무슬림에서 기독교로 개종한 이집트인 아브라함의 간증

Joseph Abraham's Testimony (Islam)

신앙간증 무슬림에서 크리천으로 개종한 이스라엘인 왈리드의 간증

Walid's Testimony (Islam)

Walid's Testimony

My name is Walid. I was born in Bethlehem, Israel. On the day that I was born it was one of the holiest days to Islam, the birthday of the Muslim prophet Mohammad (Al-Mauled Al-Nabawi). This was an honor to my father. For that, he named me Walid which relates to the Arabic word (Mauled) and in English (The Birth) to always remember the birthday of the Muslim prophet.

My father was a Palestinian Muslim who taught English and Islamic studies in the Holy Land. My mother was an American who married my father during his studies in the United States in the year of 1956.

Fearing the impact of the American way of life for their two children and while my mother was pregnant with me, my parents left to live in Israel in 1960 which was called Jordan at that time. When they arrived to Bethlehem I was born. As my father changed jobs, we moved to Saudi Arabia, then back to the Holy Land -- this time, to the lowest place on earth, Jericho.

I can not forget the first song I learned in school just before the Six Day War titled "Arabs Our Beloved and Jews Our Dogs." I used to wonder at that time who the Jews were but with the rest of the kids, I repeated the words without any knowledge of their meaning.

As I grew up in the Holy Land, I lived through several battles between the Arabs and the Jews. The first battle (while we lived in Jericho) was the Six Day War when the Jews captured old Jerusalem and the rest of Palestine. This was a great disappointment to Arabs and Muslims worldwide.

The American Council in Jerusalem came just before the war to evacuate all the Americans in the area. Since my mother was an American, they offered us assistance but my father refused and turned them down because he loved his country. I still remember many things during the war -- the noise of the bombing and shelling that went on day and night for six days, the looting of stores and houses by the Arabs in Jericho and people running to cross the Jordan River from fear of the Israelis.

The war was called the Six Day War because it was won in six days and on the seventh day a Rabbi by the name of Goren blew the ram's horn on the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem declaring the victory. Many Jews claim that this was a parallel to Joshua when he went around the walls of Jericho six times, then on the seventh day seven times, and on that day the priests blew the trumpets and everyone shouted with one voice and took the city. To my father in Jericho, it seemed that the walls had crumbled on him. During the war he was always listening to the Jordanian radio station. He used to say that the Arabs were winning the war, but he was listening to the wrong station. The Israeli station was announcing the truth of their soon coming victory. Instead my father chose to believe the Arabs who claimed that the Israelis were promoting propaganda.

Later on, we moved back to Bethlehem and my father enrolled us in an Anglican-Lutheran school as they had a better English course. My brother, sister and I were the only Muslims in the school. Being half Americans, teachers would beat us and students would laugh at us. When the Bible class started, I would leave the class and remained outside waiting. One day, I walked in the Bible class and the class 'bully' stood up to fight. He shouted, "We don't want this half American and Muslim to be here!" I refused to get out and the lady who was teaching the class asked me to sit down. Since then, I changed the school's policy and for the first time, the school allowed a Muslim to study the Bible. For the next three years, I studied it despite all the mocking.

Later, my father transferred me to the Government school where I grew in the faith of Islam. I was fed the idea that one day, a fulfillment of an ancient prophecy by the Muslim prophet Mohammed would come to pass. This prophecy foretold a battle in which the Holy Land would be recaptured and the elimination of the Jews would take place in a massive slaughter.

This prophecy in fact is documented in Mohammed's Book of Traditions which states the following:

"The day of judgment shall not come to pass until a tribe of Muslims defeat a tribe of Jews." (Narrated by Abu Hurairah, Sahih Muslim, Hadith #6985; Sahih al-Bukhari, Vol. 4, #177)

When Mohammed was asked of the place this would take place, he said:

"In Jerusalem and the surrounding nations."

During my youth, like my father, I was always tuned to Islam and what our Muslim teachers taught. Believing in Muhammad's prophecy, I offered my life to 'Jihad' or 'Holy War' as the only means to obtain either victory or martyrdom. In Islam martyrdom is the only way you can ensure salvation and enter into heaven -- especially since Allah and his prophet Mohammed promised it. As the Quran states it:

"Do not think of whom are killed for the cause of Allah (in a Holy War), to be dead but living with their Lord receiving his blessing". -- Sura: The Family of 'Imran ('Al-'Imran, verse 169)

During school riots against what we called the Israeli occupation, I would prepare speeches, slogans, and write anti-Israeli graffiti in an effort to provoke students to throw rocks at the armed Israeli soldiers. We shouted, "No peace or negotiations with the enemy! Our blood and our souls we sacrifice to Arafat! Our blood and our souls we sacrifice to Palestine!" and "Death to the Zionists!"

I vowed to fight my Jewish enemy believing that I was doing God's will on earth. I remained true to my word as I participated in many riots against the Israeli army, always trying to inflict harm to them by all means and methods I could devise. I would start and participate in any riot I could initiate: in schools, streets, and even on the holiest place (the Temple mount site) in Jerusalem called by Arabs (Al-Masjid Al-Aqsa). All through high school I would always be one of the first to provoke a riot.

Many others got involved in terror tactics against the Jews using bombs and armed assaults on Jews in an attempt to force them to leave Israel. But they never could pluck them out.

Nothing could change my heart, I could only die or a miracle needed to happen. The simplest way to describe myself is that I was one of those one would view on CNN throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails in the days of the Intifada or 'The Uprising'. I was one of these who Jews would call a terrorist. The interesting thing is that I was not only terrorizing but I was terrorized by my beliefs which required me to gain enough merit and good deeds to go to heaven. But I never was sure if my good deeds would outweigh my bad deeds in the scale when I would be judged by God. Of course to die fighting the Jews would ease Allah's anger towards my sin and I would then be secured a good spot in heaven with beautiful wide-eyed women to fulfill my most intimate desires. Either way, I won and terror was the only way.

I remember one time in Bethlehem all viewers clapped their hands with joy in a jam packed theater watching the movie, "21 Days in Munich". The moment we saw the Palestinians throwing grenades into the helicopter killing the Israeli athletes, hundreds of viewers yelled, "Allahu akbar!" (Allah is the greatest). This is the slogan of joy used by Muslims for victorious events.

I remember students used to ask the teacher during our Islamic studies in Bethlehem High School if it was permitted for Muslims to rape the Jewish women after we defeated them. His response was, "The women captured in battle have no choice in this matter, they are concubines and they need to obey their masters, having sex with slave captives is not a ‘matter of choice for slaves’". This in fact was written in the Koran, for it says:

"Forbidden to you also are married women, except those who are in your hand as slaves, this is the law of Allah for you." -- Sura: The Women (al-Nisa, verse 24)

And in a different verse the Koran says:

"O prophet; we allowed thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowries, and the slaves whom thy right hand possesseth out of the booty which Allah hath granted thee, and the daughters of thy uncle, and of thy maternal aunt, who fled with thee to Medina, and any believing woman who hath given herself up to the prophet, if the prophet desired to wed her, a privilege to thee above the rest of the faithful". -- Sura: Confederates (al-Ahzab, verse 50)

We had no problem with Mohammed taking advantage of this privilege as he married 14 wives for himself and several slave girls from the booty he collected as a result of his victorious battles. We really never knew how many wives he had and that question was always a debatable issue to us. One of these wives was taken from his own adopted son Zaid, as Allah declared that she was given to the prophet while others were Jewish captives forced into slavery after Mohammed beheaded their husbands and families.

In an attempt to change the hearts of Palestinians, the Israeli TV station would show Holocaust documentaries. I would sit and watch cheering the Germans while I chewed on food. It was impossible for me to change my mind or heart concerning Jews, only a "heart transplant" would do that job.

They once took our school for a week to a Jewish camp on the coast of Eshdod to mingle us with other Jewish schools. That didn't work. On the contrary, every teacher who spoke to a Jew was mocked.

My mother on the other hand tried to teach me a different idea at home that she called God's plan. She spoke to me about Bible prophecy; she said that the return of the Jews was pre-planned by God and had been fulfilled. This, to her, was Gods miracle in our generation for the world to see that "His will shall be done."

She also told me about many future events to be fulfilled in our generation which is surfacing every day now. She told me of false Messiahs and counterfeits; but all that had little effect for my heart was set on fighting against the Jews.

My mother was influenced by an American Missionary couple who she asked secretly to baptize her. When she refused to be baptized in a pond full of green algae, the missionary priest had to plead to the YMCA in Jerusalem to clear the pool of men, and my mother was then baptized. No one from our family knew.

Many times my mother would take me on trips to several museums in Israel and I fell in love with archeology. I was fascinated with it. In my many arguments with her, I would bluntly tell her that the Jews and Christians had corrupted the Bible. She responded by taking me to the Scroll Museum in Jerusalem and showed me the scroll of Isaiah, still intact. There was no one taking pictures of any Biblical errors to prove of any corruption and I could not respond to my mother.

I remember when I still tormented my mother by calling her an "infidel" and a damned American Imperialist who claimed that Jesus was the Son of God. I'd show her the pictures in the newspaper of all the teenagers supposedly martyred as a result of violence demanding that she answer. I hated her and always asked my father to divorce her and remarry a good Muslim woman.

I would even pose with a grim and sad face for the school picture as if I knew that my turn to be in the paper as a martyr would be next. Many times I risked being killed during youth protests and clashes with the Israeli Army.

I lived in Israel during the Six Day War, the PLO resistance, the Jordanian Black September civil war, the bloody wars in Lebanon, and the war of Yom Kippur. With no hope to destroy Israel and all these losses, we still hoped for that one victory since that is all it would take to destroy them.

My parents worried a lot about me as I got thrown in prison by the Israeli Army. My mother went to the American Council in Jerusalem to try to get me out. She was so stressed her hair started to fall out. In jail, I learned more about the art of terrorism and when I got out, I was more fanatical than before.

When I graduated from high school, my parents sent me to the United States to seek a higher education. Of course I got involved with many anti-Israeli social and political events. I still remember my favorite sick joke I used to like to tell my friends, that I hated Hitler very much because he never got the job done, that is: he never finished the Jewish problem "once and for all".

With Hitler being my idol, and Mohammed my prophet, I went on with my life with little regard for Jews, Christians, or anyone who was not a Muslim. I believed that one day the whole world would submit to Islam and that the whole world owed the Palestinians for their losses in all the battles with Israel. I also believed that Jews were prophet-killers and that they had corrupted the Scriptures to serve their evil desires. This is what Muslims teach. They also teach that Mohammed is our only redeemer and God's favored prophet.

As I lived in America, I could not forget the hundreds of thousands of Muslims who died just in the last 20 years in Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, Afghanistan and in every single Muslim nation. I had to get revenge for them and someone had to pay the price. Of course there was no question in my mind that the Jews had to pay the penalty, somehow we always managed to twist things together and make it their fault.

One day I fought with a man and struck his eye blind, I was so happy to learn that the man was a Jew.

I was fascinated with Islamic history and I learned that the Islamic prophet Mohammed extradited a Jewish tribe from Saudi Arabia and ordered the beheading of all the men from another tribe. The women were taken as concubines. I used to believe, as Islam taught, that only a Caliph (Islamic ruler) could rule the world. Islam is not a religion for one's personal and moral life, but a system of law and government to the whole world. If not achieved through peaceful means, it would have to wage war against all who did not submit to Islam. With one billion Muslims living today, I believed that it could happen.

I'll be honest, all my life, I was terrified every time I read the Koran, as, after every other verse, there was always threats of hell fire for this sin and that. All I wanted was to reach out to my Maker to say I am sorry, forgive me, give me another chance. But I failed to keep count of all my sins and my good deeds and I was sure that at the end, my sins would outweigh my good deeds. So, I lived my sinful life depending on the love and mercy of my Maker. I always wondered about my destiny. Lost in my fears and doubts, I really hated the idea of killing for my salvation and, in reality; I never had the heart to kill a rat! How then could I kill a Jew!

Sometime in 1992, I was fascinated when I read a book titled "Armageddon, Appointment with Destiny", by Grant Jeffrey. Some of the things explained in this book had many detailed prophecies about Jesus: his birth, life, death and resurrection and the re-creation of the state of Israel. Many of these prophecies came to pass just as God put them down in the Bible! What also amazed me was to find out that the chances for a man to predict hundreds of historic events written hundreds and thousands of years before their occurrences are one in zillions. What is more fascinating is that the margin of error had to be zero, especially when the fulfillment of many of these prophecies was happening in my generation. This kind of evidence had to come from a divine origin that origin had to be God Almighty.

The struggle began. I was puzzled. How could the Bible be a fake and corrupted by the Jews if the land I grew up in, spoke and cried out as thousands of pieces of archeological evidence surfaced from the land of Israel confirming the Bible? The book of Isaiah, discovered in the Qumran caves, was found by a Muslim from the town next to Bethlehem by the name of Muhammad Deib while looking for a lost sheep. From that discovery, they found the rest of the Old Testament which matched the Old Testament Bible in our hands today. It contained hundreds of verses predicting the coming of Jesus Christ.

I had to read the Bible to know who Jesus really was, to find out for myself. God finally led me to get to the bottom line as I started reading what Jesus said:

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who was and is to come, the Almighty." Revelation 1:8

Christ also said to the Jews:

"Truly, truly I say to you; before Abraham was born I AM (God)." John 8:58

It amazed me to find similar claims between Jesus and Mohammed. These claims were serious, as Mohammed said:

"I am the beginning of all creation and the last prophet."

He also said:

"I was a prophet of Allah while Adam was still being molded in clay."

Moreover, he claimed to be the intercessor for Muslims in the Day of Judgment, by all of these, claiming to be the world's last and final prophet and savior.

These things always puzzled me. If Mohammed claimed all that he claimed, than who was Jesus who claimed to be our Redeemer and Savior? That question troubled me a great deal. One of the two claims had to be a lie, if there were two redeemers; this would be association with God since God is the only Redeemer.

Christ or Mohammed had to be the Redeemer and Intercessor for mankind. The Bible or the Koran had to be correct. One of them was pure gold and the other had to be a fake, but which one...?

Vowing to make a decision for "The Truth", I stayed up late many nights comparing many details between the Koran and the Bible. At some point during my study, I prayed saying: "GOD, you are the Creator of heaven and earth, the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jacob, you are the beginning and the end, you are 'The Truth', 'the only Truth', the Maker of the true Scripture, the one and only word of God. I suffer to find your truth, I want to do your will in my life, I long for your love and in the name of 'The Truth' I ask. AMEN!!!"

I wanted real gold and would not settle for an imitation. I had to scratch very hard to look beyond the surface of the world's plastic religions.

I believed in the Koran as the word of God because it had modern scientific laws and only a book with a divine origin could have scientific facts written a thousand years before their discovery. I spent a month using a computer program searching for scientific clues in the Bible. Every verse in the Koran that was a scientific miracle that led me and millions of Muslims to believe in the Koran was already in the Bible. Many stories in the Koran had serious errors and with my knowledge of history and archeology, I knew that the Koran had serious faults.

With many of these discoveries, my claim that the Koran was a miracle was in question. The Bible had all of its miracles hundreds and thousands of years before. My foundation shook and I felt the sinking sand under me. Even the nations mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel in chapter 38, whom God would destroy -- most of them were Muslim nations growing towards Islamic Fundamentalism today.

What also helped me was that God led me to discover, through my study of the Bible, hundreds of detailed and unique verses concerning prophecies fulfilled to the letter. No man has ever presented such detailed predictions of future events without having more errors than truth. God is the only one that holds the key to future events and only the Bible has the key, not the Koran which lacks those most important elements of "Salvation and Redemption". I knew at that moment I would have to be a fool knowing all of this and continuing worshipping a different God than the God of the Bible. I really thought with my prayer, that God will lead me to the Koran, but that was not the case with me. In fact it was the other way around, I had to give up my pride and be open-minded to truth.

God said in the Bible:

"For I am God, and there is no other; I am God and there is none like Me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things are not yet done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and I will do all My pleasure." Isaiah 46:9-10

God not only foretold future events, but declared them and brought them to pass, unlike the Koran which simply used terror tactics to conform Muslims to believe. Since I did not believe that the Bible was corrupted, I spent many days searching the Bible for Mohammad, as he claimed to be in it, but never found him. If the Bible had been corrupted it had to have happened after the prophet Mohammed since the Koran always addressed the Bible that was 'between his hands' at his time. From that time until now Muslims have failed to provide one single Bible from the face of the earth to prove the corruption, and not one historical or archeological evidence has been discovered to disprove the Bible.

Even the death of that Muslim prophet was different than the death of Jesus, as Mohammed died on the lap of his favorite wife, Aisha, while Jesus died on the cross in order to redeem man's sins.

I felt sad that hundreds of millions of Muslims today live without ever hearing or being challenged with this kind of evidence.

It was astonishing to me to find that Muslims and the rest of the world recognized three main religions that worship God even though God said that He is One and his Word is One.

I was blind, but with the Bible only, I began to see -- I mean really SEE!!! With so much Biblical prophecy fulfilled showing the return of Israel from the grave and the attitudes of Muslims and the world towards Jews, the end time is near.

Man has never changed. He still kills his brother as Cain killed his brother Abel. The only difference is that we don't behead and stab each other in battles as much as we used to. We simply wage chemical warfare to exterminate each other like bugs as human life is becoming less and less valuable. I began to see that sin was the source of all man's problems and that the Devil was man's worst enemy, not the Jews, of whom Hitler exterminated 6 million less than 50 years ago. Ironically today, there is tons of literature being sold denying the incident even occurred. I wondered what would happen if a Hitler or a Mehdi or an Islamic Khalifa (Caliph) came to power and has what we have today: all these nuclear bombs capable of destroying earth seven times over. God led me to look at the world that I live in and ask myself if the world today so foolishly denies the Jewish Holocaust despite all the evidence we have, why should I still wonder why most of the world today denies the Messianic claim of Christ and the accuracy of the Bible -- especially when the evidence is all around.

God opened my heart and mind and led me to see how people today deny all the proofs He has provided for us in His Word, adapting themselves to false forms of worship.

The Lord began to show me the satanic influences which affected my way of thinking. Regardless of my Islamic background, I used to think these influences were from God.

I was led to a new view of the world and the meaning of life and saw the need for salvation. Today, we all can see man's goal for a world government waiting for the Devil to be the king!

"Babylon" is being revived from the grave to unite the world one more time; we have only changed its name to "The New World Order" when it should be called "The New Babylon". I started reading the Bible and began to wonder why Zechariah prophesied:

"For I will gather all the nations to battle against Jerusalem, the city shall be rifled, and the women ravished." -- Zechariah 14:2

In Islam I was taught that the second coming of the Messiah was in Islamic prophecy. He was portrayed as the one to break the cross and kill the pig, another setup for Muslims to follow the "false" messiah, the Mehdi, the coming Antiochos Epiphinias.

Contrary to Mohammed's prophecy, the Bible prepares its readers that the outcome of the siege in the time of Jacob's trouble will not be the total annihilation of the Jews but that Christ himself will descend on the Mount of Olives for judgment as He fights the enemies of Israel. Unfortunately, it will be too late for repentance and redemption for non-believers.

The saddest part is that hatred towards Jews is not an old out-moded idea from the far past. Millions of Muslims today have the same sick idea that one day they will do the same to all Jews in the Holy Land as Mohammed did to the Jews in Saudi Arabia.

In fact, the permission to kill Jews and Christians and to take their wives as concubines was engraved in the Islamic "Holy Koran" and is the main cause for the hatred of Jews by Muslims to this very day.

The word "Truth" was stuck in my heart day and night, pounding on my soul as I continued to compare the two books and to finally conclude that the Bible could be proven beyond any shadow of a doubt to be true gold. Not only by hundreds of ancient prophecies that came to pass, but by one ancient word created by God from the time of Jacob until our generation. For all who doubt, that word was and still is 'Israel'.

Israel's existence today, and the re-gathering of the Jews from ALL parts of the world is an irrefutable proof that the Holy Bible is the true Word of God. God scattered them throughout the whole world and then re-gathered them again from ALL nations back to their original land in fulfillment of His promises in the far past, until our present, for He said:

"I will gather you from ALL the nations, and from all the places where I have driven you, says the Lord, and I will bring you to the place from which I cause you to be carried away captive." -- Jeremiah 29:14

The true God has never changed, He is still the same. I also learned that my enemy, the Jews, were chosen by God to write God's Word and God's plan for salvation through Jesus the Messiah, the only Messiah and Redeemer for man. I also learned that Jesus, the man from my hometown, was a Jew and that even my hometown was Jewish 'Beth-Lechem', which means 'Home of the Bread', as He said:

"I am the Bread of Life, he who comes to me shall never hunger, and he who believes in me shall never thirst." -- John 6:35.

Beth-Lechem was given its name before Jesus came to this world. Jesus was from the people of my enemy, the Jews. Yet, He died for my sin. I had never heard of an enemy who died for another enemy and loved him so much that he allowed Himself to be beaten, spat on, mocked and finally crucified. Would your enemy die for you? Yet He said:

"Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." -- Matthew 5:44.

The Truth was in front of my very eyes, knocking constantly on my heart, and wanting to come in. I called on The Truth and He answered, I was blind and sought the truth, and now I see. He knocked on my door and I opened, and now had set me free! Christ said:

"I am The Way, The Truth and The Life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." -- John 14:6

My way of thinking, my feelings, and my goals in life began to change. I began to feel for the Jewish people. All the hatred left me. The desire to see them hurt was no more a thing in my life. Now, I hurt for them and pray peace for Jerusalem continually. Instead of laughing at images of the Holocaust on TV, I weep for them. I am even ready to give my own life for them, as did my Lord. I say it despite the outpouring of hate that could come from my own fellow Arabs and Muslims.

Yes, I say it to the whole world, I love Jews. I love them because of their Messiah. I love them because they brought Light to the world and through them came the Light and the Truth and for that I love Jews. I no longer despise them and I know from the Bible that the Jews are God's chosen people to give light to Arabs and to the whole world if we only allow them. For God made them a blessing to the world and we need to love and support them as God said to Abraham:

"I will bless those who bless you and I will curse him who curses you, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." -- Genesis 12:2

Knowing the truth transferred my way of thinking from believing in Hitler to believing in Christ, from believing lies to knowing the truth, from being spiritually sick to being healed, from living in darkness to seeing the light, from being damned to being saved, from doubt to faith, from hate to love, and from evil works to God's grace through Christ. This transformation taught me that without the (true) word of God, things could look good on the surface but in the core lies deception. I accepted Jesus the Messiah who died for all of our sins as my Lord and Savior; to Him I submit.

Jesus said:

"Come to me all you labor, and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." -- Matthew 11:28

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for fulfilling your promise.

신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  이집트인 이라크인 바히자의 간증

Bahija's Testimony (Assyrian)

I have blotted out your transgressions!

My name is Bahija. I was born in Iraq, and I grew up in a Catholic background (Ashuria).

I attended church almost every Sunday; and that alone gave me the security that I was complying with my religious duties. Of course, I continually sinned, but I always compared myself to others and believed that I was better off. When my sister and her husband accepted the Lord Jesus as their personal Saviour,

I noticed a major change in their life. They acquired special joy and peace. Since they often witnessed to me about God’s love and salvation, I finally decided to read the Bible to check whether I was on the right track. I began reading Romans 3:10-11 "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:

There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God." Based on God’s word, I realized that I deserved Hell! Being informed of God’s perfect plan for mankind, I opened John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

On March 5, 1995, I attended a fundamental bible believing church.

I gave my life to the Lord Jesus, and repented of my sins and asked Him to cleanse me and make me his own. The Lord answered me in Isaiah 44:22 " I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee." My life changed with the Lord,

 I received the peace and joy that my sister and her husband have.

For the Lord saved my soul and gave me life everlasting…

 If you would like to discover this spiritual gratification, begin by reading God’s word and visit God’s true church. Read Acts 3:19 "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;"

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  이라크인 몬티르 간증

Monthir's Testimony (Islam)

From Darkness To Light

I was born and raised in a conservative Muslim family. Ever since I was ten years old I’ve been reading the Quran on a daily basis and performing my Islamic duties such as fasting and prayer. Then when I was twelve, I started going to the Friday prayer at the mosque next door every week.

As years passed by, my knowledge in Islam increased. I was extremely religious but I had no true relationship with the God I was worshipping; for I always had felt that there’s a barrier separating me from God. That’s why I tried to reach him by performing those duties such as prayer and fasting.

In spite of my religiousness, I felt that there was a great void within me filling me completely. I never knew what my fate was after death…. For I worshipped God on the outside only. But on the inside, I was a slave to many bad habits and lusts. I couldn’t break free from those habits by fasting, praying or trying to lead a spiritual life. What I truly needed was a heavenly force which would free me and break me loose from the bondage of sin.

Through reading the Quran I discovered the greatness and uniqueness of our Lord "Isa (Jesus)" the Christ. He was wonderful and magnificent… for he’s the Word of God… a Spirit of God… and our intercessor in this life and the life to come…. he is close to God… he is the pure sinless child… he came to this world miraculously, for he was born of a Blessed Virgin untouched by man. Add to all that the fact that he lived a life free of sin and lusts – for the Quran says that all Prophets have sinned and asks for forgiveness from God, that is except for our master "Isa (Jesus)" the Christ. The Quran also says that he performed great miracles unmatched by anyone else. All of that made me wonder…. Who is this "Isa (Jesus)? Is he a mere Prophet? Or is he something greater? Why has the Quran given him all these privileges?

With all the confusion I had I though I ought to search for the truth no matter what it would cost! So I endeavored on reading the Quran from beginning to end deeply. That was when I came upon a verse there, "If thou wert in doubt as to what We have revealed unto thee then ask those who have been reading the Book from before thee: the Truth hath indeed come to thee from thy Lord: so be in no wise of those in doubt. [Quran, Yunus 10:94, Yusuf Ali’s translation]".

This verse was the key of answering all my questions and removing all my doubts… so I wondered, who are those who were reading "the Book" before the Muslims?

The answer came to me from the Quran itself! Those are the Jews and Christians – for the Quran calls them "the People of the Book" because they have the Torah and the Injeel (Gospel), and the Quran orders every Muslim who doesn’t understand it to go back to the Torah and the Injeel (Gospel).

That very day, I hurriedly bought a copy of the Holy Bible. I started reading it… in it I felt that the words of our Lord "Isa (Jesus)" cannot be the words of men; for no man or prophet dare say that he is the Way, Truth and Life… "No one comes to the Father except through me [John 14:6]"… "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. [John 8:12]"… I decided that I should study the life of our Lord "Isa (Jesus)" the Christ in more depth, for I was overwhelmed by great passion to know more about his unique character.

I read in the Holy Bible that our Lord "Isa (Jesus)" the Christ came to the world to save man from sin, and to set him free from bondage to the Devil. I realized the truth of the Gospel in my personal life, and I found in the sinless person of our Lord "Isa (Jesus)" the Christ… well, I found in his sacrifice the solution to the problem of sin in my life. For in his crucifixion is the atonement for all my sins and iniquities. I decided to seek him and his precious blood for shelter because he is the one who died instead of me and shed his holy blood for me!

I couldn’t achieve salvation on my own, not by doing good words or my duties or anything else for that matter. So I decided to submit my life to him. On that very day, I bowed my head and asked the Lord to forgive me my transgressions. Finally, I accepted Jesus as my Savior.

Monthir Abdulatiff

My Muslim friend, if you have any question concerning Issa El-Massih, please write me at monthirabdulattif@yahoo.com

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한   이라크인 사미르 간증
Samir's Testimony (Islam)

Mightier than death

I was born into a conservative Muslim family in Iraq. Whilst in The Middle school, I was always disturbed when I heard my teacher explaining how Islam spread by wars and battles lead by Mohamed or his successors.

Even in the Muslim prayers there is no appeal for God to change their manners and behavior but rather their surrounding circumstances. So whilst my teacher was talking about the Islamic heroism of their wars and battles, I viewed them as war crimes that encourage hatred, malice, killing and stealing.

As time passed, I finished my middle school and was forced to join the army.

At the army I became an armored tank driver. When the war between Iraq and Iran irrupted in the early 1980s, I refused to participate in the war. I chose the path of peace and love over the road of killing and destruction. I realized that my choice would result in dangerous consequences; it meant prison time, torture and probably death.

I decided to escape from the army. When I asked my fellow soldiers If any of them were willing to come with me, they refused and I had to escape alone amidst heavy bombardment and dangerous land mines until I miraculously arrived at my House in the city of EL MOUSEL

When I arrived home, I was shocked that my family refused to accept, or even allow me to stay in the house, but rather they tried to force me to go back to the front line to continue the war. So I decided to escape the country to go to Syria.

Unfortunately I was caught trying to cross the border to Syria when two nomad informers for the Iraqi army arrested me. They handed me over to the Iraqi army at city of "Rabbia" where I was tortured severely and left blindfolded waiting to be executed.

Instead they decided to send me to the Iraqi Central Intelligent service in Baghdad to await being court marshaled for capital treason (escaping the military service in time of war is capital treason and in punishable by death).

I spent 16 months in a human army prison waiting for a trial, until I finally went to court and was confronted by the two nomad capture’s who acted as the prosecution’s main witnesses. At this difficult time I prayed for God to deliver me from this dangerous situation. Mysteriously enough, the court set me free for lack of evidence because one of the two witnesses was deaf and blind and so not able to testify legally before the court. At this very moment I felt the deep love of God, who delivered me and I felt more confident about him.

Later I was forced to go back to participate in the ongoing war and I found myself driving a tank one more time. I decided to escape again regardless of my past escape experience. This time I fled to the Iraqi City of Kordestan towards the Iranian boarder.

For 400 miles I walked through minefields and climbed mountains until I arrived at the boarder. There I was detained in a refugee camp that looked more like a prison, where we were forced to practice the teachings of Islam.

So I decided to run again, this time to Pakistan, for three days and three nights I had to walk with no food or water till I almost died.

I was homeless in Pakistan for a year until I decided to cross over to India despite all the danger at the boarder because of the tension between India and Pakistan. Once again God delivered me miraculously. During all that time I felt that God was always by my side protecting me from all the danger not knowing what good he was preparing for me.

God started dealing with me directly when I arrived at Katmandu the capital of Nepal, south of China. There I got sick and had to go to the hospital where I met a Christian nurse that worked in the hospital’s "Christian Committee".

She introduced me to a community of missionaries from all over the world. They were living in the same place called Della M House.

Those people came to this remote area for the sole purpose of serving Christ. They went to prisons, hospitals and poor areas to preach The Gospel of Jesus. I was invited to go to their house and I didn’t hesitate to do so. When I went there I saw simple people full of love, benevolence and the desire to help the poor in the name of Jesus who gave himself for all the humanity.

I stayed in their house for thirty days receiving the best medical treatment by every one there. That time was the best time of my life; I learnt about Jesus the loving God who had always protected me all my life. Every morning we would gather around the breakfast table, to sing praises, and to study The Bible as if the Lord Jesus himself was with us. Later in the day each missionary would go to his or her ministry.

There I learned more about Jesus, and about praying for other people, as well as praying before eating and The ‘Our Father’ prayer too. They told me about the atoning death of Jesus. I felt so loved by those people because I was persecuted and looking for peace.

Although they asked me repeatedly to stay with them, I made a bad choice, and decided to leave them to run after that phantom dream called freedom.

So I left them and went to Thailand, and not so long after it I found myself lingering amongst cities and ports exhausted. Until I felt so helpless that I decided to go back home where killings were widespread.

When I went back I didn’t care what would happen to me because I trusted in Jesus’ love for me no matter what. As soon as I arrived I was arrested and interrogated by the Iraqi intelligence service where they imprisoned and tortured me. Later on I was sent to court falsely accused, and they hoped to convict and executed me

I went to court full of faith in the Lord’s love and care for me. The court ruled that I would be imprisoned for 20 years instead of executing me. I was overwhelmed with joy that they were not going to execute me. They sent me to the central prison as a political prisoner. I spent one year there until the Iraqi government was forced to set all the political prisoners free (eight Iraqi officials were taken as hostages by the Kurdish rebels and they were exchanged for all the Iraqi political prisoners).

As soon as they released me, I decided to go back to that missionary house in Katmandu, where I first encountered the love of Christ. But whilst I was planning my departure, the Iraqi army invaded Kuwait and I was forced again to join the army. One more time I escaped from the front line to the Saudi boarder towards the American troops stationed there. But the Saudi army arrested me instead and I was once again imprisoned for 18 months in a desert cage not even fit for wild animal.

The Lord strengthened me and I endured this tough time until I was released. I managed to escape to the United States where I met my fellow

Evangelical Christians who helped to live and walk with Jesus. I am will always be thankful to the Lord that he never forgot me but instead he led me from the darkness and into the light of the Gospel.

Glory to God forever and ever, Amen.

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  시리아인 자이드의 간증
Ziad's Testimony (Islam)

The Road From Damascus

Ziad was born and raised in Damascus, finishing his schooling in this historic capital of Syria. Most of his life, Ziad had been a practicing Muslim like everyone else in his devout family. He would often accompany his father, his three brothers, and some neighbors to the mosque for Friday noon prayers and frequently for prayer on other days. The rest of the five daily prayer times he would observe at home or at work. Not once had he failed to observe the month of fasting since his boyhood.

After graduating from the state University, Ziad moved to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where he worked for several years as a civil engineer. While he was in Saudi Arabia, he continued to participate in all the Muslim religious duties, as well as to make the pilgrimage to Mecca. At times he wondered about the Injil and the Tawrat, but he would brush these thoughts aside for he believed that through his traditional religious training, he knew all he needed to know about the Holy Bible and about Jesus Christ. Yet, according to his testimony, "what I had heard from my Christian friends in Damascus and had seen in their lives, continued unanswered for many years."

In 1979, Ziad, along with his wife and young daughter, Ghada, went to Germany for one year of specialized training as provided by his employer. During the family's stay in Germany, Ghada became very ill and was admitted to a hospital. After receiving medical care for 4 days with no improvement, the doctors seemed resigned to her imminent death.

Feeling overwhelmed by the scene of his daughter's paling face, Ziad left her room with a heavy heart, and returned to the waiting room. There he sat motionless, yet agonizing, for a few moments, until he noticed a table in the middle of the room which contained books and magazines. He saw two recognizable books -- an English version of the Holy Bible and a German version of it. He got up and walked over to the table and picked up one.

As he returned to his seat, he held the book closed while his memory took him back to some sayings of Jesus Christ which he had heard from his former Christian friends in Damascus. Recalling one saying, he eagerly opened the Book that was in his hand and directed by the Holy Spirit, began searching for the passage. When he found it, he began reading it silently:

I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it (John 14:13,14).

Seeing the willingness of the Son as expressed in these verses gave Ziad an abundant hope. He lifted a warm prayer to the Almighty God in the name of Jesus. His only request -- that his "dying" daughter would be healed.

"Immediately I felt a profound tranquility and assurance," said Ziad. "I left the waiting room filled with unprecedented joy, seeing light surrounding me. As soon as I came into Ghada's room, I rushed to her bed and hugged her gently, saying, "Ghada my sweetheart, god will heal you."

The certainly with which Ziad made this statement even astonished him, but he knew deep in his heart that God had answered his prayer.

The tears which had dropped from his own eyes onto Ghada's cheek as he embraced here, Ziad wiped off. With tears of joy still clinging to his eyes, he turned to his wife and said, "I have asked God in the name of Jesus to heal Ghada. Never before have I prayed so fervently, nor so simply in such a special way. Somehow I am assured that God has answered this prayer."

Indeed, Ghada was healed. Two days later, the doctors released her from the hospital. They could find no reason to detain her.

Since this amazing answer to Ziad's prayer, both Ziad and his wife have experienced the transforming work of God in their lives. They know the truth about Jesus Christ and proclaim their faith in Him. Later, Ghada followed them on this path; she too now believes that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  레바논인 나일아의 간증
Nayla's Testimony (Maronite)

God So Loved The World!!!

I am testifying a miracle that happened to me in January of 1991. Before then, I had a good life. Everything was going well with me. My family was great, so was my new marriage. My job was fine, my health was great… But something was missing! Life was vanity and valueless most of the times! Eventhough I had it all, I felt in need! This inner sense of loneliness tore me apart; I felt guilty being unthankful and yet, God was far away from me. I spoke privately with priests, but they were of no help! My husband and I kept our promise to read together the Bible after marriage and the more we read, the more we realized how far we were from God’s truth! We decided to try out Bible Believing Churches. God lead us to a small, beautiful church which was based on the ‘SAVIOUR`, the TRUTH, the ROCK.

We heard fervent Psalms to the Lord which we had never heard before! The sermon was heart striking, Jesus was the theme. We heard: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. Romans 5:9. We cried and repented from all our passed, present and future sins. We believed in the Lord Jesus to cleanse us from all sins and to save us from death, eternal death that is!

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. John 3:18.

On that special day, we believed in Jesus as our only personal saviour and received peace and joy in our heartsl I filled my inner vacuum with the Lord’s promise: He that hath the son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 1John 5:12.

My husband and I have been reading and studying God’s word since then, and we’ve grown very much spiritually! Reading, understanding and fulfilling His Word is what a True Christian should do. I urge any person who doesn’t prefer to live in darkness, or ignorance, to search for the TRUTH, the word of God. Jesus said: I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  레바논인 힐다의 간증
Hilda's Testimony (Maronite)

The Testimony of Hilda From Beirut

I was born in Beirut in 1965. When I was 9, the war started, and with it, the long devastating years of all the Lebanese started. With this war, and my house in the midst of demarcation line, questions began to haunt me day and night. Is this life? Death was our daily bread, tears and destruction everywhere.

My parents, being from Christian background, could not answer my questions as they themselves did not experience Jesus as their Saviour. I started to look in all directions, not knowing that Jesus Himself was looking for me. My elder sister at that period experienced Jesus and told me about him. But, I wanted to be sure of this new, born again thing, so I started asking God to reveal Himself to me. I wanted to know peace that these believers claim. I wanted life and eternity.

After reaching the edge of death myself for three times, I tearfully asked Jesus to take over my life Jeremiah 29:13. At that specific moment on 25 April 1982, no words

can explain, no books can describe what Jesus did to my life! John 14:27

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  레바논인 하이탐  간증

Haytham's Testimony (Druze)

Nothing but the Truth

I was born to a nominal Druze home in Lebanon. The Druze who prefer to be called El-Mowahideen, believers in one God, are an Islamic sect that began to spread during the Fatimid empire (988 AD) ruled by Imam Al-Hakim B'Amr-Allah. Al-Tawhid (Unitarianism) believes in Re-incarnation, the Ancientness of the world, and the incarnation of God in man's image. Reincarnation is believed to be God's provision for a soul to live many different lives in order to give that soul a fair chance before judgement day.

I personally did not experience reincarnation and I do not know anyone who may have. Although I was not raised in the Druze faith, I was taught the Druze morals and values that are very similar to the Judeo-Christian values. As an ordinary member (Jahill), I had simple knowledge of my religion's faith and practices. I was still very interested in learning about life, death, God, and spirituality. Despite my many attempts to understand God in the Tawhid faith, I came out empty handed. There was always emptiness inside of me. Unfortunately, my experience of the civil war pushed me away from religion and God. I was actually bitter toward God for "causing" such destruction and killing, so I decided to rely on my strength, intelligence, education, etc.

I moved to the United States to continue my education. Immediately, I got swept by the "rock-n-roll" wave and all the "fun" things that came with it. I eventually ended up doing what felt good including drinking alcohol, using drugs, and sex to fill the void. All those experiences gave me pleasure that was short lived. I became very interested in the self-help movement. I started on a quest to find the "God within". I attended seminars and was eager to hear any wise man that claimed to have the answers to life's questions. I heard many men, attended many seminars, and read many books, but I was still hungry for the truth.

One day I received an invitation in the mail to listen to an evangelist who was coming to town. When I mentioned that to one of my Christian friends, my friend encouraged me to go and offered to go with me. In the meeting this man of God asked several questions that got me thinking. "If you die today, do you know where you would go: heaven or hell?" He made many claims about Jesus that piqued my curiosity. "Jesus has removed the barrier between man and God." "If you want to end the separation between you and God's family, receive the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior." At the end of the meeting when the invitation was made to ask questions, I stepped forward. That was the beginning of my personal relationship with the God of the universe. Today I believe that I will live with God and His people for eternity because I have accepted God's sacrifice instead of my own. I could not have worked enough or given God enough for my salvation if I had lived hundreds of lives over. I have been forgiven through the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

My life has been completely transformed. My peace with God is established on His forgiveness of my sin. I have peace with others as a result of His empowering me to forgive. I have peace within me because God's Spirit abides. God has restored my hope in life when He gave me the gift of faith and the treasure of His scriptures. I no longer depend on other people's acceptance; God's love for me is unconditional and endures forever.

My friend - give your life over to Jesus and believe on Him. God's family is eagerly awaiting you.

[신앙간증] 이슬람에서 기독교로 개종한  레바논인 타니아 간증
Tania's Testimony (Druze)

Testimony of Tania - A Druze from Lebanon

I grew up in a happy home but I do not remember being happy.  My parents had always provided me with everything I needed however I never felt happy or satisfied.  The most striking memory from my childhood was of me lying in my bed in the middle of the night and crying because I wanted to go home.  I was very confused at that time because I didn’t understand why I felt so out of place in my own home and among my own people.

I grew up in the United Arab Emirates and was exposed to religion from a very young age.  I remember my classmates in school talking about being Muslim and about how they needed to fast during Ramadan, and I remember my Christian friends talking about their Christmas and Easter plans and going to church.  I also remember frequently being asked if I was Muslim or Christian.  These questions were almost always followed with a “so what are you?” question to which I would reply “Druze”.  In the beginning I didn’t know what that was and how that was different from these other 2 religions, but I new it was different.

Our home was not a religious one, my parents never prayed in any obvious way and God was mentioned frequently but almost as an after thought.  As an Arab I grew up hearing ‘inshallah’ and ‘alhamdullah’ frequently but not a lot was said about Him except that we loved God and that all we needed to do was believe in Him.  Nothing was said about exactly how to believe in Him.

My grandmother a “shakha” talked about God quite a bit but never with joy and always with resignation.  He was only mentioned by her, and by most of the people I knew when bad things happened but never out of love or joy.  There was only one person who was different and that was my aunt.  My aunt had given her life to the Lord and come to know Jesus when she was a teenager and even though her family disapproved severely, and still do till today, she lived her life with the name of Jesus on her lips and the hope and joy of her salvation in her heart.  She was the one who had something that no one else I knew had…peace.  Her peace came despite her circumstances (she had a very hard life because of her husband and still does till today) and was so powerful that it was able to comfort those who noticed it.  My siblings and I always went to her for prayer; we knew that her God was different and that if she asked of Him it would be heard. 

As I grew older my own confidence that I was a good person and that I was going to be with God when I died began to shatter. I was very idealistic when I was younger and I believed in the goodness of people.  I believed that the world could be a heaven on earth if only we humans would love one another and care about each other.  My idealism began to die as I was faced again and again with the reality of the human being.  No matter how ‘good’ someone seemed there was always a limit of how much they could sacrifice or give.  My biggest disappointment was myself. The more and more that I became exposed to the world and began to react to the world the more I realized what an awful human being I was.  I realized that I was very selfish and self focused, I would complain all the time and would get jealous.  My heart was able to do things like hate and be angry it was also able to lie.  I began to wonder what the measurement of good was.  How good did I have to be to go to heaven and was I good enough.  My mom always said that God knew our hearts and that He knew that deep down we were not that bad…but my dilemma was in trying to find out how much bad was ‘not that bad’?  Would only murderers and rapists go to hell?  Would everyone else go to be with God? What about people who hated would they go to hell?  How much hate was too much?  All these questions went unanswered because I couldn’t imaging that heaven would have people who lied in it or people who cared about themselves more than others.  I also didn’t understand what God would do with all the religions that already existed.  What would happen on the Day of Judgment would He judge each religion according to its belief? And if so what were the people going to do if they hadn’t done enough good to out-way the bad, and my repeating question was how much was too bad and how much good was needed for every bad committed.  What if I had prayed one prayer too little, or drank a sip of alcohol? What if I had only one hateful thought? Would God be so strict that only one lie would make Him send me to Hell?  How would I know?   Everyone around me said”you’ll find out when you die” but that would be too late!!! Once I was dead I couldn’t change the way I lived my life…I needed to know now so that I could do what was required in order to get to go to heaven.

I moved away from home when I turned 17 to go to university in Beirut. With all these questions in my head I was very confused and felt very lost.  My depression became very severe.  I began to think that if I could just stop living the pain in my heart would be over.  Thoughts of harming myself came to me frequently; I would joke to friends in college telling them that I was going to kill myself.  I felt empty and cold on the inside, it was like my soul was already dead but my body kept moving.  I felt alone and completely isolated, I was away from my parents, my friends had left me and I had no one to turn to.  So I turned to God.  One night I wrote a letter to God.  In that letter I asked Him to tell me the truth.  I wanted to know what the way was, was it Mohammad, was it Jesus, was it through reincarnation and the purifying of my soul because of hardship (like the Druze believe) or was it the goodness of my heart.  I asked Him to show me without people trying to deceive me.  I sealed that letter and hid it between my books and prayed all night that “He would show me the Truth”.  The Lord says in His word “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, Knock and it shall be opened ”  that night I asked the Lord with all my heart I told Him that He had to tell me the truth because I really wanted to know so that I could be with Him.   He did not answer right away…it took a whole year.

I graduated from university and was waiting to see where I would go to graduate school.  All the schools I applied to rejected me and my depression got even worse.  As a final resort my parents decided to send me to America, they thought that I had a higher chance of being accepted if I was actually in the USA.  The only person they could send me to was my aunt (The one who loved Jesus).  I didn’t know it at the time but that was God beginning to answer my prayer.

I went to live in the States with my aunt and cousins.  In the first few months I was stuck home alone most of the time because I still did not have the necessary paperwork to get a driver license and my cousins had to go to work.  I was home alone a lot but I would go to church and bible studies with my cousins because it would have been rude not to, considering I lived in their house.  I would sit in church and tell myself not to listen to what the speaker was talking about, but I had underestimated the power of worship. That was how the Lord finally broke me, it was the singing.  Every time the congregation sang to the Lord I began to cry.  I didn’t know why I was crying but I couldn’t stop.  The words of amazing grace felt like they were talking about me a soul who was lost and was so desperate to be found once again.

I began to ask questions like” How can God have a son? Why would God become a human being? Who was in heaven when God was here on earth? And how did He fit here on earth?”  Every time I asked a question my cousin would open his bible and give me the scripture that would have the answer.  On Christmas Eve I was given my first bible as a present and I opened it wanting to find the truth which I now had a feeling existed within its pages.   I also began attending a bible study on the book of Revelations (last book of the bible) with my aunt and began to realize that time was running out.  The last book of the bible talks about God’s return and His judgment on the people of the earth.  It talks about the prophecy of what is to come and How Jesus will be coming back to take His church (believers) before the hardship truly begins on earth.  That book made me want to be very sure about whose side I would be on the day that Judgment would take place.  I began to read the Gospel of John and was struck with how clear the bible is about Jesus.  In John 1: 1 it says “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” and then in John 1: 14 it says “And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory as of the only begotten from the father, full of grace and truth.”  Also I was surprised to find that there were verses from the bible that talked about how awful man was and that there were none that were good enough to be with God.  In Romans 3:10-11 it says “as it is written.’ There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands, there is none who seek for God’” and in Romans 3: 23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”.  That meant we would all go to hell all of us were bad and God says that the price of sin (all sin big or small) is death (Romans 6 :23).  But then the Lord provides a solution “for God so loved the World that He gave His one and only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life,  for God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him (John 3:16-17)”  So Jesus paid the price of my sin by dieing instead of me, so if I believed in Him his payment would cover me and I would be able to be with God without my sin interfering.

God had finally answered my prayers.  By isolating me in the USA alone with only His book and His people as a guide He showed me that the ONLY way was through Him.  On January 7 1999 I knelt down and asked the Lord to forgive me of all my sins and then I asked Him to come and live in my heart.  The minute I prayed peace came and dwelt in my heart.  The Lord says that He sends us His comforter which is the Holy Spirit; that night the Holy Spirit came into my heart. I began reading my bible more intensely and was filled with a hunger to know more about this God who died and rose again in order to insure that I be saved.

 I will never be alone again, even though some days are hard and the distance that my decision has led to between me and my parents is difficult.  His peace never leaves me.  Since I made my decision I have gone through trials and hardship but the difference this time is that I am never confused or lost because I know that all things work together for those who love the Lord and that He is in control.  I have a peace that I never had before an inner quietness that is not shaken by any of life’s troubles and pains.  I also have an understanding now of why I exist and what my purpose is.  I know that I belong to the family of God and that my true home is up in heaven with Him. He said that in His father’s house there are many mansions and that He has gone up there to prepare a place for us so that were He is that we may also be.  That promise among all the others that He provides fills me with the comfort of knowing that I am loved and taken care of and that I will never be alone again.

My family has had a very hard time accepting my decision and although it hurts me to hurt them I know that the Lord will honor my obedience and that in prayer ALL things are possible… including their salvation.