“I grew up in a devout family and wanted the whole world to become Muslim. So, in 2005 I left Iran with a mission to convert Europeans, taking my wife Shirin with me. In a city close to the Iranian border, we met a man who invited us to an Iranian church. Every week he invited us. Every week we refused. ”

“Then I found out the church was full of Muslim converts. I was angry. That week I went to see these people who had left Islam. I was surprised to find the church full of smiling faces. We kept going to the church week after week.”

DRAWN TO JESUS
“Slowly, a battle began in me. I was committed to Islam, but I saw genuine love in the church. As I read the New Testament, I was drawn to the person of Jesus. One day, the Holy Spirit asked me, ‘If you are lost, who would you ask for directions: someone who is dead or someone who is alive?’ I thought, ‘Someone who is alive.’ The Holy Spirit said, ‘Jesus is alive!’ That day, I gave my heart to Jesus.”

NOTICEABLE CHANGES
“When I told Shirin I wanted to follow Jesus, she thought I was mad. But then she noticed the changes in me. I had treated her terribly until that point. I was always angry and beat her often. But after I became a Christian, I never hit her again. I started to spend time with her. I even helped in the kitchen.”

“In time, Shirin also gave her life to Christ. I had left Iran to win Europe for Islam. But thanks to previous generations of church planters, there was a church in a small city on the Iranian border. That church changed everything for me and my family. Today, I supervise Elam’s church-planting efforts in a country near to Iran.”

Source: Elam Ministries