"I met a friend at the bus stop and he talked about Christ..."

My name is Alireza Noori. I am 18 years old. I was born in Tehran, Iran .

While I was in Tehran I went to school, also I was a part of the local football team and played for about 5  years. I come from a Muslim background. When I was in school I studied religion and it was mainly focused on Islam so I didn’t have any choice when it came to religion when I was in Iran.  

I came to England when I was 16 and since then I have been under the care of social services. I was trying to live a normal life, avoiding the normal difficulties such as language problems, cultural differences, not having many friends to support me and last of all having depression and anxiety in the new world. 

Then one day I met one of my friends who is called Martin at the bus stop and I talked to Martin a little about my life in the UK and Martin talked about Christ and Christianity briefly. After that I was curious to find out about what Martin had talked about and I did some research and read the Bible and other information on the Internet. Then after few months, I phoned Martin and asked him if he could take me to his church and show me around so I could see how it is.  

So I was coming to church for a while, then pastor Ryan asked me to have a one to one bible study. With a little help from Martin we had Christianity Explored, which teaches about Christianity in its basic details and Ryan gave the main explanation.

During  the Bible study I came to believe in Christ and trust in him, believing that Jesus came to save me from my sinful life, died for my sins and is risen again and by trusting in Jesus I have new chance. As it is written “I am the way, the truth, and the life no one comes to the Father but through me.” 

Since I have been in Christian community I have experienced a lot of good things: for example how everyone cares for each other, respects one another, the friendship between everyone , never judging one another - it is very hard and you do not see any of this if you are involved in Islamic community. 

As most of you know I am very new in Christianity and I wish to extend my knowledge about Christ and Scripture.                 

Alireza shared this testimony with Grace Baptist Church in Wood Green (www.gracebaptistchurch.org.uk) on Sunday, 05 March 2017. He was then baptised upon his profession of faith in obedience to the command of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ into the membership of the church. Please pray for his growth in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, for his perseverance by the Spirit's power, and for his ongoing witness to the gospel.