. The place was packed full of men, and I was scared I was the only woman there! Then the office door opened and one of the women who worked there asked, "Can I help you?" She took me to the English class, and, yes, there were many Iranians there. Afterward, the teacher introduced me to an Iranian who had converted from Islam to Christianity. I finally realized that I was free to listen to my heart.
When I got home, I prayed and said, "Okay, God, I've heard everything, now show me the truth. Which one is right? Show me who you really are." I fell asleep and had a dream, someone was telling me, I told you that I am the Truth and the Life and the Way. No one comes to the Father except by me. I woke up and cried and knew which one was true. In the morning I called my pastor and asked, "How can I get baptized?"
I continued coming to the English class at the A.R.C., and when my teacher left to return to America, I took over her class! In fact, I was getting very involved in volunteering at the A.R.C., despite telling myself I didn't need to go there anymore. Something inside me wouldn't let me stay away. It was there, working with other believers, that I discovered what it really meant to be a Christian, through their example.
I believe God has a call on my life to bring His truth to my people. Right now I am doing that by translating, teaching English classes, and developing relationships with Iranians (and Afghans!) here in Athens. Refugees are more open than people living in their homeland. But one day, when there is a second revolution in Iran and the government finally changes, I want to return to my country and tell people about Jesus. If they could only read the Bible for themselves, I am sure Iranians would see the truth about who God really is, just as He revealed Himself to me.
I was born in Tehran, Iran into a very wealthy family. My father was not religious at all, and his skepticism rubbed off on me. I even had to attend a private high school (made up of mostly Christian students) so that I would not get in trouble at the public high school. My Armenian Christian classmates would ask me questions about my religion, questions I could not answer. I was interested in learning more about Christianity and even attended my friend's sister's wedding just so I could see the inside of a church building.
One day an American woman wandered into the expansive enclosure around our house. I was surprised to see that anyone had managed to get by the four guards, not to mention the guard dogs, that usually watched our gate. She was lost, so I walked her back to the street and pointed her in the direction of the address she was seeking. "Thank you," she said, "and, here, I have something for you." She gave me a New Testament in Farsi, my native tongue. When I asked about her later, no one in the area had seen her or knew anything about her.
The New Testament sat on a shelf in my room for a long time before I finally picked it up one night after discussions about Christianity with my classmates. I began at the beginning of Matthew and read straight through. When I got to Mark, I realized that it was telling the same story, but I couldn't put it down. When I had finished John, I realized it was four o'clock in the morning!
This Jesus character fascinated me, and I wanted to learn all I could about him. One day I telephoned my cousin and told her I wanted to talk to her about something interesting. I stuck my New Testament and a book criticizing Islam, which my friends at school had given me, into my bag and left for her house. I would always take a cab when I went to see her, but this time I walked. I was stopped by the religious police, who investigated my bag. Then they immediately arrested me.
When my father found out, he went to the police station and talked to the guard on duty. "How much do you make in a year?" he asked the young soldier. The guard told him. "How would you like four times that amount right now?" The guard released me.
Since we had been to Greece before on vacation, it was not very difficult to get a tourist visa. My father gave his half of his factory to his partner. My father, mother, and I got on a flight to Athens three days after I was arrested.
Life suddenly became very difficult. We lived with my uncle's family and worked in his restaurant. Three months after we first came to Athens, I realized I would never be able to return home. Around that time, my uncle cheated my father out of his money, and one of my cousins in Iran died. I was tired of living and tried to kill myself twice, but both times I was interrupted.
The next day after my second attempt, I passed by the First Evangelical Church of Athens and saw the cross and remembered why I had come to Athens in the first place. I came home and announced that I would be attending church that Sunday. To my surprise, both of my parents said they would come with me. From that day, the three of us attended church every Sunday, starting with Sunday school at ten o'clock.
Even though I went to church every Sunday, I was still afraid to change my religion, afraid of being the only Iranian to stop being Muslim to become a Christian. But one Sunday I met an American woman who said that she knew a lot of Iranians. I didn't believe her, but accepted her invitation to her English class at the Athens Refugee Center. The place was packed full of men, and I was scared I was the only woman there! Then the office door opened and one of the women who worked there asked, "Can I help you?" She took me to the English class, and, yes, there were many Iranians there. Afterward, the teacher introduced me to an Iranian who had converted from Islam to Christianity. I finally realized that I was free to listen to my heart.
When I got home, I prayed and said, "Okay, God, I've heard everything, now show me the truth. Which one is right? Show me who you really are." I fell asleep and had a dream, someone was telling me, I told you that I am the Truth and the Life and the Way. No one comes to the Father except by me. I woke up and cried and knew which one was true. In the morning I called my pastor and asked, "How can I get baptized?"
I continued coming to the English class at the A.R.C., and when my teacher left to return to America, I took over her class! In fact, I was getting very involved in volunteering at the A.R.C., despite telling myself I didn't need to go there anymore. Something inside me wouldn't let me stay away. It was there, working with other believers, that I discovered what it really meant to be a Christian, through their example.
I believe God has a call on my life to bring His truth to my people. Right now I am doing that by translating, teaching English classes, and developing relationships with Iranians (and Afghans!) here in Athens. Refugees are more open than people living in their homeland. But one day, when there is a second revolution in Iran and the government finally changes, I want to return to my country and tell people about Jesus. If they could only read the Bible for themselves, I am sure Iranians would see the truth about who God really is, just as He revealed Himself to me.
"H's" Story
"H" 's Testimony
August 2002
Seven years ago, I was an atheist. I didn't believe in any god. I said there was no god, and I had a lot of reasons for why he didn't exist for anyone who asked. Then I realized I was lying to myself, that there was an empty place in me, a hole that nothing could fill. I sinned a lot, and I wasn't happy sinning. I wanted to stop, but I didn't have the power. Every time I would do something wrong, I would tell myself, "You said you would stop! Why are you doing these things?"
Four years ago, I left Iran to look for a better life. That was my plan, but I'm sure with all my heart that God had a plan for me to bring me to Istanbul to meet Jesus.
I traveled to Turkey, my life constantly changing as I constantly traveled. I was living sometimes in the joys of the world and sometimes in its sadness, but everything I knew was of the world. Two and a half years later, I was still in Turkey, living in Istanbul. I had money, but I had a lot of troubles in my life too.
I was walking in the street with my friends one day when two Iranians came up to us and began talking about Jesus. That day was Sunday, and I went to a church that evening. First, it was very strange for me, worshiping God with joy and happiness. All of my life I'd thought, if you want to know God, his way is full of sadness, and he will drag you far from joy.
From Istanbul I moved to Ankara, staying there for a month. I didn't go to church the whole time. When I returned to Istanbul, I went back to the church. They gave me a Bible in Farsi. I started reading it, and when I got to the miracles and the love Jesus showed, his kindness made me cry. Simply seeing this love of Jesus in believers drew me closer to accepting Christianity. They helped me, even though they knew I wasn't one of them. That made me believe in what they did.
From the time I believed in Jesus and accepted him in my heart, he has changed my heart and life a lot. My actions, thoughts, and words were completely changed. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't the same person, immediately! I could feel that all of my sins were forgiven. I felt like God had given me clean clothes to wear. That feeling kept me from sinning, because I didn't want to get those beautiful clean clothes dirty. From that time on, when I prayed to God and asked him for something with all my heart, he answered my prayers.
I can tell a lot of ways that he answered my prayers. A month ago my father came to Istanbul on business. He is very old and frail and doesn't know how to read and write. He didn't know that I believed in Jesus, and I was sure that he didn't know that Jesus is God. I prayed one night with my friends, asking God, "God, show him and guide him, since he will not accept anything from me because I'm his son." The next night, I was sitting with my friends, two other believers and a nineteen-year-old unbeliever. At about midnight my father woke up and told us, "I had an amazing dream. It was very strange. I saw that they put God on a cross." My father continued, "I was asking myself, 'How could they put God on a cross? It's impossible!'"
I said, "Well, what was God? What did you see?"
"He was light, very strong light." We told him that Jesus was the Son of God, but he said, "How can a man be God?" But he went around telling everyone that he dreamed God was on a cross anyway. He's not a believer...yet.
The nineteen-year-old unbeliever, one of the five people living with us in one house, had come to Turkey to pass the examination to go to university, studying for his last year of high school. One day as he was going to class, he told me, "I didn't study for my exam this morning, and I knew I wouldn't pass because I didn't study, I started to pray, I don't know why, but I said, 'O Lord Jesus, you know I can't pass this exam because I didn't study, but help me,' and I was crying as I prayed." He was not a believer, but he was praying in Jesus' name.
He went to school for the exam, and the principle of the school told him, "Sorry, we didn't have your phone number to call you, but the exam is cancelled, and it will be next week instead." He wasn't a believer, but he told us about how Jesus had helped him! But the most amazing thing is that this nineteen-year-old's father in Iran heard all these stories, about his son as well as my father, and he accepted Jesus! He's now reading the Bible and going to church.
I wanted to come to Greece but I didn't know how or which way I should come. Two of my believer friends and I wanted to come together, so we decided to leave on a Sunday evening after church. On Saturday all of us fasted and prayed, "God help us. Where we should go, where we should stop, you be our leader, and we'll obey you." Saturday night, I saw in a dream somebody telling me, "You don't have to go Sunday evening. You should go Monday morning."
I told my dream to my friend Ali, and he said, "That's amazing, because I had a dream that we left Turkey on Sunday, and on the way the police caught us." So because two of us had dreams that were similar to each other, we decided to try to leave Turkey on Monday afternoon. It was amazing because with just a little money, just a little time, and no problems, we were in Athens. It only took us a day and a half. That was a miracle! And we thank God because that was from him. He helped us to come here. Because he is willing to help everybody, he helped us because we asked him with pure hearts. We only paid for the train and bus tickets...that was the only money we spent. We believed he would help us because we gave our lives to him, and he knows how to take care of us.
I believe that anything God wants me to do, he will put along my way, and if I listen to him, I will do it. Anything that I decide to do in my life, if it's from my flesh, won't happen. But when I gave my life and future to his hands, I believe that in his hands all of my problems will be solved. So I don't know what will happen, but I know wherever God sends me, he has a plan to use me.
August 2002
Seven years ago, I was an atheist. I didn't believe in any god. I said there was no god, and I had a lot of reasons for why he didn't exist for anyone who asked. Then I realized I was lying to myself, that there was an empty place in me, a hole that nothing could fill. I sinned a lot, and I wasn't happy sinning. I wanted to stop, but I didn't have the power. Every time I would do something wrong, I would tell myself, "You said you would stop! Why are you doing these things?"
Four years ago, I left Iran to look for a better life. That was my plan, but I'm sure with all my heart that God had a plan for me to bring me to Istanbul to meet Jesus.
I traveled to Turkey, my life constantly changing as I constantly traveled. I was living sometimes in the joys of the world and sometimes in its sadness, but everything I knew was of the world. Two and a half years later, I was still in Turkey, living in Istanbul. I had money, but I had a lot of troubles in my life too.
I was walking in the street with my friends one day when two Iranians came up to us and began talking about Jesus. That day was Sunday, and I went to a church that evening. First, it was very strange for me, worshiping God with joy and happiness. All of my life I'd thought, if you want to know God, his way is full of sadness, and he will drag you far from joy.
From Istanbul I moved to Ankara, staying there for a month. I didn't go to church the whole time. When I returned to Istanbul, I went back to the church. They gave me a Bible in Farsi. I started reading it, and when I got to the miracles and the love Jesus showed, his kindness made me cry. Simply seeing this love of Jesus in believers drew me closer to accepting Christianity. They helped me, even though they knew I wasn't one of them. That made me believe in what they did.
From the time I believed in Jesus and accepted him in my heart, he has changed my heart and life a lot. My actions, thoughts, and words were completely changed. I couldn't believe it. I wasn't the same person, immediately! I could feel that all of my sins were forgiven. I felt like God had given me clean clothes to wear. That feeling kept me from sinning, because I didn't want to get those beautiful clean clothes dirty. From that time on, when I prayed to God and asked him for something with all my heart, he answered my prayers.
I can tell a lot of ways that he answered my prayers. A month ago my father came to Istanbul on business. He is very old and frail and doesn't know how to read and write. He didn't know that I believed in Jesus, and I was sure that he didn't know that Jesus is God. I prayed one night with my friends, asking God, "God, show him and guide him, since he will not accept anything from me because I'm his son." The next night, I was sitting with my friends, two other believers and a nineteen-year-old unbeliever. At about midnight my father woke up and told us, "I had an amazing dream. It was very strange. I saw that they put God on a cross." My father continued, "I was asking myself, 'How could they put God on a cross? It's impossible!'"
I said, "Well, what was God? What did you see?"
"He was light, very strong light." We told him that Jesus was the Son of God, but he said, "How can a man be God?" But he went around telling everyone that he dreamed God was on a cross anyway. He's not a believer...yet.
The nineteen-year-old unbeliever, one of the five people living with us in one house, had come to Turkey to pass the examination to go to university, studying for his last year of high school. One day as he was going to class, he told me, "I didn't study for my exam this morning, and I knew I wouldn't pass because I didn't study, I started to pray, I don't know why, but I said, 'O Lord Jesus, you know I can't pass this exam because I didn't study, but help me,' and I was crying as I prayed." He was not a believer, but he was praying in Jesus' name.
He went to school for the exam, and the principle of the school told him, "Sorry, we didn't have your phone number to call you, but the exam is cancelled, and it will be next week instead." He wasn't a believer, but he told us about how Jesus had helped him! But the most amazing thing is that this nineteen-year-old's father in Iran heard all these stories, about his son as well as my father, and he accepted Jesus! He's now reading the Bible and going to church.
I wanted to come to Greece but I didn't know how or which way I should come. Two of my believer friends and I wanted to come together, so we decided to leave on a Sunday evening after church. On Saturday all of us fasted and prayed, "God help us. Where we should go, where we should stop, you be our leader, and we'll obey you." Saturday night, I saw in a dream somebody telling me, "You don't have to go Sunday evening. You should go Monday morning."
I told my dream to my friend Ali, and he said, "That's amazing, because I had a dream that we left Turkey on Sunday, and on the way the police caught us." So because two of us had dreams that were similar to each other, we decided to try to leave Turkey on Monday afternoon. It was amazing because with just a little money, just a little time, and no problems, we were in Athens. It only took us a day and a half. That was a miracle! And we thank God because that was from him. He helped us to come here. Because he is willing to help everybody, he helped us because we asked him with pure hearts. We only paid for the train and bus tickets...that was the only money we spent. We believed he would help us because we gave our lives to him, and he knows how to take care of us.
I believe that anything God wants me to do, he will put along my way, and if I listen to him, I will do it. Anything that I decide to do in my life, if it's from my flesh, won't happen. But when I gave my life and future to his hands, I believe that in his hands all of my problems will be solved. So I don't know what will happen, but I know wherever God sends me, he has a plan to use me.
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