Reverend Shah Ahmadi, evangelist, pastor, and strategic alliance director for Iran Alive Ministries, grew up in Iran and lived under its repressive regime for 22 years.
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He recently spoke to CBN News about his upbringing and his ultimate decision to defect from Iran to the United States.
“When I was eight years old, my father took me to the mosque, so I started learning about Islam through his influence,” he said, noting that his father, who has since become a Christian, was once a devout Muslim. “He took me there because the only religion in Iran is Islam.”
Mr. Ahmadi had memorized the Quran by the age of 13. He eventually earned a degree in surveying engineering and became one of the top engineers in the country. This position brought him fame and a life he loved.
But that all eventually came to an end.
Ahmadi worked at a petrochemical factory and became a target of the Iranian government after reportedly witnessing secret government equipment. Suddenly, he was investigated, interrogated, and asked if he had any ties to Israel or the United States.
“We said, ‘No, no, no. I have nothing to do with them,'” he recalled, adding that he was warned that he would be killed if he did not flee the country immediately. “I couldn’t even say ‘goodbye’ to my family, my mom and dad. This was the hardest time of my life.”
Ahmadi continued: “I had to flee Iran illegally because I would be arrested if I crossed the border. That’s why we had winter in our region and there was a lot of snow. That’s why I had to cross the mountains between the Iranian and Turkish borders.”
The smugglers accompanied Ahmadi and other strangers on the difficult journey.
“It was the hardest, most difficult time of my life,” he said. “I’m just running for my life and fear. And…I don’t know if I’m going to die or not. I don’t know the area.”
When Ahmadi arrived in Türkiye, he had to figure out who he could trust. He wasn’t sure if it was safe to confide in anyone, as Iranian agents were believed to be operating in Turkey.
“I started drinking and smoking because I saw how the world was content and how they were dealing with pain and loss,” he said. “God, Islam didn’t answer me.”
At that point, the prayers and fasting of the Islamic tradition were not helping him find his footing at all. Eventually, Ahmadi headed to England and lived a life of partying and self-indulgence until someone brought him the gospel message.
“Someone approached me and simply said, ‘Do you know that Jesus loves you?'” he recalled. “By then I felt like a sinner because I was drinking and I was partying all the time. In Islam, if you do good, God loves you. If you do bad, God hates you.”
But this man’s message about Jesus was different.
“He said, ‘Come to him as you are. He loves you as you are. He will wash you clean,'” Ahmadi recalls.
After attending a few services, he said, “God touched my heart” and his heart and mind began to change.
“The peace I had was unlike anything I had ever experienced before,” Ahmadi said. “The presence of God poured down like rain from the top of my head all over my body. I asked God, ‘If this is you, would you show me again?'”
He went on to say that he was moved by the presence of the Lord.
“I was crying like a baby,” Ahmadi said. “From that point on, my life started to change. I started comparing the Bible and the Koran page by page for eight months.”
Being outside of Iran made it easier for him to find the Lord. Because persecution often occurs after conversion, those who accept the gospel were taught that they must be “ready to take up their cross.”
But interestingly, many Ahmadi families discovered Jesus.
“One by one they came to Christ,” he said. “Eight members of my family have had Jesus appear to them through dreams and visions at various times within Iran.”
Ahmadi continued, “In 2016, I brought my mother and father and 20 other members of my family to Turkey. Another great friend from the United States…He was sharing his testimony about how we need to forgive the drunk driver who killed our son. And my father was crying. He gave his life there.”
Some of Mr. Ahmadidi’s family members initially targeted his newfound faith, but he said there are now 32 family members who are part of Iran’s underground church. This can involve great risks and requires intense devotion to the Lord.
Being a Christian inside Iran can be a real mess and danger, especially if you are serving as a pastor or faith leader who evangelizes and leads others to Christ.
“If they attend a house church, they could be sentenced to up to five to 10 years in prison,” he said. “If they get baptized, it’s 12 to 13 years in prison. If you baptize someone, you go to prison.”
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