Being able to love your enemies and pray for them is a sign of spiritual maturity for a Christian. A testimony of what such prayer can accomplish gives us strength and encouragement to practice this principle. In this episode, you will hear a story of a former Palestinian terrorist, now a devout Christian, who reshaped his life through the power of God's love. His unique experiences and perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are truly compelling, shedding light on the struggles of Palestinians while also highlighting the transformative potential of love and faith. In our discussion, we shift gears to examine role of the church as the bridge builders and peace makers.
Thanks for listening! Visit our website rfwma.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram! Help us make more inspiring episodes: https://rfwma.org/give-support-the-podcast/
Being able to love your enemies and pray for them is a sign of spiritual maturity for a Christian. A testimony of what such prayer can accomplish gives us strength and encouragement to practice this principle. In this episode, you will hear a story of a former Palestinian terrorist, now a devout Christian, who reshaped his life through the power of God's love. His unique experiences and perspectives on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are truly compelling, shedding light on the struggles of Palestinians while also highlighting the transformative potential of love and faith. In our discussion, we shift gears to examine role of the church as the bridge builders and peace makers.
Thanks for listening! Visit our website rfwma.org and follow us on Facebook and Instagram! Help us make more inspiring episodes: https://rfwma.org/give-support-the-podcast/
Speaker 1:
What if you had a guide who could tell you how to bridge a gap between who you are today and who you are destined to be? What if, each week, you could hear a story of someone who has tried and succeeded, or perhaps tried and failed but learned something in the process? Limitless Spirit is a weekly podcast where host Helen Todd interviews guests about topics and personal stories on defining life's purpose, pursuing personal growth and developing a deeper faith in Christ.
Speaker 2:
Welcome to another episode of the Limitless Spirit podcast. I'm your host, helen Todd. I was supposed to be in Israel today with our wonderful ministry partners in Northern Galilee, but the rockets are flying over northern Israel today and I'm here in the United States doing another episode devoted to what is happening in Israel and how we, the body of Christ, can help. In the previous episode, I interviewed an Israeli Christian pastor who gave his perspective on the situation and how the church can pray for his country. Today, I want to bring in a perspective of a Palestinian Christian.
Speaker 2:
While the world leaders are choosing sides and making decisions about military and financial involvement and what to do with the refugees from Gaza, whom seemingly nobody wants, it is becoming very apparent that there are no earthly solutions to this conflict. This is the moment for the church to rise and take action. I want to share with you excerpts from an interview I did a couple of years ago with a Palestinian who once was a hater of Israel and an assassin for hire, until a series of events turned him into a completely different person. This story challenges you and I, and all the followers of Christ around the world, to use the means and the power given to us by Christ to bring peace. As you hear what Droght has said to become an assassin, what convicted him against committing murders and how he became one of the biggest supporters of Israel, you will see what is the only solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Speaker 3:
When we talk about radical Islam, that is, a person who is so devout to its faith, its religion. What I did when I went to fight for Yasser Arafat against Israel is because my family's homes were in Jaffa and they were uprooted from that and I hated to be called a Palestinian immigrant and rapist. And so I went to fight for my homeland and had nothing to do with Islam as a religion as much as it is a homeland. Yes, I was a Muslim and yes, I was not really a very devout Muslim. To begin with, I prayed when I had to, I went to mosque to show favor with them and respect to my dad, who was a devout Muslim. But so to say that I was fighting for my radical religion? No, I was not. That's not what I did. I fought for a homeland, for a freedom. Naturally, when I came to Christ, the whole picture changed, picture of understanding about the land. It all changed for me, and so to the positive, of course.
Speaker 2:
Let's focus on that. So when you signed up with PLO and you became the fighter, you were fighting for the land. So what was your perspective of what was happening in your land back then? Because this reflects, I'm sure, the feelings of many other Palestinians.
Speaker 3:
Oh yes, and you'll find that the homelessness feeling of many of all Palestinians and their longing to be. You know. I give you an example. The first time I went to Israel as a friend of Israel, you know what I did? The first thing I did, I bought on the ground and I kissed the ground.
Speaker 3:
I was never born in Tel Aviv. I was never born in Jaffa, with my family and my ancestors for centuries, I was born in the Gaza Strip, but the land in Tel Aviv, I felt like I'm home. Why did I feel that way? And that's something that I, you know, all Palestinians feel that way why we are born with it, we believe that it's our homeland and until we understand the Bible and know Jesus, that's always going to be the radical thought. Let me yeah, this can be called radical thought that I have to have a homeland. I cannot be homeless anymore, or a Palestinian immigrant, a refugee as we have been called in all of the Arab nations, you know, even though we are Arabs, but we are not accepted as natives of that land, no matter how long we live in.
Speaker 2:
And this is, I think, a very interesting aspect of the Middle Eastern culture and you can see it in the Bible too. But you see this in the Bible and I think that lands perspective to the Middle Eastern culture even today, that your roots where your ancestors people don't move in the Middle East, so your ancestral land is a huge, huge deal, and so that just really sheds the light on the situation.
Speaker 3:
And that's indeed, you know, in the land of Palestine, let's say, which is Israel today. If you look at the overall land, you will find that each area, each city, have their, their woman in particular. They wear a special type of colors and dress that identify her from that house, from that land, from that village, and so there is 127 different Palestinian costumes, woman costume or dresses that identifies them from where they are. So when they walk from Gaza to Jaffa, people in Jaffa know that she's from Gaza. You see what I'm saying.
Speaker 3:
That's how rooted we are to the land and this is something that God created. God is a loving and a just God, you know. We look at Ezekiel 47, for example, where the Lord redivided the land of Israel for the tribes of Israel and gave them all, each tribe, their portion. At the end of that chapter, at the 21st verse on to the end, the Lord instructed the private Ezekiel to tell the Israelites to give that the born or the aliens or the foreigners that are not Jews living in that land, an equal share of the land and to treat them as equal Israelites. You see, god, when he gave the land to Israel, he knew there would be other foreign people living in that land, so he wanted to make sure they have the same rights in that land too, and unfortunately, the evangelicals in general. They really overlooked that totally and I don't understand it, but that's what it is.
Speaker 2:
So let's continue with the stories. You signed up to fight for your land, and so what happened next?
Speaker 3:
The position when I was trained and I become a very aggressive fighter and my leaders noticed my leadership skills and so I was promoted continuously to eventually become a trained assassin and that job did not really suit me very well. I was not very comfortable because I studied the life of these victims. I get to know them more than they know themselves before I have to. And so when the last operation I had, that really broke the camel back Let me put it this way I went to the answer. I said I just don't want to do any job anymore. I prefer to go back to be a fighter. I still believe in my right to the land, but I don't want to do that kind of job.
Speaker 2:
So can you describe a little more? What does a trained assassin do, Like you had to? What did you do?
Speaker 3:
You studied the life of the person that you are going to kill. You get to know them more than they know themselves. Sometimes I was a perfectionist, even in my restaurant business. My employees hated me because I was so perfectionist in anything that I do and so knowing the people, that I have to finish at times, especially the last operation. This is very leader with a wife and two children and these two children. They would go outside to play soccer. I used to go out there and play soccer with them and then the time came where I had to take them out. I had to take the father out, not the family First of all, and that was the toughest, the hardest thing I've ever done in my life, because I loved these kids. I built a relationship and I didn't want to do it. But if I didn't do it, a person that's watching to make sure that I'm going to do it will finish me by the end of the year. So I had to do what I had to do and then eventually I said I don't want to do this anymore.
Speaker 3:
You know the Lord in Genesis 2 when he created Adam, and I was reading it for the first time in my life as a Middle Easterner at least me I've always visualized what I'm reading. So I visualized God Almighty in a form of a cloud on His knees, forming Adam with His own hands. And when he finished forming Adam from the dust of the earth, god bowed and he put. First he looked at Adam and he smiled. And then God bowed down and put His lips on Adam's nostrils and breathed into him the breath of life. Adam took him and become alive.
Speaker 3:
At that moment I was watching all of this, visualizing all of this. I was terrified. I went on my knees and I cried out to God say, take me back to the dust you made me from. I don't want to live anymore.
Speaker 3:
Because I was seeing the faces of people that I've taken out and I was really literally, honestly, asking God to take me back, to kill me, because of the sorrow that I have caused, that I've taken a life, that God have gone that far to make as a human. But God is in mercy, his love, he said, even though I have forgiven you. Yes, god forgave me, but at times it's hard. It's not something that I take lightly, it's not something that I forget lightly, something I live with and I know God forgave me. It is comforting, but the fact remains. I did this and so if anyone out there listening to this and have any idea or any thoughts of taking a human being, go to Genesis 2 and read how God, how far God will make us as a human. That will change your perspective, honestly, about who we are as human.
Speaker 2:
That is an incredible perspective. Here. I look forward to you speaking at the WMA conference and hearing more of your story. So we won't go into the details of how you became a Christian, but just after hearing this portion of your story, it makes me think how careful we must be as Christians when we look at a person with different religious beliefs, different political beliefs, maybe very extreme, maybe very violent beliefs. Maybe this person deserves our fear and hatred because they've killed others, committed other horrible crimes, but we must never forget that inside there is a person, a person just like you, that may have this point of revelation and a point of conversion, and so that's what I want to focus on in our interview today. Taz is how do we, as Christians, should pray for the Muslims, even for the most radical ones?
Speaker 3:
Yes, in our prayer meeting, the daily prayer meeting that we do every morning from 8 to 9, we have our team from Gaza, ex-suicide bombers, ex-fighters for Hamas that have come, have given their heart to Jesus and now are lovers of Jesus and lover of man, lover of Israel, and we pray at the days when Israel was and Hamas were fighting back and forth and bombing in Gaza. We are together, praying and we can see the house shaking from the explosion, but we are praying and we're praying for Israel also at the same time. A picture like that. You can never forget. That enemy is a human being that also deserves a prayer to be prayed for, whether it's a Muslim, whether it's a Jew, whether it's a Buddhist, whether it's a Hindu, no matter what our background is. They deserve our prayers for salvation. To those of us that are true God, I praise the Lord. I praise the Lord for taking me out of that darkness and show me the light to love my enemy and to pray for those who pursue future. You know, when I started reading the Bible in Matthew 5.9, the row was saying if blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God, oh, I jumped off my chair and I cried out Lord, please help me to be a peacemaker. I don't know how to be a peacemaker. I've always been a trouble maker and I was seriously crying out to God.
Speaker 3:
I went back to read further in Matthew. I get to Matthew 5.43 and 44. And I said it was said to you love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you. That minute, this, just minutes after, I was crying out to God to give me to be a peacemaker. No way I jumped off my chair. I screamed so loud, no way I'll never love them. They took my home and they made us homeless. I was telling them the Lord. I know the Lord was speaking to me. I know he was telling me to love my enemy. And I didn't even eat my enemies at the time still the Jews. And I was just crying. I don't want to do it. But then, in His grace and mercy, also whispered in my ear they have done more than that to me and I still love them. That just broke me. So before, if you love them, help me to love them, help me to love them. I cannot love them. I'm not sure enough.
Speaker 3:
Suddenly, I'm feeling passionate for the Jewish people, those that I hate it so passionately. Suddenly I'm loving passionately. I love Israel. I believe Israel has the right to this land. This is not something a man can make. This is a true God.
Speaker 3:
And so how do we pray? What do we think about Muslims and how to reach them? We still love them Wherever they are, whatever they are. Love them, build a relationship, understand their culture wherever they are from, because a Pakistani culture is different than a Saudi culture. So you have to understand what country he's coming or she's coming from in order to reach them and build that relationship. And I love God to do the rest. You don't have to preach the gospel to them. Just be their friend and God will do the different. That's what he did with me.
Speaker 3:
I didn't come to Jesus seeking Jesus or anything. It's because a man who loved me for years and treated me like a human being, with respect and dignity, when I was a poor guy, I needed a rich man, but yet he never showed me the difference in our standard of living, and that when the God's time came, he was trying to tell me that Jesus was the Son of God and God to forget it. That is a blasphemy, I don't believe it. And I was going to run out and he said just hold him in it. And he went and brought his Bible and he said it right next to me. It was so close to my thigh. I felt some power in that. I jumped away, physically jumped away from the Lord, god and the man. He said so you believe this is the Lord of God? Now, as a Muslim, I don't believe that. But that moment I said yes. Why did I say the Holy Spirit to the group? And I went and heard it to me from the Bible the word of God become alive. And suddenly I found myself on my knees crying out to God. That's what I'm trying to say Let God do what God do. Let us do what God told us to do Love those people, show them acceptance and dignity and respect, and God will do the rest. They will ask, they will come eventually, ask why do you love us so much? I remember right after September 11th this is a story, a really important story.
Speaker 3:
I was going through the United States doing evangelism to Muslims and in September 11th and a mega church friend Pastor called me. He said what are we going to do. Now the Americans are angry. They are on the street killing anybody that looks Middle Eastern, and I said, pastor, let me come back and see what's going on. So I go back.
Speaker 3:
I was in Seattle. The Muslims are terrified, living in their homes, cannot go outside, they are afraid, and now they are being shot on the street, whether it was in Seattle or Texas or whatever. The American people are angry, even Christians, I mean. They were not out there killing people, but they were angry, rightfully so. However, I said, pastor, those Muslims out there, you have neighbors around you. I think what we should do is take baskets, fruits and vegetables and take it out to their houses, right out their door, knock on their door, leave the basket and pick a basket back. They'll open the door, tell them this is for you and if you need any help, you need to go to the store, you need to do anything. We will be happy to help you. You know what happens Within a month. So many of those Muslims coming to the church, that church in particular. Why do you love us so much? We love.
Speaker 3:
Nazim and many of them gave their heart to Jesus, and when we are reconciled to the Father, it is easier to reconcile to each other. This is the word of the cross. There is nothing else. And I see so much normalization taking place between our Adi, abrahami, gatord and all of this Great work. But I look deeper into that picture and say, okay, is Jesus really in the center of this and this normalization? I see a lot of Evangelical, great Evangelical leaders, the moralization, the Muslims, and there is an accord that the Mecca Accord that is called, and the Muslims are basically changing a little bit to make themselves more modest.
Speaker 3:
Islam is the problem. It's not the Muslim people. You read the Quran. There is so much evil, so much in there. They are modifying it. And one of the teachings of the Quran is when you are in weak position, make peace until you are strong, and when you are strong, you slaughter them, unless they came to be Muslims.
Speaker 3:
So when we see those Evangelical leaders at the normalization yeah, this is what I want to do, but I wanted to keep Jesus in the focus. I'm not gonna speak and, yes, I will show my love, my respect and everything, but they have to understand the reason I am doing what I'm doing. The reason I love them the way I love them the Jews in particular, after hating them passionately is because of what Jesus did in my life. There's nothing else, nothing else, and so my advice to the Evangelical leaders around the world that are really working is your focus at the center is Jesus, and you're making that clear, then yeah, that's great, and so it is all about God, it is about Jesus. If this work is not about him, it's gonna fail, and the Bible is so clear about the time of peace. Peace, who is behind that? Is that Jesus? Behind that? I pray Greatly my team and myself daily for that. It is God. I want to see that peace taking place, but without Him being in the focus, I cannot say.
Speaker 2:
There are over 4,000 religions in the world today, but only one calls you to pray for your enemy. You know, in Psalm 109, 12-13, david prays about his enemies. He says Let there be none who extend him loyal love, nor any who pities his orphans. Let his descendants be cut off. Let their name be blotted out in the next generation. But Jesus, in Matthew 5.44, says Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Speaker 2:
I love what Taz said in the interview. Let God do His work and let us do what he told us to do. We do not fight wars as the world fights them. Church, we rise by going down to our knees as God's people, called by His name, who humble themselves and pray and repent for our own wickedness and the wickedness of world leaders, and seek His face and act in His love Instead of hating. Try love Instead of debating. Try love Instead of accusing. Try love and watch God do His work. You know God gives us an opportunity every day to try His love on the people who oppose us.
Speaker 2:
Join me next week for another episode. In the meantime, please consider supporting this podcast by going to our website, rfwmaorg slash forward give. This podcast is broadcasted in many countries around the world. Some of these countries, this is the only opportunity for people to hear anything about God and about Christ. World Missions Alliance had to cancel the trip to Israel, but our mission around the globe continues and if the Great Commission is on your heart and you want to share Jesus with people around the world, on our website, rfwmaorg, you will find many opportunities for you to get involved through going, giving and praying. Until next time, I'm Helen Todd.
Speaker 1:
Limitless Spirit Podcast is produced by World Missions Alliance. We believe that changed lives change lives. If you want to see your life transformed by Christ's love, or if you want to help those who are hurting and hopeless and discover your greater purpose in serving Christ through short-term missionary work, check out our website, rfwmaorg, and find out how to get involved.