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"For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God." (Ephesians 2:8)
Renounce of Islam: By
Monday evening, I made up my mind and determined to renounce Islam, along with my Muslim name and to put my faith in Christ, the only True God, and to follow
Him forever. The next morning, I called my pastor and told him about my decision. I also
suggested that I must be re-baptized. At first he disagreed to re-baptize me, but since I
insisted, he decided to pray about it and seek God's direction. When we met later in the
evening, he informed me that he was willing to re-baptize me after God confirmed it to
him. We went together to a remote place and we burned all of my Muslim items, then we went
back to his home to finish the process.
Rebirth: After
renouncing Islam and rejected all that linked me to it, I confessed my sin and I received
Christ as my only Savior, Lord and God. This time my confession was with faith and total
confidence in Jesus. Immediately, I was baptized. When I went into the water, it symbolized my death to my sin, which became buried with Christ. Coming out of the water symbolized my
resurrection into a new life,
a life in Christ Jesus. During the process we used only my nickname, because my old name
was included in all the Muslim things I renounced. Then my
pastor prayed for me, for the filling with the Holy Spirit. This time I was truly baptized
with faith in Christ and surrendered to Him. I was literally and spiritually
born again. This time I was genuinely baptized in accordance with the Bible's requirement
in 1Peter 3:21:
"And corresponding to that,
baptism now saves you-- not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a
good conscience-- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,"
Filling by the Spirit: A few days later, while I was sleeping in the night, I had
a dream where I saw a fire coming from heaven and it
entered into my
chest. However it didn't harm me. Immediately, I got up from my bed
(half-asleep) and my mouth began talking loudly in a strange tongue. I tried to
control my mouth and stop speaking, but I couldn't. The fire was a sign and the speaking
in a strange tongue was the manifestation of my filling with the Holy Spirit. There was
only one other time where I prophesied in tongue in such manner, but there were several
times where I felt the power of the Holy Spirit's anointing on me. I still can't describe
exactly any of those moments, except the fact that they were so real. I don't know why God
let me pass through such experiences, but I guess one of the reasons is due to my
skepticism and lack of belief in the supernatural.
Realizations: During
the whole following week since my baptism, my appetite for food and desire for the things
of this world were totally gone. I spent most of the time crying like a child. My tears
were the tears of grief and sorrow for my former wicked and foolish ways, because I
realized that I have participated in persecuting Jesus, my Creator, Father, Redeemer and
God. I realized that I wasn't any better than those who flogged and crucified Him, but
verily one of them. I realized that I was completely lost and I was going to end up in
hell if Jesus didn't take the initiative and rescue me. I realized that all my life I
believed in lies and I promoted them. The most painful thing was the realization that my
parents are most likely already in hell and that the rest of my relatives and my people
are going to join them if they don't turn to Christ. Meanwhile, my tears were also the
tears of joy. I couldn't imagine how Jesus, even the heavenly Father loved me, regardless
of all of my evil deeds, hate and mocking of His children and
blasphemy against Him. I realized that I have being saved and rescued only by His grace
and mercy, but nothing of my own.
Immediate healing:
Immediately after my conversion to Christ, all the hatred and bitterness that I have
accumulated for years toward the Jewish people and the Westerner world was totally gone. I
was also totally healed from a habit, which I struggled with for years without having the
strength to overcome it. What was amazing in both of those cases, nobody, except God, knew
about my bondage. None prayed for my healing from those two secret diseases. Also, I was
miraculously healed from them instantly.
Encounters with Jesus: After
my conversion, I had several dreams where I had direct encounters with Jesus. I have seen
Him as a fearful God and I have seen Him as a meek and humble person. He never told me
directly that He is Jesus but from His way of speaking and through His deep piercing eyes,
I knew in the deep of my heart that it was Him.
Not only me: In the
beginning, I thought that my experience was one of the greatest. It was special and unique
of kind, and could be compared with the story of Moses at the burning bush or Paul on his
way to Damascus. When I later read and heard the testimonies of some other people's
encounters with Jesus, theirs were much more powerful and incredible than mine. One of
those is the story of a former devout Muslim Pakistani woman. She wrote a book about the
Jesus Christ's literal visitation and miraculous healing of her. ("The Torn
Veil" By Ghulshan Fatima [Esther]. CLC Books' publication.)
  
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