Growing Up Muslim in Tehran
Growing up in Tehran, Iran, I was raised as a devoted Muslim. I prayed five times a day, fasted during Ramadan, and believed I was following the true path. But inside, I felt empty. No matter how faithfully I performed my religious duties, I could not find peace.
When Everything Changed
In 2010, my brother was arrested for political activities. The experience shattered our family. I began to question everything - my faith, my government, my future. A friend secretly gave me a Persian New Testament. In Iran, possessing such a book could mean imprisonment or worse. But I was desperate for answers.
Secret Faith Under Persecution
I read the Gospels in secret, at night, with a flashlight under my blankets. The words of Jesus struck me like lightning: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." This was exactly what I needed - rest for my troubled soul.
Finding Freedom in Germany
I could not openly become a Christian in Iran. The penalty for apostasy was death. So I fled - first to Turkey, then eventually to Germany as a refugee. In a refugee shelter in Munich, I met other Iranian Christians. Together, we worshipped Jesus in secret, just as I had read the Bible in secret back home.
In 2012, I was baptized in a German church. The water washed over me, and I felt truly free for the first time. I had lost my country, my family, my old life. But I had gained something infinitely more valuable - a relationship with Jesus Christ. He has become my home, my family, my everything.
