During one the Christmas programs in December 2015, we hosted over 170 refugees, men, women and children...
When we opened our doors and the refugees started coming in, we saw an Iranian woman, who had arrived with her children, going straight towards our team member, who was at the time talking on the mic, offering instructions to the refugees about the night’s schedule. The Iranian woman asked for the mic in order to say something to her ethnic group. Our coworker didn’t quite understand what it was that she wanted, so she called me (Nikos) over to intervene.
I went up to her and asked her: “What is it that you want? How can I help you?” With very few English words and a lot of hand gestures, she said: “Me… Muslim, you… Protest… I want to be… you!” I then asked her: “ Do you mean that you are a Muslim and I am a Protestant?” With much enthusiasm, she answered: “Yes, yes… can I be like you?” With some disbelief, I asked her again: “Do you mean that I am Christian? And you want to become a Christian too?” Without much consideration to her surroundings, she yelled: “Yes! I want to be Christian! Can I become a Christian right now?… Can I?… Can I become a Christian?” I then called two women from our group to join her at the table and talk while eating dinner. But she did not want to eat. She insisted that she wanted to become a Christian· Our teammates invited her to a private room along with her children. The woman pointed to an Iranian couple that was sitting with them at the table and said: “Can they come too, because they also want to become Christians today! They had heard about Jesus at a home gathering in Iran, but they were afraid for their life and stopped going. But today, they want to be Christians!” During the conversation, the Iranian woman said: “We had heard about Jesus in Turkey, but we were in a rush for our journey to Europe and we didn’t have the time to learn more about Him. I have to become a Christian today!”
That day, four Iranian refugees accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord! As soon as they got out of the office and entered the main hall, the Iranian woman got hold of the mic and said to all the refugees: “Today I accepted Jesus into my heart and I know where I will go when I die. From this day on, I am a Christian!” How courageous and brave for a woman, alone, to publicly declare that she believes in Christ! You can go to the ‘News’ page and read more stories of refugees whose lives were changed by God.