Whenever anyone asks me "how did you meet Jesus Christ?", my answer is always: "I didn't seek him—he sought me!"
I was a dutiful child of Muslim parents who was initially attracted to Christianity after wandering into a Catholic church and being spellbound by its beauty and sanctified atmosphere.
By the age of twelve I had read and re-read the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer from cover to cover late at night by the light of a torch under my bed covers.
I had already encountered Jesus in the Koran where he is not called the Son of God, but he was indeed born of a Virgin and named as the Messiah. I loved all the Koranic stories relating to him, and pondered on the mystery that surrounded him. Who was this sinless and totally loveable man? Where did he get his authority?
I was not moved by Muslim prayers, even though I tried my best, and Islam didn't respond to my deep-seated need for a very personal relationship with God in the way that Christ did.
My first practical experience of living by Christ's example was revealed during my first Christmas at Nottingham University. On Christmas Eve, the Methodist chaplain came knocking on doors, asking whether anyone wished to take up the offer of Christmas lunch with local parishioners. I said I was Muslim and that we didn't celebrate Christmas, but his reply was that his church welcomed foreign students of any religion, or none.
Through that encounter, I met many generous members of his Methodist congregation, all of whom welcomed me warmly into their church and were kindness personified. My experience of their particular brand of Christian faith, and their infinite care, fellowship, and support while I was a student and beyond, left a deep and lasting impression.
I then saw Christianity from a completely different perspective by spending a month with Sisters of the Cross and Passion in their Yorkshire convent, and several months with the Jesuit Fathers at their House of Studies in North Wales. This came about due to my literary PhD studies of faith and doubt, as my supervisor felt I should have a first-hand experience of daily life in holy orders.
These were wonderful experiences, and interestingly, those nuns and priests were among the most tolerant Christians I have ever met. They knew I was in the throes of questioning my personal faith, but they never tried to influence me in any way, and my abiding memory is one of pure respect, warmth, kindliness, and genuine regard. It certainly shed a new light on the Catholicism so often criticised by my staunchly fundamentalist friends. Fresh from this immersion in the life of those in holy orders I was lit from within with the fire of the personal relationship with Jesus Christ for which I had been craving all my life. Christianity was answering my deepest spiritual needs.
In 1977, I returned home from Nottingham to Tehran with my precious doctorate. That year I shared a flat with a British girl who introduced me to the Persian Anglican Church. My parents weren't enthusiastic about my church attendance, but were gracious enough to accept my spiritual search.
From the moment I entered St Paul's Church in Tehran, hearing the familiar Anglican liturgy in both English and Farsi, I felt a great weight lifting from my shoulders. I had been contemplating Christianity as an outsider for twenty years, and I had finally found an environment that answered my spiritual needs and still retain my Persian heritage.
From its inception this small Persian church, a member of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, had maintained its very Iranian essence despite western influences, and that was its strength. The Tehran congregation had both Persian and English speakers, so divine service was held in both languages. The Episcopal Church, which is the 'broad' or middle way (via media) between Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism suited me perfectly. I had found my spiritual home.
My eventual 'Road to Damascus' moment was not dramatic, but silent as morning dew. One day I awoke and just knew. God is a tremendous and patient Lover, and the Holy Spirit had been seeking me for a long time. When the call finally came it was the easiest decision ever, and a moment of pure joy. For me, going public would mean that life would not be the same again, and my family would encounter criticism for having nurtured an apostate. However, it was unerringly the right decision at the right time.
On a beautiful spring morning in May 1978 I was baptized and confirmed at St Paul's Church in Tehran by Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, our Persian Bishop, himself a convert from Islam. Christ had sought me and had waited patiently for 20 years, but I was finally His.
Farifteh V Robb is the author of In the Shadow of the Shahs: Finding Unexpected Grace, out now from Lion Books priced £9.99.
Originally from Christian Today
CCD reprinted with permission.
每当有人问我“你是怎么认识耶稣基督的？”，我总是这样回答：“不是我在找祂，而是祂来找我的！”
我父母是穆斯林，而我是一个很乖的孩子，最初是因无意中走进一个天主教堂后，却被那里美丽和神圣的气氛深深地所吸引。
十二岁的时候，我是躲在被子里并打着手电筒，偷偷把新约圣经和《公祷书》（Book of Common Prayer）从头到尾读了一遍又一遍。
我已经在可兰经里遇到过耶稣，在那里他没有被称为神之子，但他确实是由一个处女所生，被命名为弥赛亚。我喜欢古兰经中所有与祂有关的故事，并思考着有关祂的种种神秘。这位纯洁无瑕的可爱男子到底是谁？他从哪里得到绝对权柄？
尽管我竭尽全力，但并没被穆斯林的祈祷所感动，伊斯兰教也没有像基督那样，能回应我内心深处所渴望与上帝建立一种非常亲密的私交关系。
在诺丁汉大学的第一个圣诞节期间，我平生第一次被活出以基督为榜样的生命所启发。那是个平安夜，卫理公会牧师敲门来询问，是否有人愿意接受当地教区信徒提供的圣诞午餐。我告诉他我是穆斯林，我们不庆祝圣诞节，但他的回答是，他的教会欢迎任何宗教或无神论者的外国学生。
在那次邂逅中，我遇到了许多慷慨的卫理公会成员，他们都热情地欢迎我进入他们的教会，他们个个都很善良。我真实体验到他们鲜明而虔诚的基督信仰，并对他们所展示出人性关怀、真诚友谊及有力支持，对此给我在学生时代及今后岁月，留下了深刻地难以磨灭的印象。
之后，我在约克郡的修道院里与十架热忱姐妹会（Sisters of the Cross Passion）的修女们呆了一个月后，我开始从一个全新角度看待基督教。我曾经在北威尔士耶稣会士（Jesuit Fathers）的研究院呆了几个月。这是因为我的博士论文是研究信仰和怀疑，而我的导师认为我应该对按神旨意的日常生活有切身体验。
这些都是美好奇妙的经历，尤为可贵的是，那些修女和神父们是我所见过的最宽容的基督徒之一。他们深知我当时正处于对自己所信仰质疑的痛苦之中，但他们从不试图以任何方式干涉和影响我，却给我留下一种纯粹的尊重、温暖、亲切和真诚的终身难忘印象。这无疑为我坚定的原教旨主义朋友经常批评的天主教提供了一个崭新的视角。我刚刚沉浸于按神旨意的生活中，内心正被我一生渴望拥有与耶稣基督能有深层沟通所激励，而基督教刚好满足我最深切的属灵需求。
1977年，我带着我宝贵的博士学位从诺丁汉回到德黑兰。那一年，我和一个英国女孩合住一套公寓，她把我介绍给了伊朗圣公会（Persian Anglican Church）。我的父母对我参加教会的活动并不在意，但他们很大度地接受了我的属灵追求。
从我进入德黑兰圣保罗教堂的那一刻起，听到熟悉的英语和波斯语圣公会礼拜仪式，我突感到全然的解脱和放松。我一直视基督教为局外有二十多年，现终于找到了一个既能满足我的属灵需求又能保留波斯传统的环境。
这个小型伊朗教会是耶路撒冷和中东的圣公会成员。尽管受到西方的影响，但它从一开始就保持着伊朗特色和本质，这就是它的力量所在。德黑兰会众使用波斯语和英语两种语言，所以做礼拜时是用上述两种语言进行的。圣公会是介于罗马天主教和改革后新教之间的一个”广泛“或中间的方式（中间路线），非常适合我。我终究找到了我的精神家园。
我最终“大马士革之路”（译注：使徒保罗在去往大马士革的路上看到了耶稣耀眼的形象，随后委身耶稣基督）的那一刻并不是戏剧性的，而是寂静如晨露。有一天我醒来才知道。上帝是一个伟大而耐心的有情人，圣灵长期不停地在寻找我。当呼召终于来临，这是有史以来做的最干脆决定，也是最单纯的快乐时刻。。对我来说，公开基督徒身份意味着生活将不再平静，我的家人也会因培养出一个叛教者而倍受旁人攻击。然而，这无疑是在正确时间所做的正确决定。
1978年5月一个美丽春晨，我在德黑兰的圣保罗教堂接受洗礼，并得到了我们伊朗主教哈桑·德卡尼·塔夫提（Hassan Dehqani-Tafti）的确认，他本人是一名从伊斯兰教皈依基督的人。基督一直在寻找我，并且耐心地等候了20年，最终但我还是归向了祂。
原作者法里夫特·罗伯（Farifteh V Robb），其著作《君王之影：寻找意想不到的恩典》（Shadow of the Shahs: Finding Unexpected Grace）现已出版。
以上翻译刊登在基督时报上，蒙允转载。
良善的力量：一名伊朗基督徒委身耶稣基督的信仰之旅
Whenever anyone asks me "how did you meet Jesus Christ?", my answer is always: "I didn't seek him—he sought me!"
I was a dutiful child of Muslim parents who was initially attracted to Christianity after wandering into a Catholic church and being spellbound by its beauty and sanctified atmosphere.
By the age of twelve I had read and re-read the New Testament and the Book of Common Prayer from cover to cover late at night by the light of a torch under my bed covers.
I had already encountered Jesus in the Koran where he is not called the Son of God, but he was indeed born of a Virgin and named as the Messiah. I loved all the Koranic stories relating to him, and pondered on the mystery that surrounded him. Who was this sinless and totally loveable man? Where did he get his authority?
I was not moved by Muslim prayers, even though I tried my best, and Islam didn't respond to my deep-seated need for a very personal relationship with God in the way that Christ did.
My first practical experience of living by Christ's example was revealed during my first Christmas at Nottingham University. On Christmas Eve, the Methodist chaplain came knocking on doors, asking whether anyone wished to take up the offer of Christmas lunch with local parishioners. I said I was Muslim and that we didn't celebrate Christmas, but his reply was that his church welcomed foreign students of any religion, or none.
Through that encounter, I met many generous members of his Methodist congregation, all of whom welcomed me warmly into their church and were kindness personified. My experience of their particular brand of Christian faith, and their infinite care, fellowship, and support while I was a student and beyond, left a deep and lasting impression.
I then saw Christianity from a completely different perspective by spending a month with Sisters of the Cross and Passion in their Yorkshire convent, and several months with the Jesuit Fathers at their House of Studies in North Wales. This came about due to my literary PhD studies of faith and doubt, as my supervisor felt I should have a first-hand experience of daily life in holy orders.
These were wonderful experiences, and interestingly, those nuns and priests were among the most tolerant Christians I have ever met. They knew I was in the throes of questioning my personal faith, but they never tried to influence me in any way, and my abiding memory is one of pure respect, warmth, kindliness, and genuine regard. It certainly shed a new light on the Catholicism so often criticised by my staunchly fundamentalist friends. Fresh from this immersion in the life of those in holy orders I was lit from within with the fire of the personal relationship with Jesus Christ for which I had been craving all my life. Christianity was answering my deepest spiritual needs.
In 1977, I returned home from Nottingham to Tehran with my precious doctorate. That year I shared a flat with a British girl who introduced me to the Persian Anglican Church. My parents weren't enthusiastic about my church attendance, but were gracious enough to accept my spiritual search.
From the moment I entered St Paul's Church in Tehran, hearing the familiar Anglican liturgy in both English and Farsi, I felt a great weight lifting from my shoulders. I had been contemplating Christianity as an outsider for twenty years, and I had finally found an environment that answered my spiritual needs and still retain my Persian heritage.
From its inception this small Persian church, a member of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, had maintained its very Iranian essence despite western influences, and that was its strength. The Tehran congregation had both Persian and English speakers, so divine service was held in both languages. The Episcopal Church, which is the 'broad' or middle way (via media) between Roman Catholicism and Reformed Protestantism suited me perfectly. I had found my spiritual home.
My eventual 'Road to Damascus' moment was not dramatic, but silent as morning dew. One day I awoke and just knew. God is a tremendous and patient Lover, and the Holy Spirit had been seeking me for a long time. When the call finally came it was the easiest decision ever, and a moment of pure joy. For me, going public would mean that life would not be the same again, and my family would encounter criticism for having nurtured an apostate. However, it was unerringly the right decision at the right time.
On a beautiful spring morning in May 1978 I was baptized and confirmed at St Paul's Church in Tehran by Hassan Dehqani-Tafti, our Persian Bishop, himself a convert from Islam. Christ had sought me and had waited patiently for 20 years, but I was finally His.
Farifteh V Robb is the author of In the Shadow of the Shahs: Finding Unexpected Grace, out now from Lion Books priced £9.99.
Originally from Christian Today
CCD reprinted with permission.
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