Hezbollah Fighter Encounters Jesus

Afshin Javid has gone from identifying as a Hezbollah fighter to that of a child of God.

Now the head of Cyrus Call, a Christian ministry which aims to foster friendship between Persians and Jews, Javid sat down with CBN News to discuss his remarkable journey to faith.

This journey began in jail where he had an incredible encounter with Jesus Christ which forever turned his life around.

“I was on my way to the United States to convert Christians to Islam, and I had 30 illegal passports at that time. I was arrested and put in jail in Malaysia,” he recounted.

“I was a dedicated Muslim who not only prayed but read the Quran once every ten days cover to cover.”

Javid remembers the one day where his life was forever changed, the day he came face to face with the Messiah.

“One day, as I’m praying, a man appears in front of me – normal size, but his being shines like light. This light is not a normal light. This light carried identity in it. And you knew that he is holy, and instantly I knew I am not,” he recalled.

At this moment of desperate realization, he cried: “Forgive me, forgive me, forgive me.”

“And I didn’t think he will forgive me because he is just. Still, I felt a touch on my left arm, and he said, ‘I forgive you.’ And I felt the weight just lifted off me. And I knew I’m forgiven, but I don’t know how.”

“And I was confused. Still, I say, okay, I don’t understand. Only God can forgive, but you just forgave me. You are God, but you are a different God than the one I have studied about. This is not Allah.”

Inquiring as to whom this figure was, he asked, “So who are you that forgives me? And he said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’”

“I never thought the way is a person. The truth is a person, and life is a person, and all of them is the same person,” he explained.

“And I thought, That’s very powerful. It means a lot because as a Muslim, you pray ‘Show me there’s a straight path.’ And so the way is a direction. Truth is something you measure. Life is a source, but he claims to be all those three. I never thought the way is a person. The truth is a person, and life is a person, and all of them is the same person,” Javid explained.

“So I said, ‘I don’t understand what is your name?’ And he said, ‘Jesus Christ.’ And it was as if someone grabbed all my bones out of my body. I just fell like a piece of meat to the ground. And I just began to weep.”

Up until this point, hatred had filled Javid’s heart.

As someone who had been taught to live according to the dictates of the Quran, hatred for God’s people was commonplace.

“It’s like, you know, being colorblind, and then suddenly you see colors, and you realize the world is so much more beautiful than you ever thought.”

“And if you ask me what made the world so colorless, it’s the hatred, the anger that is in the heart of every Muslim. People say, ‘Why did you hate the Jews?’” Javid said.

“I had never met a Jew. I thought Hitler was a good man for doing what he did. He just didn’t finish the job. I don’t know why I hated them,” he stated.

“No Jew had ever done anything bad to me. God didn’t design us to hate; he didn’t design us to want to see someone dead. He did not design us for these things. These are designs of Satan. How do you think killing the people to whom God gave this land is going to please Allah? Jesus is not a God that celebrates when Jews are killed,” he explained.

Just last year, whilst in Israel with his organization, Cyprus Call, Javid was thrust into the middle of the conflict which broke out during the attack by Hamas on Israel.

During his time in the Holy Land, Javid met Sasha Ariev, the sister of one of the hostages Hamas had kidnapped during their attack.

Javid, now a transformed man, prayed with Sasha and told her, “There is absolutely no justification that can make any of this okay. No one should celebrate when one of the sons of Father Abraham is killing another.”

During the interview, Javid expressed his strong support for Israel, saying: “We are standing with all the Jewish people, with the people of Israel. And we are mourning the sorrow of their family members that have been lost, but also for the right of Israel to exist.”

At the end of his interview, Javid offered a prayer for peace amidst the ongoing conflict, seeking revelation and understanding among all involved.

“The creator of heaven and Earth, God Almighty. You love the world, the whole world, all the people of the world. So much that you sacrificed Jesus Christ so that we will not perish but have eternal life. I pray today that the revelation of Jesus Christ would go forth amongst the Muslims and the sons of Ishmael,” he prayed.

“Father, I pray that you would remember that covenant with Ishmael, that you would go forth because Ishmael is thirsty for the revelation of love, for the revelation of Jesus Christ, for the revelation of salvation. Father, I pray that there would be a hand of protection that would protect Isaac on every front, not only in Israel but all around the world. Give us visions, dreams, and wisdom to speak peace in this war, in Jesus’s mighty name I pray. Amen.”

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