Maryam’s Story
I, Maryam, was born in a family of eight as the only daughter!
My birthplace was in a small town in Iran where I grew up. My parents were quite different from each other. My dad did not believe in God although he always sought the truth and enjoyed reading books. My mother was a devout Muslim and feared God. Because of our parents’ behavior, arguments, and fights, my five brothers and I had challenging behavior problems during our pre-teen and youth years.
My young adult years and studies at the university were without purpose and meaningless. After I was married, despite having a family and a peaceful life, my inner world was full of anxiety and unrest. This condition caused digestive and autoimmune issues, so I visited different doctors and used various medications—none were effective.
The condition worsened more and more every day. To gain some peace I turned to yoga, a variety of practices, and meditation. Every evening I would go out into nature and sit by a river meditating, so I could calm the anxiety and inner pain. Regularly I read self-care books and books on mysticism.
One day I attended a prayer meeting with my mother-in-law who was an Assyrian Christian. In that atmosphere, I felt such a peace and presence that I had never experienced before in my life, even during the times of meditation.
For a long time I attended these prayer meetings that were held at a farmer’s home who happened to be quite a meek woman. I always rejected her invitation to attend church. I did not believe in any church or religion. To me, a church building was just like a mosque, and believed that religion was “opium” for all nations (a philosophy of Karl Marx).
Finally one day the farmer gave me a video tape of Jesus’ life story as it is told in the Gospel of Luke. I remember watching that film several times that day and crying continuously.
A Dream
Afterward I started to study the Gospels. I started with the Gospel of Matthew. Before getting to the Gospel of John, one night I had a very strange dream. I dreamt my husband and I were traveling on a winding road. On a steep hill I noticed a group of people had parked their cars on the side of the road and were going up the mountain toward a spring running down.
In my dream I asked my husband to stop the car. I then went up the mountain with much excitement and started drinking the water—as much as I could! This dream was a spark of hope for me because I was so thirsty to understand the Truth. After years of pain and thirst and trying to reach out to any mirage, this was a promising new hope. My thirst had not been quenched by living a good life, education, or any other achievements. In fact, after reaching every goal, my life had become more and more disappointing and painful.
As I continued to study the Gospels, I came across John 4:14, which was a wonderful promise for me, a confirmation for the dream I had: “But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.”
Surrendering to Jesus, a New Season of Life
That day I went on my knees and in prayer said to Jesus that I wanted to drink of the water He spoke about in John 4:14. Soon after, I surrendered my heart and my life to Jesus completely.
I made a commitment to the church to receive discipleship and to grow in spiritual maturity. My life entered a new season. My lifestyle of living in the dry desert full of anxiety, loneliness, and void had come to an end. I had entered a green, prosperous land full of joy in His Word, together with the Holy Spirit and fellowship with other believers. The path of my life had been full of ups and downs, sometimes quite steep and full of pain, but with His Word and His comforting Spirit, He led me out of the furnace.
“His Word and comforting Spirit led me out of the furnace.”
Now that I look back after nearly twenty years, I can join the writer of Psalm 23 and say, “The Lord is my shepherd, I have all that I need.” Since then, whenever I pass through the darkest valley, I am not fearful or anxious as before. His Word has been like a staff giving me strength through the ups and downs of life.
He not only blessed me and supported me as the loving Father He is, He also gave my life purpose and meaning. I can say with confidence that He is the answer to all of my thirst and need for the living water. He continues to be so—in him I lack nothing.
Discipling in Secret
After a few years, my husband, mother-in-law, mother, one of my brothers and his wife, and nearly twenty of my friends came to know the Lord. I spent my time aside from being a fitness instructor, to share the Gospel and disciple them in the secret. In Iran there are many security and safety issues, but I was full of joy ministering to others.
After a few years, our Assyrian church was closed by the government officials. Our pastor and his wife were under house arrest and all the names of church members had been noted. In secret, my husband and I continued the meetings in our home and in the home of other church members.
Our Water Baptism
Twelve years after becoming a Christian, despite the limited and dangerous conditions in Iran, together with my husband and my son we traveled to Turkey for our water baptism. It was a splendid day! For many years we dreamt of our water baptism, but our pastor did not have the courage or the permission to baptize us because he had been threatened and intimidated by the government officials.
After our return to Iran, the Lord called us back to Turkey to serve among the Iranians living there. Obeying this call was not at all easy, especially for me. To leave my elderly mother, as her only daughter, to leave my friends and a good job, to risk my son’s education at the age of fourteen to go to a country with no permanent residence and its limitations, and to go without any financial support from any organization was just like Peter saying yes to Jesus and coming out of our secure living to walk on water!
For many days I prayed with tears against this call of God and I wanted a way out, a confirmation to stay in Iran near my relative and friends.
Ultimately, though, at the end of the summer of 2010, we left Iran and moved to Turkey. In Istanbul we started to serve and receive training for ministry. After serving for four years among the Iranians in Turkey, through the United Nations, we received our refugee status. In September 2014, we landed in Vancouver, Canada.
During all these years since I have believed in Christ and surrendered my heart and life into His hands, my husband and I, together with our twenty-five-year-old son, have continuously witnessed God’s faithfulness and His provision. Particularly during these past ten years since we have said, “Amen” to His call and entered an unknown path. He truly split the seas to provide a way for us; He truly quenched our thirst in the desert through the streams and gave us manna from above.
We have been living in Vancouver just over six years now, and God has given us grace to train and disciple several Iranians in this city for Christ. Although our son had been a top student attending a great school, he lost his opportunity to attend university because of the travels and the moves we experienced. There were also financial limitations and language barriers for his studies, but by God’s grace he has a good job.
To have love, peace, a victorious and fruitful life is my family’s inheritance as we move forward. God is good! Amen.
Conclusion and Salvation Prayer
This story reveals God’s unconditional, eternal love for all of His children. God is love—the essential life-giving ingredient that is missing in all other religions, including Islam. This woman who shared her testimony with you was yearning to be loved and cherished, deep down where only Jesus can touch and heal. The void in her life was exposed by God’s great compassion, revealing the death and dank of her own religious traditions and rituals.
Hearts, Minds, and Spirits Awakened
Miracles and visions stirred her heart, pricked her mind, and awakened her spirit. Whether a supernatural healing or a divine visitation from Jesus Himself, this Muslim experienced the One True God who is alive and ready and willing to offer peace, joy, and freedom.
Contrary to the deeds-demanding god this woman bowed to, she came to personally and intimately know the God who sent His Son Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for her sin. She experienced an up-close-and-personal God whose forgiveness is eternal and saw the God of action—Love in action who heals sickness, addiction, bondage, and torment because He loves them.
God’s Supernatural Love
God’s love is far beyond any kind of human love we can ever even imagine:
God loved you before you were even born.
God loved you before you loved Him.
God loved you when you ignored Him.
God loved you when you were sinning and rebelling.
God even loved you before you believed in Him or even knew He was real.
Romans 5:8 tells us that “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Truly, this is a supernatural love. When you experience God’s transforming love, you will lose interest in the sins that used to appeal to you. There is nothing like the love of God to change a sad and lonely life into one of joy and peace and hope.
The greatest demonstration of love is when Jesus left the glory of Heaven to come to earth and die for you on the Cross. That day He reconciled you with God, assuring an eternal bond and loving relationship with God the Father. You are more precious to Him than any riches.
God wants to have an intimate relationship with you today! This was His original desire from the beginning. Scripture tells us that God actually walked and talked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Unfortunately, they disobeyed God which caused a curse that has impacted the whole of history, even to this very day.
Since then the world has been corrupted by famine, natural disasters, disease, crime, and war. Sin causes people to pursue worldly success, money, power, selfish satisfaction, unbridled sex, gambling, and other such evils that leave people empty, lonely, and hopeless.
There is a hole in the center of every human being that people try and fill with everything other than God. But the truth is, only God Himself can fill that hole. Sin separates us from God, which leads to spiritual and physical death. Jesus the Savior connects us to God and leads to fulfillment, righteousness, and eternal life.
The Divine Solution
The Bible prophets and their prophecies point to the Messiah who would come and deliver people from their sins. Every one of the 300 prophecies given about the coming Savior was fulfilled in Jesus. He restored a right relationship between humanity and God that was lost in the Garden of Eden.
There is nothing you can do to make yourself right before our Holy and Almighty God. Jesus Christ did it for you. Acts of religion and good works will not bridge the divide between you and God. The bridge is Jesus’ selfless act of compassion on the Cross where He took your sin upon Himself.
Your Choice
Your encounter with God begins with a choice:
Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live! You can make this choice by loving the Lord your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life… (Deuteronomy 30:19-20 NLT).
Choosing life—Jesus—is the most important decision you will ever make. The men and women whose testimonies you read about chose life and blessings. If you have not already made the choice to be a follower of Jesus, God’s beloved Son, I encourage you to say the following prayer out loud:
Dear heavenly Father, You are the Most High God, and I come to You in the name of Jesus. I thank You for sending Jesus to the earth as the Word of God who became flesh.
Father, I receive Your love and gift of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus, I believe You died on the Cross and shed Your blood for my sins and the sins of the whole world. Because of Your sacrifice, You remember my sins no more and I have right standing before You. I believe You were raised from the dead on the third day.
Now Jesus, come into my heart. Take away my stony heart and give me a new heart that I may love the Father even as You do. And Lord, help me to know You and experience Your love in the way I have read about in these stories.
Thank You, Jesus.