סיימון סבאח
Peace,
My name is Simon Sabah, I am 42 years old. I was born into an Arab-speaking Christian family and grew up all my life in the German colony in Haifa. When I was a kid, I played football, and the neighborhood team included Jews, Muslims, and Catholics. I always thought the Jews knew only half the truth because they only read the Bible, and I thought the Catholics were idolaters because they kept mentioning Mary and wearing gold crosses. I did not know much about the Muslims so I thought they were completely lost.
I always thought I was the best of all my friends because my parents were Protestant.
At age 16, I went on a trip to a relative of mine in the United States. My relative was a community shepherd in charge of the youth and youth groups. We went on a trip with all the young people to a forest in California for a week, when every other young man gave his testimony - how he or she came to faith. After several days and several testimonies, I noticed something repeating itself - everyone who testified said, "I know Jesus, and Jesus knows me." I thought I had knowledge of Jesus, just as I had knowledge of the Queen of England — I know about her, but I have never met her, so I do not know her personally.
After a few days in the woods and hearing the testimonies, last night I felt unwell with what I know about Jesus. I felt like they were "working on me," that I was missing something about him and not really believing in him. That night we sat around the fire in the woods, I got up and left the group. I ran to my tent, which was deep in the woods, went into the tent, knelt down and prayed.
'Dear father, I do not know you, because I did not invite your son, Jesus, into my heart. Please enter, my lord, and be king over my life. '
At that moment I did not feel heat or cold, I did not feel hovering or flying, but at this given moment in my life, I knew I knew Jesus and he knew me.
I returned to my life in Israel and to high school. My life became a nightmare. On the outside I still did everything I used to do: with my friends, with the music, with the places we went together, but on the inside I did not want to do them. It ate me from the inside out and I would come home crying every night. Everything I did I did not want, and everything I wanted I did not.
One day, while I was playing football with the neighborhood team, three girls from Norway came and joined the game. One of them was very special. Whatever question I asked her about Norway or about herself, she always found a way to talk about Jesus. I asked, "How is the weather in Norway?" She said, "I will tell you about Jesus first." At the end of the conversation she told me that if I want to hear more about Jesus I am invited to the youth group of the "House of Elijah" on Friday at 19:00.
I asked her where it was and she said it was in the German colony. I was surprised, because we always lived in this neighborhood and I never heard of "Beit Eliyahu". When Friday came, I went to the address she gave me, and she was waiting for me outside the building and took me inside. When I went inside I knew it was God's plan to bring me to this community. All the young people sang hymns and I knew it was my place and my spiritual home.
Since I have been coming to the community every Saturday for almost 25 years,
Glorifies and glorifies the name of the wonderful Jesus, and studies with the congregation the Bible and the New Testament.
חזרה למנהיגי הקהילה