Vahid's Testimony
I come from an extremely broken family. The hardship in my life only increased as I grew older. When I reached 18, I decided to leave Iran.
When I was 20 years old, I was invited to an Iranian church in Turkey by my Muslim roommate for the first time in my life. I was shocked when I saw how people were worshiping God as a Father because I was taught in Iran that Christian people do not know how to pray or how to worship.
As I was standing there, I felt the presence of the Lord strongly touch my heart while I heard the lyrics of the worship song. Suddenly, I was kneeling on the ground and began to cry like a child. I did not know what was going on at that time and I had never experienced this sweet presence before. I saw people surrounding me, and they were praying over me.
I can not describe this moment that I had with Christ. Then someone handed me a New Testament and told me that this is a gift from Jesus, and He wants me to read it. Before, I never had the chance to read the Gospel, and I wondered what was written in it, so I began to read the scripture more. When I read Matthew 11:28, I asked Jesus to give me the rest and peace that He promised in this verse. I told Him that I would give Him three months to restore and heal my many wounds; if He did, I would follow Him for the rest of my life.
It took Him less than one week to fill me with so much joy and peace. The more I began to know Jesus, the more I realized the sin in my life and my need for a Savior. Once I repented, the Lord started speaking with me about forgiving others and loving even your enemy. At that time, I started forgiving my family.
Before reading the book of Revelation, the Lord gave me a dream. In this dream, I saw Jesus sitting on the white throne, coming from Heaven to Earth with power and might that is beyond my comprehension.
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.”
Revelation 20:11
Once I read this verse, I realized the reality of His Kingdom and the greatness of His calling over my life. After being discipled in the church, I strongly felt that the Lord was inviting me to serve Him and share the Gospel with people. I went to one of the cities in Turkey, and I shared the gospel with a lot of refugees there, which turned into a house church with 90 new converts!
After pastoring that church for three years, I came to the US, and God strongly laid on my heart to write songs and work on a satellite TV channel that broadcasts these worship songs to underground churches in all Farsi-speaking countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, and Tajikistan.
God has given me more than 200 songs to produce worship programs through satellite TV channels. These worship programs became the main source of worship that brings people to Christ among Farsi-speaking people.
It has become very clear that one of the best ways to reach out to Muslims is through worship with short messages between the songs. I travel eight months out of the year to Turkey, Europe, Canada, and Australia to encourage churches through worship, messages, and testimonies. The Scripture is filled with many testimonies from people with broken lives, and I believe that Jesus is still using our testimonies to expand His kingdom and glorify His name.
Golsa's Testimony
I was born and raised in a Muslim family in Iran. When I was 11 years old, my sister was born, and soon we realized that her left leg did not have the fibula bone. After multiple surgeries in Iran, we found that the doctor was experimenting on multiple kids, including my sister.
We traveled to Europe in hopes of finding a proper medical team. We quickly recognized that even in Europe, they could not help her much. Finally, my mom found a doctor in Florida that is known worldwide for lengthening surgeries in the world. My parents were able to connect with a foundation that covered her medical bills, and miraculously, they were able to get a visa to come to the US for my sister's surgery.
One day before her surgery, a couple approached my parents and asked them if they could pray over my sister. That was the first time that my parents heard someone pray in the name of Jesus! That one prayer turned into friendship, and later, my parents heard the Gospel for the very first time!
After 10 months of discipleship and Bible study, my parents were baptized and then returned to Iran. Once they returned, their conversion became very obvious to relatives and friends, and soon our relatives and friends began questioning my parents. At that time, we did not have a Bible, but I was desperately searching for the true God.
Due to the conversion of my parents, I was wounded by the people that were supposed to love me. My search for the true God continued month after month. Some nights I would cry telling God, “ I don’t have a purpose in this life if I don’t know the One who has created me.”
Even though I was eager to search for the true God, I was struggling with depression.
After two and a half years of hardships and threats, my parents decided to leave the country.
They left their successful business of twenty years and all of their belongings to come to the US. After coming to the US, I quickly asked for a Bible from the church that my parents were attending. A voice in me was saying that I will find the Love that never fails in this book!
As I started reading the Scripture, I felt like every word was watering my parched spirit! I found myself spending seven or eight hours a day in Scripture. This continued for a week until I got to John 14:6:
“I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
Those words became alive and jumped right out of the page! I screamed with tears, “I found Him!” My father asked me, “Who did you find?” And I said, “The One that I was searching for two and half years, the Love that never fails.”
That day I gave my life to Jesus, and quickly, I realized that the dark cloud of depression was completely lifted from me, and I was filled with joy that I never experienced in my life. After being discipled for two years, I started to work in the young adult ministry in my local church.
While being in the ministry for the past seven years, I have realized that there are thousands like me in Iran, Turkey, Afghanistan, and even in the US. Precious souls that are searching for the true God and have never heard the gospel.