Some months ago a young woman from Iran named Hamideh became a follower of Jesus. She wanted to be baptized in water as an expression of her new faith in Jesus. Her husband Kambiz attended the baptism as a courtesy, but he did not believe as his wife did.
Kambiz showed no interest in spiritual things until there was concern during Hamideh’s delivery of their baby. During the wee hours of that night when Hamideh was having difficulties in labor, Kambiz prayed to Allah, Ali, Hussein, and Muhammad and nothing happened. But then he saw nurses pray for his wife in Jesus’ name and Hamideh’s strength returned and she was able to deliver their baby 10 minutes later. This began his interest in finding out why this prayer in the name of Jesus was effective. He grew up in a religious Muslim family from Iran.
Months went by. Kambiz and Hamideh accepted an invitation from Christian neighbors, Brian and Kathy, to a special service at their church. During the service, Kambiz leaned over to Brian and whispered that he wanted to be baptized just as Hamideh had been. Brian and Kathy were very surprised. They followed up to find out what had happened between Good Friday (the day when Christians remember the death of Jesus Christ) and this Sunday in the church service. On Good Friday, Kambiz had walked away from the service with lots of questions, such as, “How could Jesus be God if he was praying to God on the cross?”
Brian and Kathy answered some of his questions, but they could tell Kambiz still had doubts, so they encouraged Kambiz to pray daily and ask God to show him the truth about Jesus. He said he remembered to pray that several times, but became busy with his final days of graduate program. One evening, Kambiz drifted off to sleep while worrying about his need to find a full-time job in a few weeks’ time. If he didn’t find a job fast, he would have to return to Iran.
In the middle of the night, he had a dream. In the dream, someone spoke to him and said, “Don’t worry. I will take care of you.” Kambiz asked to whom he was speaking and these words came back to him, “I Am that I Am.” The man in his dream spoke to him in his Persian language. Kambiz was confused by the answer. He had never heard those words before. In the morning, however, he did not remember the dream.
Several days passed when he had another dream. This time, in his dream, the person spoke to him and asked him how he was. After they chatted (again in Farsi), Kambiz asked him who he was and he answered the same way as the previous dream: “I Am that I Am”. When Kambiz woke up, he not only remembered his dream, but he recalled his first dream. He went and asked Hamideh who is “I Am that I Am”?
Hamideh replied, “He is Jesus.”
Kambiz asked for Jesus to reveal Himself once more. Then, on that Sunday, Kambiz went to the church service, but was not following the song because he found it was too difficult to understand. However, right in the middle of the song, he heard these words ring out clearly, “I Am that I Am.” At that point, Kambiz felt that God was speaking to him and he believed that Jesus is alive, that He is God, and that He died on the cross for his sins.
With tears in his eyes, Kambiz told Brian and Kathy that Jesus spoke with him in Persian and when He called Himself “I Am that I Am” it meant that Jesus had always been and always will be! Kambiz put his faith in Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. He said, “I know Jesus is alive!” He asked to be baptized. And surely there is much rejoicing in heaven over this new member of the family of God.
On the following Monday, Kambiz was offered a full-time position at a job. Jesus had indeed taken care of him.
This true story (names changed) took place in a city in the USA. This is why our ministry is called “Near Frontiers.” And this story has taken you on another #NearFrontiersTREK to the mission frontier that is near. If you would like to explore a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, please email us at doorbell@nearfrontiers.org.
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