I’m learning the English language from The Internet, so I will do my best to tell you my story.

We also learn English from movies and talking with friends. My little daughter speaks English very well, she’s a smart girl and she loves English more than Arabic. My daughters are also learning French in school, they all are very good girls, we are proud of them.

My name is Esther, it’s my new name after my baptism. I prayed before writing this story, I hope it touches the hearts and souls of a lot of Sisters and Brothers.

I am from an Islamic background and I accepted JESUS as my LORD and Savior two years ago. I was Baptized in June—during Ramadan—in The Jordan River as Jesus did. All of us in my home, we thank Jesus for His Mercy and Salvation. A Christian Pastor from USA, from an Islamic background like us, came here just for us. He joined with a Pastor from our city, from the Church where we now pray.

From when I was young until recently, I wore a Hijab. Our families were not Religious, but it was our custom and tradition. And we had closed minds too.

Like a lot of Muslims, I lived a very bad life, but I always loved God and I felt very close to Him. He feed me carefully and brought me to Himself. I could feel His Love in the depth of my heart. I love him so much because he rescued me from many bad and sad levels.

We are from The Holy Land and we live in East Jerusalem.

 I am the oldest of my five sisters and brothers. I finished high school in good level and want to study Arabic language and literature. I began to search for work to help me to pay for my study in Open University. I met my future husband in his office, to work as secretary with him. He taught me how to use a computer. He is a professional, smart and a very very very good and great man!

I covered my face because I thought this was the way to make God love me. But when I met my husband, he told me God loves me without this cover, so I stopped covering my face and began wearing a normal Hijab until now.

My husband is the youngest of four children, with two of them still living in his village and one of them living in the USA.

We have been married for 14 years since I first went to my husband’s office to work. He told me that he liked my SMILE. That was new for me, because I didn’t smile for years. Other people told me that I have a big mouth, so I was shy from my smile.

Our first 11 years together were not happy. I had a very closed mind and bad thinking about life. I had stress and was angry all the time, like many Muslim girls, no feelings, no love, no good relationships!

My family didn’t help me, but they did the opposite for me. It shocked me and my husband and we start to fight with them too. Also his family fought with us. So we choose to live in our own apartment in the city. We now have a beautiful home full of Colors and Happiness and Joy!

I have had to learn how I can love my husband, because I did not see love in my family’s life.

When I had a pregnancy, a beautiful girl, I carried her for seven months, but she was so small and God choose her and she’s gone. It shocked us, nobody cared, they told me, “You can have another one,” just in simple words without any feelings.

So I started to explore my Islamic religion and I started to read The Quran and Islamic books, and I listen to CD’s but I didn’t feel good. We started to ask, “Where is Allah? Why this sad and bad situation for us?”

I was not like Jews and Christians. They told me in school that we Muslims are the good people. So I didn’t know anyone from outside Islam, and I just hated them.

My husband has wisdom to teach me. He knew that when I would touch the reality, I would change. He started to make relationships with Christian families who live here in our city. Our city is a Christian city, not a Muslim city. So we have many beautiful families here, many are friends with my husband. We visited them and shared with them good times. And I started to think, “Why do they live in love and peace?”

Our Muslims friends suggested we should travel to Makkah (Mecca) in Saudi Arabia to Pray for our children. It was a bad journey and very exhausting. And we went another time during Ramadan for Mercy, and this was the end of our practice of Islam.

We came back home with a lot of questions…“Why? Where? What? How?”

And then we met a great man from the USA. His family and group came here as tourists. We met him on the street. He told us about Jesus and that he will Pray for us. He said Blessings over us also. We liked it, it touched our hearts and he became our friend, texting and emailing us.

We also met a girl from Romania on Facebook who became our friend, and we invited her with her husband to visit us in The Holy Land. We spent amazing times with her. When she visited Jerusalem she gave me a Cross and told me to “keep it as a gift and it will bless you.” So I took it from her and I kept it in a special place in my home.

Well, our life started to change for good.

My husband had a dream of Jesus and he started to think more. 

Someone gave us The Gospel to read.

Our friend from the USA suggested that we go to Bethlehem to a Christian Church to share with them what we have been experiencing.

We went to this church for two years, and they welcomed us warmly. We shared with them the hymns and the prayers and food also. They are such good people, and the Pastor gave us MP3’s to listen to lectures from Dr. Charles Stanley in Arabic, and he told us listen to Joyce Meyer on YouTube.

So we did…and it was a Change for all of us. When we heard about Jesus, we started to change and we learned more and more. When I cleaned our home I listened to the Lectures, and I Prayed after Charles Stanley to ask God if this is the way for me? I prayed with all my Faith, and it felt like God was holding me, and after I finished I started to Cry and Cry and feel my heart beating much more, and feel like a big cloud was off my eyes.

Jesus is my God…Wow He is The Lord. I found the answer to why He came into this world and why He will come again.

When my husband came home I told him, “I Believe in Jesus,” and I started to teach him of God’s Mercy, He Loves us so much, and He choose me and He change my mind and my life to the best of the best.

But my husband cannot understand the Trinity very well, so I prayed for him for two months and finally he Believed.

Yes, we believe in our souls and our hearts, Jesus is the LORD. We started to pray in our home and we keep listening to understand more and more. We told our daughters also, and they accept Him and they can pray The Lord’s Prayer in Jesus’ Language (Ancient Hebrew)!

We shared our first Christmas in Bethlehem with our Church, it was a great blessing for us. We are such a happy family now. 

Because Bethlehem is far away from our home, we now pray in our city in another Christian Church that helps our children with their homework and which offers a summer camp and a kids club. We go to pray every Sunday, and to the Bible lesson on Thursday and Kids Club on Friday.

We know Peace and we can feel it and touch it, our faces have changed!

We have finished a year studying “Theology of Christ.” We study with a good group and a teacher in the Church every Saturday. Every Monday we go to the Couples Lesson also in the Church to learn more about our life in families!

The Ministry of Information closed our business, but we can work from home and God has helped us to live and to keep our daughters in a Christian school.

Please forgive me for this long story, but I feel so happy to write it for you.

We are praying for Muslims because we were from them. We Pray for God to touch them and to open their eyes and hearts to know Him as their Heavenly Father. They are poor people and they don’t know Him yet.

Please Pray for us. And May God Bless You All.

We are sending you all our Love in Christ.

Blessings,

Esther