Testimonies from Christian Arabs

testimony from Sommer of Kuwait:

Christ Changed My Life



Unlike many of my brothers and sisters on this website, I had attended Church as a child. This was only during the summer time though, when I visited my mother's parents in The USA. I grew up in Kuwait with a Muslim father and a Christian mother.

Having a Muslim father required me to study Islam. I remember the confusion at such a young age. I thought Jesus died on the cross, but I had friends who strongly disputed this. We were only in primary (or elementary) school. By the time I was nine years old, I had a nice and pleasant Arabic tutor who was a Muslim. She did not only help me with my homework, she took me on picnics and other trips with her family and neighbors. I thought of becoming a Muslim by the time I was eleven and she was my tutor until the end of that year.

At age twelve and on I was in confusion again, but I decided that loving God was important. I was easily occupied by a good group of friends. Even in my later teen years I went to parties where there was dancing with both sexes. My mother would always make sure that there was a parent at the party. Most of the time these parents were scared when I arrived, because I was female and Kuwaiti. I never got into trouble, as far as drinking or drugs or even sex. I felt like I was a pretty good person.

I woke up to find the truth, when I had graduated from high school. This was the same year that Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. I was saddened and hurt by what was going on. I was in America with my family. I had friends who were stuck in the country and some of them were Palestinian and Jordanian! One of my Palestinian friends had to give up her jewelry and beautiful clothing, before leaving. I would cry every night feeling like I was in the same identity crisis that started when I was thirteen. Eventually, all of my friends made it safe through the Gulf War, but one of my Palestinian friends lost her father due to unhappiness of leaving Kuwait. Life was unfair, I became angry at everyone, especially at the journalists. I thought that once Kuwait was free, I would be happy again, but it was not true. It would never be the same. My friends were supposed to be my enemies, though they had nothing to do with Saddam. Some of my friends decided they were my enemies, but two stayed loyal. In all this mess, I asked God what was going on. I began to have a hate for people in general. The nice person that I thought I was, was no longer there.

I was not a nice person and I was very lonely. However, God was not about to leave me in the dark. I was going to Church, since I could easily in America. I was asking questions, but at the time Christians got on my nerves. I felt like they were finding excuses for their sins by saying Jesus forgives. I decided I was not going to think about Christians or Muslims. I was going to compare the Quran and the Bible, and look at the men of these religions. Here was Muhammad who said in the Quran that other men could only have four wives, but he was special, he could have more. As a female, I was also questioning the idea of virgins in Heaven (the houri.) If women went to Heaven to why was nothing specific in the Quran about her rewards? And wine was all right in Heaven but not on Earth. Isn't what is wrong on Earth still wrong in Heaven? Then I looked to Jesus and saw a man who was not self serving, never married because he knew he would die soon, and also he loved his enemies. He even spoke to the dirtiest people, the prostitutes and the tax collectors. He even loved them and wanted to forgive them. I let this become personal and realized he forgave my dark and hateful heart. If he could do that I had to forgive the Iraqi soldiers for our property damage. I was nineteen years old, when I excepted Jesus as Lord. However, it would take me another year to forgive the man himself, Saddam Hussein. The Holy Spirit worked in my heart, and taught me to love people, even with all of their problems. I thank the Lord for what I have been through, and I now know what God wanted. He did not want me to be a Christian just in name, or because of my mother or American culture. God wanted me to be his in truth and in love, no matter where I go. If you ever feel so hateful, that you think it would destroy your soul, turn to Jesus. It doesn't matter where you are from, or what you have done, he has come to save the world through his death and resurrection, not to condemn it. I can say that the Lord has blessed me with good friends, even though I have moved to three different cities in America due to my husband's work. Still, Jesus is the best friend anyone could have. If you don't know him, please give him a try.

Peace be with you Sommer



testimony of Kader from Libya

God had plans for me.



I was born in a small town in Algeria and into a family with six Children. France occupied my native country. My Parents were unschooled and were Muslims. So I was a Muslim by birth. I was told that as an infant, I was so sick the doctor gave me two days to live but God had other plans for me. No, I did not die. At a very young age, my parents enrolled me in a religious school where I learned to memorize the Koran. As a family and individually, we suffered a lot under the French occupation. My father was jailed many times, even one time when my eldest brother was forced to leave home to serve in the French army for mandatory service, my family spent several months without a provider. We were even forced to leave our hometown and move elsewhere.

One day during the Algerian civil war, while I was playing soccer with my friends, we were shot at. Many died but I only suffered a bullet wound. God had other plans for me. While at the hospital, I saw many people suffer and die daily and nightly. I was angry with God and Westerners. However, Algeria became independent and I was very happy. Still serious about my faith as a Muslim and now in High School, I began to devote more time to it. I was an example to many students.

Life without the French occupation settled in, yet things did not change. My country was free and so was I but I was unhappy and felt a void in my life. Some people call it an identity crisis. Maybe it was an identity crisis but for me I needed to connect to that one missing thing or a person. I needed to understand why I was born, and when I die, where I will be. Slowly I became a nominal Muslim and later actually thought that God did not exist. I also joined a local communist underground student movement. While still in High School, I started reading, studying philosophers, and also drinking, smoking and doing shameful things too embarrassing to talk about. I felt confused and lost. My major was Mathematics, so naturally I read some writings by Blaise Pascal, a French mathematician. In his so-called "Pascal wager", Pascal talks about whether God is or God is not. Though Pascal argues from a gambling point of view, I was convinced that for me this was no gamble or coincidence. This latter fact increased my desire to seek God.

I finished School and came to the US to further my studies. I was very skeptical of strangers because of the scars of the French occupation. But God had plans for me. God gave me a Christian host family who befriended me and invited me to their home and to their Church. One day, I heard Dr. Mark Hanna, a Christian Lebanese writer, speak about Jesus Christ. I was not receptive but heard new things about this Jesus from Nazareth.

Later I learned that my mother died. I was very close to her and could not accept her sudden departure from my life. Having lost my mother and having failed in other areas of my life, I was hurting, miserable, tired and fed up. I wanted to end my life. As if someone was talking to me, words came to me saying, "you want to end your life, then consider it done and give your life up to Jesus". I heard and read in a Bible given to me, who Jesus is and what He did for me on the cross. Someone suggested I start reading from the book of John. I understood I was a sinner and needed God in my life. I turned to Jesus, believing He died for me, was buried, rose again and is seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven. I prayed inviting Him into my life and I received Him in my heart as my personal savior and Lord.

I came to chapter 6 of the book of Romans and realized I needed to be baptized. After receiving instructions in a class from an elder on Communion and Baptism, I was baptized by full immersion two weeks later. God did it all. It was all His doing and nothing I had done on my own except to seek Him, repent and accept His free gift of salvation.

You know, I did not fully realize what happened to me until I came across Ezekiel 36:25-27. God also helped me deal with many other issues and things I could not understand on my own. Knowing who God is and who I am, my desire has been to live for Christ by loving Him, obeying Him and serving Him. It is my prayer to be used by Him "Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth" 1 Timothy 2:4 (NKJV).

I also came across Jeremiah 29:11 (NAS) where God says: "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future". You see He has given me hope and a future. He had plans for me. Friend, God has plans for you too. My prayer for you is that you seek Him with all your heart. This is for your sake not mine and certainly not for God’s sake. He is waiting for you.

Jesus says: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through me" John 14:6 (NKJV). The Bible says: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" Romans 3:23 (NKJV). Jesus also says: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life" John 3:16 (NKJV).

I urge you to turn to God now and give your life to Him. I am here to help you, please do not hesitate to write.

If you have any questions, please e-mail me at kaderjc@juno.com. For a Bible or other material, please click here.

May God bless you today.

Kader.






Testimony of Walid from Palestine


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.







Testimony of Suraj El-Din of Egypt

Islam is the main religion in fact, the state religion in my country. Our law is subject to the demands and teachings of Islam. But I am a traitor to Islam. I was born into a Muslim family and therefore knew nothing about Jesus Christ. I had many nominal Christian friends, and I asked one of them for a Bible. When I read it, I was surprised to find that God loves me and made a way to forgive my sins.

I learned that because Jesus Christ died on the cross, I could be saved and would not have to die for my sins. In studying Islam I had not found the way to know God. In studying the Bible I found that only Jesus could satisfy my hunger for Him.

I decided to believe in Jesus Christ and follow Him. When I did that, my life changed in a very good way. I had peace for the first time. I was baptized and became a member of a church. Then I began to speak about my newfound life in Jesus Christ in many churches and among my friends.

One day in December 1981 I talked with some people in a taxi about Jesus Christ. They led me to believe they were open to hear about the Lord. When I left the taxi, they asked for the address of my church and said they would like to attend. I gave them the address, not knowing I had already been reported because of my Christian faith.

That evening they came to the church, bringing the secret police with them. I was arrested without a warrant or any legal grounds.

When I arrived at the jail, one of the guards asked why I was there. When I told him it was because I was a Christian, he called the barber to shave my head. They kept me 5 days in solitary confinement, and I was not allowed to call my family or friends to tell them where I was. The guards beat me and said I could go free if I would renounce my faith in Christ.

When I refused, the officials transferred me to the prison for the most dangerous criminals in the country. I was never given a trial by a court of law.

I was put in a small room in solitary confinement for the next 8 months. Although it is a law that all prisoners should have two blankets, when I asked for covers they said, No. You are a Christian. You will not get any covers. I slept on the rough cement floor, no bed, no blankets and continued through the winter without even the basic necessities other prisoners were given. Despite the extreme cold, I had an open window in my room and no heating. I received one meal a day made of lentils.

The had of the prison told me not to speak with anyone, as he was afraid others would believe in Jesus Christ. When the guard saw me speak with anyone, he would slap me hard and push me. Once when I was speaking with another prisoner who asked for a Bible, the head of the prison beat me with a whip.

Many soldiers came to my door and said, You are a very bad man. You are an infidel. The door to my room was closed all day except for a 5 minute break to go to the rest room. The rest of the time I stayed alone in my room.

Other prisoners were allowed to leave their rooms freely from 9 in the morning to 4 in the afternoon.

For a month and a half my family did not know where I was. When they asked for information, the police said they did not know. I made the acquaintance of a prisoner who was permitted to send letters out of the prison. He sent messages to my family and friends, telling them where I was. They came to the prison but were told I was not there.

My brother, an officer in the army, asked the secret police to tell him where I was so he could visit me and try to get me to renounce my faith in Jesus Christ. After his visit they decided to let three members of my family come, but they forbade visits of any friends, thinking they would be Christians and would try to encourage me.

I was not allowed to have any money, although all the necessities such as hot water in the winter and extra food were acquired with bribes given to the guards.

My friends wanted to give me food, money, and clothes, but the authorities refused. For 2 months I had only the clothes I had been wearing when arrested. Finally, my family was able to give me clothes and some food, and another prisoner who had extra privileges quietly gave me two covers. But still I had no bed.

The secret police warned my family not to help me very much. They wanted to make things hard for me so I would give up my faith in Jesus Christ. Members of my family were afraid they would be killed.

Occasionally the secret police would send a man to ask: Will you renounce your faith in Jesus Christ and be a good Muslim again? They would try to tempt me with the offer of money and a car, my freedom, and a job with the secret police. I said no.

When the authorities realized I would not give up my faith in Jesus Christ, they decided, with no explanation, to let me out of prison on bail.

The secret police told me not to go to any church and said if they saw me in church they would arrest me again and kill me.

Muslim law requires that anyone who converts from Islam to another religion should be killed. If another Muslim were to kill me for any reason, the government would excuse him, and he would not be arrested or even punished. I am considered a traitor to Islam, deserving to be killed.

MY CHOICE IS TO SERVE JESUS CHRIST.







Testimony of Samir from Iraq


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.

Samir




Even a nun Jacqueline converts to follow Glorious Gospel of Christ

From a Nun's Convent to Biblical Conversion



Forty five years of my life were spent as a Roman Catholic; twenty-two of them as a nun in an enclosed convent dedicated to adoration, reparation and suffering. I believed it was a nun's calling to be a miniature savior of the world like Jesus Christ.

After attending Catholic elementary school for eight years and memorizing catechism which is the Roman Catholic textbook, I believed in my heart that a family having a son or daughter become a priest or nun would receive God's favor and special blessings. I decided to enter the convent when I was old enough to leave home. This was my goal while I was still in my teens. On my twenty-first birthday, 1954, I entered the convent against my parent's wishes. My belief in my calling to be a nun superseded my parent's vehement opposition.

Even though it broke my heart to leave my parents, I consoled myself in the fact that I was doing God's will by making this sacrifice for the salvation of my family and all those outside the Catholic faith who I believed were doomed to hell.

At first, I was in awe of the solitude, structural beauty and peacefulness the convent seemed to have. I was taught to do penance such as sleeping on a board, prostrating myself at the door of the dining room as an act of humiliation, and beating myself as a means of appeasing God's wrath. This taught me to believe in a punishing, unapproachable and unloving God. I feared Him at every turn of my life. As time went on, emptiness filled my heart and hopelessness engulfed me. I became depressed, often crying while I raged with anger at authority and hatred for the rules and customs in the convent that were very cruel. My body developed all kinds of illnesses and I found myself with a tremor that only Valium could help. All the time, the medication was dulling my mind and taking away my ability to think and reason.

I was so hungry to know that God loved me and so wanting to know Him that I started reading mystical writings which taught that you could attain mystical union with God, thereby achieving supernatural knowledge of Him which led to total holiness. This path directed me to supernaturalize not only the Bible and Jesus, but anything to do with my religious life. Step by step I lost my ability to reason and deal with reality for reality was too painful for me to face.

Still feeling hopeless and so despondent, I cried out to God. In His mercy and grace He heard my prayers. In 1975, a distant cousin who had become a Christian brought an evangelist who was visiting New York to the convent. He was holding a street meeting at a nearby Catholic parish. I received permission to go and for the first time I heard the true Gospel. It certainly was Good News! For God so loved the world , that he gave his only begotten Son, (Jesus Christ) that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (Jn. 3:16). I learned that Jesus died for my sins, past, present and future. When I accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour and repented of my sins, He made my dead spirit alive and began a personal relationship between the Lord and myself. This is the gift of God to those who believe -- For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2:8,9). How important to know that we must individually trust and believe in Him. …if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Rom. 10:9).

After personally accepting Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, I started to read my Bible and pray directly to God. In 1977 I left the convent and started on my quest to know the truth. God's Word became my only authority and everything else was measured against the Bible. But this was just the beginning. I did not realize the serious harm false doctrines and beliefs had created in my body and mind.

Through a friend I met a Christian who helped me see that being a doer of the Word brings healing to the body and clarity to the mind. For through the new birth we can have the mind of Christ. It has not been an easy road, but it has been one filled with God's love and blessing.

The Lord has been faithful to me in the promises of His Word. He promised, "And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten…" (Joel 2:25). This enabled me to begin a new life filled with joy and a true inner peace that neither the world nor religion can give.

It is my hope and prayer that I might have the privilege of sharing the love and goodness of God by telling all who hear that He has a plan for each life and is faithful to accomplish that plan when we receive the gift of salvation by believing in His Son.

But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him (1 Cor. 2:9). AMEN



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