A New Life
Raha’s Story
I arrived in Liverpool 10 months ago; I live in a hostel. I am alone and loneliness was and still is one of my biggest fears in this migration. I was afraid of everything. One of the other residents in the hostel who was also Muslim gave me the address of the church 10 months ago.
I come from a country where the church is viewed as place of sin and corruption, and a Christian is an infidel. When I became a Christian in Iran, I had to keep it a secret. I couldn’t say words or show behaviour that would make them suspect. Our church was held at home completely secretly. Otherwise, I would be sent to the IRGC intelligence police. In Iran, Christians are arrested, imprisoned and then sentenced to death.
When I entered the Tab church for the first time, I saw that there was a celebration and the first person I saw was Jack who had set a contest for the children and was playing. When I entered the church, it was like a dream for me, seeing the church and the members of the church was like a dream that I saw when I was awake. I felt a sense of peace, a sense of my own home, neither stress nor fear, I was completely relaxed. Despite the amnesia I have, I remember all the moments of the church.
Since I came to the church freely and without any fear, the feeling of being alive strengthened in me, because in Iran, the right to be alive, the right to worship the true God in the church, was taken away from me. In Iran, they called me an infidel, but I am not an infidel. After years of living in darkness and confusion, I found the true path, I found the true God who is kind and loving, and Christ himself accompanied me and watched over me till I reached this country, where I can worship God freely. The church members love me like their family, they love me very much, and I love them very much.
I was baptized in the church on the 11th of September 2022 by my dear and kind brother Jack and sister Fliss.
Leaving family members, home and homeland is a lot for any person, but when you find your true God in a life full of ambiguity, injustice, bigotry and cruelty, it’s like a dead person who comes back to life and starts a new life. This is what has happened to me.
