From childhood, Ramin was taught to despise Israel, following teachings that glorified violence and promoted the idea that the greatest honor was to become a shahid, a martyr willing to die for the cause. At school, he was made to chant “Death to Israel” and “Death to America,” without fully understanding the meaning behind these words. Yet, even as a child, something in his heart questioned the reality he was being taught.
At the age of sixteen, Ramin was arrested and tortured by the Iranian regime. That experience became a turning point. He began to question the purpose of life, justice, and truth, studying the Quran and Hadith critically, comparing the actions of leaders and extremist groups with the teachings he was receiving. He discovered that many acts of violence he witnessed were rooted in interpretations of religion that contradicted justice and compassion.
Desperation and loneliness led him to seek answers beyond the ideology in which he had been raised. Through illegal satellite radio and television broadcasts, Ramin first heard about Yeshua and God’s love for every person. At first, he doubted and rejected the idea, but his open heart led him to pray, seeking a personal answer. The experience was life-changing: he felt peace, joy, and a love he had never known before.
His conversion did not just transform his life; it changed the lives of his family. His mother and several siblings found faith in Yeshua, leaving the religion that had oppressed them for years. Ramin recounts how faith opened a path for inner reconciliation and allowed him to forgive even those who had persecuted him.
After years as a refugee in Turkey and the United States, Ramin finally settled in Israel with his wife, a Jewish Israeli woman. Even before the war broke out, he sought ways to bless his new country: cooking and delivering meals to soldiers, showing through actions that love and compassion can overcome any inherited hatred.
Ramin’s testimony is a powerful example of how God can transform a human heart. Let us pray that God reveals Himself to the people of Iran and to countless others who follow ideologies of death and violence, changing their hearts as He did with Ramin. May they come to experience His love, His peace, and find the path to Him.
As it is written in Isaiah 49:6: “I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.”