Arkan: I was born the son of a non-

Christian Iraqi. My father was alcoholic

and my parents eventually separated.

I was raised by my mother as a

Catholic. I went to a French Protestant

School. Bible class was my favorite.

When I was eight years old, I served as

an altar boy at the church, but when I

became 12 years old, I stopped going to church all together.

At 14 years of age, and as I was going through some

boxes of books, I stumbled on a King James Bible, and

thought at first that it was a poetry book, because of the

old English. Much later I discovered that the Bible had

been one of the many things stolen from my grandmother's

house during the war, and returned by a family

friend who'd bought it off a street vendor. When I started

reading it, I realized that it was a Bible. Led by God, I read

the Sermon on the Mount, and I understood some its implications.

I knew at that point God existed for sure, because

no one could speak like Jesus unless someone perfectly

good was behind it.

At 17, I would read the Gospels and go across the street

and discuss them with non-Christians. I wasn't committed

to Jesus yet, but I loved His words. When I was 19, I was

invited to a Baptist meeting. I finally went, and loved the

fellowship there. In university, I was discipled and

mentored by the chaplain. The following summer, I went

to an evangelistic church meeting, and that night I committed

myself to Christ. This was in summer 2001.

I've been preaching the good news of God since I was

saved, because I could not contain the amazing gift from

God. I wanted to spread it all around me. Since I met my

wife, we have been sharing Christ together with people

we meet. We have lead 6 home groups & many Bible

studies.

ABTS prepares Arab men and women

for vocational Christian ministry in church & mission

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