My name is Jamshid, and I am from Afghanistan. I was born\nand raised in a very religious family; this is what many families in my country\nare doing. Because of poverty, I could not complete my studies. From an early\nage, like many children in Afghanistan, I started working to help my family. Like\nmany young Afghans, I got married when I was 19 years old. After a short period\nof time God blessed us with the birth of a son. Our life was very simple but we\nwere happy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When my son was two years old, my wife and son were\nkidnapped by one of the tribes. I tried to search for them, but I could not\nfind them. After a while, I received threats from my wife’s family to kill me if\nI could not find their daughter. I did not have the ability to do so, for it required\nmoney, men and weapons. After repeated threats, I decided to leave the country\nin 2000. I left my country and traveled among several neighboring countries.\nAfter many problems and difficulties, I ended up in Syria. There I encountered\nsome difficulties as I did not speak Arabic. I needed a job to survive, but I\ncould not find one for a long time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a while, I got a job in a bakery, and I was sleeping\nin the same place. The owner of the bakery was a Lebanese Christian. According\nto my thinking, he was an infidel. I didn\u2019t want to work for him, but I badly\nneeded the job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My employer was kind to me and treated me very well, and\nthat was troubling to me. How could he do that? He was not a Muslim. He was an\ninfidel who did not know the True God. This prompted me to ask him one day,\n“Why do you treat me this way even though you know what is think about you\nand your religion?”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He answered me, “This is what the Lord taught me to do\u2014love,\nforgive, and pray for my enemies.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This answer has shocked me. I was very touched by it. What a\ndifference between this person whom I called an infidel and those I call\nbelievers of my own religion! This man treated me so much better! How does his\nGod teach him love, forgiveness and prayer for enemies while we call for\nslaughter?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One day my employer invited me to accompany him to church.\nThis was the first time I had been invited to go to a church. I hesitated at\nfirst, but I said I would try. This was the first time in my life I had entered\na church. I was a little afraid, but the people were amazing. They greeted me\nwith smiles and joy. I have never forgotten these moments in my life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I loved the church, but at the same time I was afraid. I\nwanted to know more. Why were they different? What was the secret of their joy,\nhappiness and peace? What made the difference between them and me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was registered as a refugee, and I used to visit the UN Office\nin Damascus. One day, I saw an advertisement for a Bible study for refugee\nfamilies, so I decided to register my name, but I was afraid someone might discover\nwhat I was doing. I was nervous and confused and unable to sleep. I knew I had to\nmake a decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God does not leave us in dilemmas. After two days of internal\nconflict, I was sleeping one night when I heard a voice saying, “Do not be\nafraid.” The voice made me feel comfortable and peaceful. I woke up, and\nno one was in the room. The next night I heard the same voice: “Do not be\nafraid.” I woke up the next morning feeling an indescribable joy. My fears\nfinally faded away. How wonderful is that voice that dispels fear and confusion!\nI knew that this was a voice from God helping me not to fear and encouraging me\nto participate in Bible studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One day during my visit to the UN office, I saw a group of\npeople gathered around the ads place. One of the ads was for an Arabic class. Three\npeople were required to start these lessons, but I thought it was impossible to\nhave other people interested in learning Arabic. However, God’s ways are\ndifferent from our ways. A week later, I received a call from the UN office\nthat there were other people interested, so the Arabic class registration was\nopen, and the study would be every Thursday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I did not enter school because of our living conditions, but\nGod\u2019s ways are wondrous. God brought a person who helped me to meditate on the\nWord of the Lord and hear His Word. I was overwhelmed by happiness, and I was\ntaught by the same person to read and write in my language. This was a miracle\nfrom God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I grow in the knowledge of the Person of the Lord Jesus and\nHis infinite love day by day, and I accept Him as Savior and Lord of my life.\nLife with the Lord Jesus is full of happiness, and I feel Him with me in all\ncircumstances, even the most difficult. My prayer is that you will accept Jesus\nas your personal Savior.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
My name is Jamshid, and I am from Afghanistan. I was born and raised in a very religious family; this is what many families in my country are doing. Because of poverty, I could not complete my studies. From an early age, like many children in Afghanistan, I started working to help my family. Like many young Afghans, I got married when I was 19 years old. After a short period of time God blessed us with the birth of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3242,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2029","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-stories"],"yoast_head":"\n