"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