I grew up in Uzbekistan in a Muslim home. In Uzbekistan there is a majority of Muslims and the Christian faith is not very widespread. But in 9th grade I had my first encounter with Christianity. I was at school and during a math class I witnessed an argument between one of my classmates and my teacher. My classmate was a devout Muslim and my teacher a Christian. They were eagerly discussing whether Jesus was the son of God or not. I didn't know who this Jesus guy was. And I wondered a lot about the intense debate that was going on. I became very curious about what it was all about. Who was Jesus? What role did he play in my faith? I didn't get involved in the debate, but after class I went up to my teacher. She gave me an address of a church where I could find out more. With the address in hand, I went to look for the church. But I couldn't find it, so I never made it there.
Jesus found me
My teacher couldn't give me all the answers I was looking for. And I couldn't find the church building. Yet something started to happen in the time that followed. Jesus found me! At night, I started meeting Jesus in my dreams. I experienced that Jesus was calling me and he found me. It was absolutely crazy! Jesus is not limited to people or buildings. He is not dependent on whether I am able to find him. Jesus came to me.
At the age of 17, I had the opportunity to go to church again when I met a Christian girl at school who invited me along. This time she showed me the way to the church. There, in church, I accepted Jesus as my savior.
My older brother became a wild evangelist
At home, I couldn't help but share my experience with Jesus. He had become my savior and I had to share that with my family. I had many conversations with my older brother in particular. He was very curious about faith and after many conversations he became a Christian. Then a chain effect started. My older brother was a wild evangelist. He was passionate about telling others about his faith and he eagerly shared the gospel with my mom and other relatives.
My mother has been into the occult in the past, but Jesus made a very special impression on her. Just as I had experienced, my mother began to meet Jesus in dreams. One dream in particular was a landmark for her. In the dream, she experienced Jesus coming to her. He touched my mother's forehead and said to her: "You are my daughter". My mother was very touched by this experience and she then professed to be a Christian.
Belief in Jesus caused a rift in the family
As my brother started evangelizing to our relatives, there was a rift in the family. Not everyone wanted to hear about Jesus, let alone have anything to do with him. Aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and cousins wanted us to return to Islam and they kept putting more pressure on us. My father, who had initially been okay with our decision to follow Jesus, especially experienced this pressure. He was the head of the family and his relatives put a lot of pressure on him to make us return to Islam.
He increasingly distanced himself from my mother, mine and my brother's newfound faith. And gradually he actively tried to force us back to Islam. One day after my mother and I went to church, we found my father very angry at home. He was simply furious that we were defying him by practicing our faith. The anger developed into violence and he whipped my mother and me. Another time, after I had left home to go to university, I came home for a visit. My father was angry and he took my Bible from me and burned it. My father and I would often get into violent arguments, and my father would often end up throwing china at me.
The dispute over faith has divided my family. My older brother has left and today has little contact with the Muslim part of the family. The violent confrontations with my father have been particularly difficult for him. I really want to maintain a relationship with my family because I love them. I therefore try to avoid talking and discussing faith when I'm with them. On the other hand, at the university where I study, I find that I have more freedom to share the gospel. Here I don't have any emotional ties in the same way. But my fellow students are just as radical Muslims as my family, so I wonder how I dare to tell others about Jesus and stand up for what I believe in. I believe that it is God who equips me with courage and protects me - both in hard and easy times. In fact, I'm sure it is - because I couldn't do it on my own.
Nothing can change the fact that I want to live my life with Jesus, regardless of the social pressures that I experience, and I am sure that he will support me and guide me through it.
