Ex-Hezbollah Islamist militant, Iranian Muslim Saw Jesus and Jesus Said Who He Was. Touched by the Hand of God. He experienced an instant spiritual transformation and has been changed forever, Jesus set his spirit FREE from the bondage of this world and Islam.
I had a similar encounter with Jesus Christ September 2003, except I was hanging off of a cliff and in desperation I was praying to God to help me and Jesus suddenly appeared with His hand extended to me and He kept repeating, Trust and Believe. I was changed instantly when I reached out for His hand and stood in front of Him. I never read the Bible, my flesh still prevented me from opening the Bible. It wasn't until a couple years later, that I found out that Jesus said, "He that has seen me, hath seen the Father (John 14:9). I share the exact words Jesus made to His disciples below taken from the Bible.
I had a similar encounter with Jesus Christ September 2003, except I was hanging off of a cliff and in desperation I was praying to God to help me and Jesus suddenly appeared with His hand extended to me and He kept repeating, Trust and Believe. I was changed instantly when I reached out for His hand and stood in front of Him. I never read the Bible, my flesh still prevented me from opening the Bible. It wasn't until a couple years later, that I found out that Jesus said, "He that has seen me, hath seen the Father (John 14:9). I share the exact words Jesus made to His disciples below taken from the Bible.
9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.
12 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13 And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. [John 14: 9-14 NKJV]
Afshin was born in 1972 in southern Iran in a city called Abadan. His earliest childhood memories as the Islamic revolution in 1979. When he was about 8 years old he remembers a plane flying about 40 feet above his head and a few seconds later there was a loud sound and the ground shook. This was the first bomb dropped by the Iraqi Airforce. At this point they got into a car and left everything they owned and went to a city about an hour away. When the Iraqi's advanced they had to move four more times before they had to leave the country in 1987. As a 15 year old he crossed the dessert walking into Pakistan and witnessed the profound poverty in Pakistan. From 1990-1992 he spent time in Bangladesh as a missionary while waiting to move to Canada. He is now the founding member of I AM Thirsty Ministries in Vancouver. Afshin is happily married and recently renewed his wedding vows for his 15th year anniversary. Afshin and his wife have four beautiful children.
I have just typed a transcript below of the video for those who need to translate and for those who are unable to view the video.
I was born in the Southern part of Iran. In a city called Abadan. Born in a Muslim family, a Shiite Muslim family. My grandfather was a Muslim leader. I joined Hezbollah. I was in that army about 3 years. I was studying the Quran extensively then. I traveled to Malaysia where I was caught with 30 illegal passports and put in prison. So, I started teaching Islam in the jail. Telling everybody what they must do, what are their duties towards Allah. And so I did this routine every day. I prayed obviously five times a day. Shiites do pray three times and they include the 17 (?) in the three times. But, what I did, because I wanted to spend more time with God, I did it at five separate times, and then at the end of the evening I would pray extra prayers. I would have the habit of reading through the Quran cover to cover, once every ten days. And so as I was doing that one night, I just was meditating on the verses, and there are words in the Quran that are repeated continually repeatedly, but they have no meanings, they are the secrets of the Quran. And so when I was meditating like this a Spirit entered the room and it was much more powerful than I could handle, I could overcome and so I was filled with fear and so I tried to use all the tools Islam had given me. In the name of Allah, I command you to leave you know. Satan I rebuke you kind of things. I used all of those and nothing was helping. In that moment, I was totally desperate and I felt like it was choking the life out of me. I felt like I was dying in that cell. I cried out to the Heavens, I said God in Farsi, help me and immediately,
I heard a voice, just as clear as you hear my voice, saying bring the name of Jesus. And in that moment I seriously did not give it one second of thought. I just was, I feel like going back, I was drowning and a man that is drowning you throw a rope, they would never question you about the color of the rope. They just grabbed on and so I did. I said, Jesus if You are true, show me Yourself. And to this day, I have no idea, obviously going back, I'm thinking why did you word it that way? Why didn't you just say, Jesus help me. I don't know why. But that's just the way it came out. And before I finished with my sentence, everything was back to normal. Now, that was not my conversion, that was the beginning of my confusion. Why would Jesus help a Muslim.
Now, I had done everything in my power to be a good Muslim. I had already tried to go and commit myself in the way of Allah and be a martyr for him, walking on the mines and so the government of Iran used to issue the people that are willing to give themselves, sacrifice themselves, received a special the Quran, that had the stamp of the government that I had participated in the execution by a hanging. I had done everything I thought I must do against the infidels and anything and everything I must do to share Allah with others. So, I knew that something is wrong and that was not because I doubted Allah, or doubted Islam or anything. I fully believed and I didn't know what that is and it just confused me. And so I tried to just forget about it. But that question, why would Jesus help a Muslim. Why would Jesus help a Muslim. That would keep coming at me. I believe in Mohammad the last Prophet I would say, in the perfect religion, why would Jesus come to help me.
And so, in that two week period I just got really confused and I said okay I'm going to pray and fast and ask God Himself to show me the path. Obviously, I thought in that moment, and there are verses and things taught in the Quran that says the ways of Allah are many and no matter what part and what point of the mountain you climb, you always come to the same mountaintop. And I thought maybe that's what God is and then no it's different for God and maybe God has a specific way for me and He wants me to follow that specific way. So, I thought I'll never find out unless I ask this question. So, I did. I prayed and fasted and from the bottom of my heart with all my strength I asked, God what is it that You want me to do? What way is it that You want me to follow? And so for two weeks I sat in one place and I prayed as many hours as I was awake and I fasted as many hours as I was awake and I would just fall asleep literally in my place. Then I would wake up and I would just pray again and again, asking God what is the way you want for me?
Asking for two weeks to no avail, I had no answer. I really got frustrated. I just thought forget it. What is this? I have no chance of finding out what He wants. I don't even know if God exist. I wasted all my life. I have been afraid all my life, trying to do everything that would please Allah. And now He confuses me. If Allah is all great and He see's the heart, he knew me in my heart that I love him. And what matters if I call Him whatever name I call him, He knows in my heart I love Him. And if it does matter to Him, I asked Him for two weeks, I prayed and nothing happens. So, you know what I said I'm going to go do my own thing, I'm going to walk my own path, I'm going to do what pleases me. Obviously, at that very moment I felt the power of God filled the room. Now, in Islam, the greatest sin you can commit and you can never be forgiven for that is doubting God Himself, doubting His teachings, doubting His Prophet. And I had done that. And in Islam they teach you that Allah never visits, God never visits human beings. I feel and I know against Islam I have committed the greatest sin that can never be forgiven.
God's presence is in the room and I'm confronted immediately with His holiness. All this is happening simultaneously. And I'm confronted with holiness which puts the weight of sin upon me. I know, I know that because He is just, I must kill me, He must wipe me off the face of the Earth because I'm so full of sin. And I cried because I literally didn't want to die. But I knew there was no chance, He was so Holy and I was so wicked. So I just ran to the corner of the room and I held my head in my arms and just cried out, God forgive me, God forgive me, God forgive me, God forgive me and I just said, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. And as I was crying and just saying forgive me, I felt a touch on my shoulder saying, I forgive you. And the very instant those words were spoken, I physically felt forgiven.
And I couldn't understand that. I said, wait a minute, we say in the name of God who is merciful and gracious, where we don't know if we are forgiven until the day judgement. That is why there is not one single verse in the Quran that says Mohammad is up in Heaven, he must wait like all people for the day of Qiyamah, the day of resurrection and all shall be judged on that day.
So, who is this God that says I forgive you and I feel forgiven today. And I asked, who are you that you forgive me and I feel forgiven today. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. The moment I heard those words, I knew is of great importance. But I had absolutely no idea what that meant. I still had no clue who this God is. So I asked Him what is your name. He said, Jesus Christ, the living God. The moment He spoke those words, it was as if every single bone was taken out of my body and I just fell on my face to the ground and I just started weeping, in the presence of God I just wept. It's been 18 years and I still can't forget His love and His mercy. I can't forget what He has done for me and I just wept. I felt forgiven.
Because for many I had tried to please God, but nothing I had done was pleasing to God. It wasn't even the right God that I had known. I felt so deceived because they told me this is God and he wasn't God. They told me killing the way of Allah and then this God says love in the way of Me, forgive in the way of Me. Yes this is the TRUTH of God. God is about forgiveness. God is about LOVE.
So I wept for two hours and I just stood at His feet. And He said just said actually look up, the moment I looked up it was like a tv screen of some sort, I just saw people from all generations and all different nationalities and backgrounds. And every single person I saw, I could see every single wrong thing they have done and that overwhelmed me and I cried and I said, God I live among all of these peoples, all of them are sinners. And He says how easy did I forgive you. And I said, very easy. In Farsi, we say as easy as drinking water. And then just moments after that I said, no no no no even easier than drinking water. He said as easy as I have forgiven you, I can forgive them. Who is going to tell them? I said, send me. He said, go. That's how I became a Christian.
So I prayed, God send me a Bible. In jail somebody from some other section just walked up to me and gave me a book and said, this is what you asked for. He was in his Indian background and I spoke Urdu and Hindi completely. So when he gave it to me, I knew it was the Bible, I forgot to thank the guy. I said, God I prayed last night and you gave it to me this morning. It is so wonderful you answered. You are the mighty God that Jesus spoken of and you provide so quickly. That is the Living Word of God.
I tell you this, I share my testimony so people hear about this Almighty God. I don't expect anybody to become a Christian because of my testimony. My testimony is only good for me. I want people to understand this, this is the story of Almighty God that is all able and that is searching for all seeking hearts, that loves all of humanity with all His strength and power. If someone hears my testimony today, I really like them to just say okay, God of Heaven, the Creator of everything, if this is true, I want that and I assure you, I can guarantee you that Almighty God that came and touched, and changed my life and totally forgave everything I have done and He made me sure that I can be in Heaven with Him. He can assure them of the same assurance and He can let them taste of the same forgiveness, the same love and that is who Jesus Christ is. May glory be to Him today and forevermore. Amen.
I was born in the Southern part of Iran. In a city called Abadan. Born in a Muslim family, a Shiite Muslim family. My grandfather was a Muslim leader. I joined Hezbollah. I was in that army about 3 years. I was studying the Quran extensively then. I traveled to Malaysia where I was caught with 30 illegal passports and put in prison. So, I started teaching Islam in the jail. Telling everybody what they must do, what are their duties towards Allah. And so I did this routine every day. I prayed obviously five times a day. Shiites do pray three times and they include the 17 (?) in the three times. But, what I did, because I wanted to spend more time with God, I did it at five separate times, and then at the end of the evening I would pray extra prayers. I would have the habit of reading through the Quran cover to cover, once every ten days. And so as I was doing that one night, I just was meditating on the verses, and there are words in the Quran that are repeated continually repeatedly, but they have no meanings, they are the secrets of the Quran. And so when I was meditating like this a Spirit entered the room and it was much more powerful than I could handle, I could overcome and so I was filled with fear and so I tried to use all the tools Islam had given me. In the name of Allah, I command you to leave you know. Satan I rebuke you kind of things. I used all of those and nothing was helping. In that moment, I was totally desperate and I felt like it was choking the life out of me. I felt like I was dying in that cell. I cried out to the Heavens, I said God in Farsi, help me and immediately,
I heard a voice, just as clear as you hear my voice, saying bring the name of Jesus. And in that moment I seriously did not give it one second of thought. I just was, I feel like going back, I was drowning and a man that is drowning you throw a rope, they would never question you about the color of the rope. They just grabbed on and so I did. I said, Jesus if You are true, show me Yourself. And to this day, I have no idea, obviously going back, I'm thinking why did you word it that way? Why didn't you just say, Jesus help me. I don't know why. But that's just the way it came out. And before I finished with my sentence, everything was back to normal. Now, that was not my conversion, that was the beginning of my confusion. Why would Jesus help a Muslim.
Now, I had done everything in my power to be a good Muslim. I had already tried to go and commit myself in the way of Allah and be a martyr for him, walking on the mines and so the government of Iran used to issue the people that are willing to give themselves, sacrifice themselves, received a special the Quran, that had the stamp of the government that I had participated in the execution by a hanging. I had done everything I thought I must do against the infidels and anything and everything I must do to share Allah with others. So, I knew that something is wrong and that was not because I doubted Allah, or doubted Islam or anything. I fully believed and I didn't know what that is and it just confused me. And so I tried to just forget about it. But that question, why would Jesus help a Muslim. Why would Jesus help a Muslim. That would keep coming at me. I believe in Mohammad the last Prophet I would say, in the perfect religion, why would Jesus come to help me.
And so, in that two week period I just got really confused and I said okay I'm going to pray and fast and ask God Himself to show me the path. Obviously, I thought in that moment, and there are verses and things taught in the Quran that says the ways of Allah are many and no matter what part and what point of the mountain you climb, you always come to the same mountaintop. And I thought maybe that's what God is and then no it's different for God and maybe God has a specific way for me and He wants me to follow that specific way. So, I thought I'll never find out unless I ask this question. So, I did. I prayed and fasted and from the bottom of my heart with all my strength I asked, God what is it that You want me to do? What way is it that You want me to follow? And so for two weeks I sat in one place and I prayed as many hours as I was awake and I fasted as many hours as I was awake and I would just fall asleep literally in my place. Then I would wake up and I would just pray again and again, asking God what is the way you want for me?
Asking for two weeks to no avail, I had no answer. I really got frustrated. I just thought forget it. What is this? I have no chance of finding out what He wants. I don't even know if God exist. I wasted all my life. I have been afraid all my life, trying to do everything that would please Allah. And now He confuses me. If Allah is all great and He see's the heart, he knew me in my heart that I love him. And what matters if I call Him whatever name I call him, He knows in my heart I love Him. And if it does matter to Him, I asked Him for two weeks, I prayed and nothing happens. So, you know what I said I'm going to go do my own thing, I'm going to walk my own path, I'm going to do what pleases me. Obviously, at that very moment I felt the power of God filled the room. Now, in Islam, the greatest sin you can commit and you can never be forgiven for that is doubting God Himself, doubting His teachings, doubting His Prophet. And I had done that. And in Islam they teach you that Allah never visits, God never visits human beings. I feel and I know against Islam I have committed the greatest sin that can never be forgiven.
God's presence is in the room and I'm confronted immediately with His holiness. All this is happening simultaneously. And I'm confronted with holiness which puts the weight of sin upon me. I know, I know that because He is just, I must kill me, He must wipe me off the face of the Earth because I'm so full of sin. And I cried because I literally didn't want to die. But I knew there was no chance, He was so Holy and I was so wicked. So I just ran to the corner of the room and I held my head in my arms and just cried out, God forgive me, God forgive me, God forgive me, God forgive me and I just said, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me. And as I was crying and just saying forgive me, I felt a touch on my shoulder saying, I forgive you. And the very instant those words were spoken, I physically felt forgiven.
And I couldn't understand that. I said, wait a minute, we say in the name of God who is merciful and gracious, where we don't know if we are forgiven until the day judgement. That is why there is not one single verse in the Quran that says Mohammad is up in Heaven, he must wait like all people for the day of Qiyamah, the day of resurrection and all shall be judged on that day.
So, who is this God that says I forgive you and I feel forgiven today. And I asked, who are you that you forgive me and I feel forgiven today. He said, I am the way, the truth and the life. The moment I heard those words, I knew is of great importance. But I had absolutely no idea what that meant. I still had no clue who this God is. So I asked Him what is your name. He said, Jesus Christ, the living God. The moment He spoke those words, it was as if every single bone was taken out of my body and I just fell on my face to the ground and I just started weeping, in the presence of God I just wept. It's been 18 years and I still can't forget His love and His mercy. I can't forget what He has done for me and I just wept. I felt forgiven.
Because for many I had tried to please God, but nothing I had done was pleasing to God. It wasn't even the right God that I had known. I felt so deceived because they told me this is God and he wasn't God. They told me killing the way of Allah and then this God says love in the way of Me, forgive in the way of Me. Yes this is the TRUTH of God. God is about forgiveness. God is about LOVE.
So I wept for two hours and I just stood at His feet. And He said just said actually look up, the moment I looked up it was like a tv screen of some sort, I just saw people from all generations and all different nationalities and backgrounds. And every single person I saw, I could see every single wrong thing they have done and that overwhelmed me and I cried and I said, God I live among all of these peoples, all of them are sinners. And He says how easy did I forgive you. And I said, very easy. In Farsi, we say as easy as drinking water. And then just moments after that I said, no no no no even easier than drinking water. He said as easy as I have forgiven you, I can forgive them. Who is going to tell them? I said, send me. He said, go. That's how I became a Christian.
So I prayed, God send me a Bible. In jail somebody from some other section just walked up to me and gave me a book and said, this is what you asked for. He was in his Indian background and I spoke Urdu and Hindi completely. So when he gave it to me, I knew it was the Bible, I forgot to thank the guy. I said, God I prayed last night and you gave it to me this morning. It is so wonderful you answered. You are the mighty God that Jesus spoken of and you provide so quickly. That is the Living Word of God.
I tell you this, I share my testimony so people hear about this Almighty God. I don't expect anybody to become a Christian because of my testimony. My testimony is only good for me. I want people to understand this, this is the story of Almighty God that is all able and that is searching for all seeking hearts, that loves all of humanity with all His strength and power. If someone hears my testimony today, I really like them to just say okay, God of Heaven, the Creator of everything, if this is true, I want that and I assure you, I can guarantee you that Almighty God that came and touched, and changed my life and totally forgave everything I have done and He made me sure that I can be in Heaven with Him. He can assure them of the same assurance and He can let them taste of the same forgiveness, the same love and that is who Jesus Christ is. May glory be to Him today and forevermore. Amen.
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