Majid was born in Tehran and was just eight years old when the Iranian Revolution erupted in 1979. Over the next eight years, the upheaval claimed the lives of eight of his brothers and sisters. His mother and one remaining sister survived but were imprisoned. \u201cEveryone I loved died or was killed or taken to prison,\u201d Majid writes. At 19, as his father succumbed to Alzheimer\u2019s, Majid was consumed by anger and thoughts of revenge, blaming the Shah, Ayatollah Khomeini, and the revolutionaries for his family\u2019s suffering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overwhelmed by grief and rage, Majid attempted to end his life by crashing his car in the hills outside Tehran. Miraculously unscathed, he stood at the edge of a valley and cried out, \u201cWhy did you take everything from me? \u2026 I cannot love all these people who killed my family. Can you kill them all?\u201d In that moment, he experienced a vision: \u201cI saw thousands of people praying for their enemies instead of fighting. From that moment, the hate inside me began to weaken. From that moment, \u2018Somebody\u2019 took me and helped me, though I was still very confused.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2009, his surviving sister-who had endured torture and imprisonment before escaping to the United States-reached out to him, setting the stage for the next chapter in his journey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During that time, Majid\u2019s mother took him to an English class at a local church. Then one Sunday he went to the church service. He watched as the pastor and church members began to pray for the people of Iran. Majid thought, \u201cThe Iran that teaches \u2018death to America\u2019 and wants to kill your citizens and neighbors. And you pray for them? Thousands of people praying for their enemies, showing love instead of hate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Standing in the back of that church, he started crying. He finally understood that he could know God and know peace. He was baptized and began reading the Book of John and he thought, \u201cthis is my life on the page. I am the one lost sheep whom he went out to find.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3414,3517,3558,3689,3921,4010,4088,4089,4123,4124,4173,4174,4179,4285,4397,4399,4400,4509,4537,4541,4615,4906,5139,5260],"tax_ctp_topics":[],"class_list":["post-66731","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-anger","tax_ctp_tags-born-again","tax_ctp_tags-changing-lives","tax_ctp_tags-conversion","tax_ctp_tags-experiencing-god","tax_ctp_tags-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-grace","tax_ctp_tags-grace-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-hate","tax_ctp_tags-hatred","tax_ctp_tags-human","tax_ctp_tags-human-anger","tax_ctp_tags-human-forgiveness","tax_ctp_tags-islam","tax_ctp_tags-love-for-enemies","tax_ctp_tags-love-of-christ","tax_ctp_tags-love-of-god","tax_ctp_tags-muslim","tax_ctp_tags-new-birth","tax_ctp_tags-new-life","tax_ctp_tags-peace","tax_ctp_tags-seekers","tax_ctp_tags-testimony","tax_ctp_tags-war"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"\n