Christian Kurd in Lebanon

John grew up in a Muslim family and was taught Islamic prayer since childhood. John's family is known for their belief and dedication to Islam, and people would say, "...the mad and paralyzed would be healed at the door of Hamdamin's house." Everyone that knew John, knew how devoted he was to his religion.

After John passed through puberty and entered his later teen years, he like everyone his age, engaged in sin. He knew that what he was doing was wrong, and when he would pray, he would become terrified of the repercussions. He would either continually repeat his prayers, or try to convince himself that God would forgive him mercifully, though he didn't know who God truly was.

John even reached the point to where he doubted the very existence of God and ceased his prayers. This became more of a problem within his own family due to their devout religious practices. As the days continued, John's concern for his family's desire for him to return to Islam grew virtually none existent. He simply did not care. One day he decided to leave Kurdistan to begin a new life, away from the control of Islam, or any religion.

Fate would find John in Lebanon, where he decided to begin his new life. As anyone would find, it is not a truly hospitable place, as we see on the news. You have to keep in mind Lebanon has been a war zone since the 60s. Once you get there, you begin trying to figure out how to leave. However, John was able to make friends there, and the main discussion was always how to go abroad.

They would all throw ideas around, and one day someone mentioned the Red Cross and the Church. John had no idea what the Red Cross was, due to his Islamic background. Of course, church would mean the conversion away from Islam and to Christianity. For John, this was a difficult decision to make due to his upbringing. However, originally his true intent was just to be able to go abroad to America. He had no real intention of becoming a Christian. Likewise, he had no idea how Christ would enter his life and change it forever.

He and his friends downloaded a simple bible application onto their phones and began reading so they could understand what Christianity was all about. They truly had no idea. They read for hours, and didn't understand very much. They eventually got tired of reading, and John left to go sit on the balcony to think. He saw a cross in the distance, and he realized he didn't even know what a cross was. He had no idea who Christ was and what the cross meant. He had only heard that Christ was the son of God, but could not understand how such a thing could happen. So John and his friends decided to seek out someone who could explain all this to them.

They found a Kurdish church with a pastor named Nihad Hassan. After going to a church service, they still didn't know anything. But it surely peaked their curiosity. After the service, they talked to a Father Ziad, who was a Palestinian Christian. Father Ziad spoke to them in Arabic & English, and John could not understand. Now John knows a little of both languages. Do you see what God was doing here?

After that initial introduction into the church, John met a man named Hawre from Sulaymaniyah in Lebanon who could translate for them. After explaining to John all about faith and Christ, he had him close his eyes and repeat a prayer of salvation, inviting Christ into his life. After John went home, of course he doubted. He could not see past his physical emotion and the need to believe in something. The next day, Father Ziad invited them to a conference and wanted John and his friends to come. They agreed to go, and the night before the conference, John was wondering what to do. He debated with himself constantly as to what was the truth. Finally he fell down on his knees to pray. John said, "If you exist tell me. show yourself, so that I can know you fully and truly exist!" That night, John's heart was broken, and he continued to cry all night. John never saw or heard anything that night, but he never quit looking for Christ. He wanted to personally know, not be told by someone else, which could lead to deception.

3 days into the conference, everyone started worshiping through song. All the priests were sitting in the front row, and John was still searching for the truth. Then the one leading the service said, "Who wants us to pray for him? Let him come forward." John saw many walk forward, but he stood at a distance and observed. As he watched the scene of continued praise and worship, he wondered if this was not a lie, what is truly going on here? He decided to go forward so they would pray for him. Father Ziad came to John to pray for him. John closed his eyes. With the prayer, a force came that knocked John to the ground, he fell flat on his back, and began screaming. He reached towards the sky, and he felt an evil spirit leave his body. When the spirit left him he stopped screaming, However, he was terrified. He began trying to leave, but the servants caught him. It was a unique experience for John. Nothing could compare to the experience he had that day. This is the day John was born again.

Since this event, John has been pastoring in Lebanon to those who do not have a church to attend there. Currently he is pastoring to two families. One of those families we currently sponsor as well.

John's future is not known, nor is any of ours own. But while he is alive he will continue to spread the word. Our goal at the Ichthys Foundation Inc. is to give John a chance to come to America and attend seminary school. He has also agreed to continue working with the foundation to help others out there who need spiritual guidance to Christ.

John will be our first person to bring to America through the Welcome Corp project. We need to raise $2,450 USD for John to begin the process. Please help us make this come true for John. He like all the others, can never return to Kurdistan due to his conversion to Christianity. His family has made that perfectly clear to him. If he goes home, he will suffer the consequences of an infidel.

All donations are much appreciated. Thank you.