My name is A.L. (name withheld because of security concerns). I was born and raised in Algeria, a Muslim nation.
From childhood I learned to follow religious ritual, though I did not understand the meaning of it, I made prayers and fasted and did what everyone else around me was doing. Though I did these things, I did not believe in them. I was a Muslim, but empty, because my religion did nothing for me. I was far from knowing the Living God.
At a young age I had bad friends and started causing trouble. At first I was just having fun, but as time passed it became serious. I robbed, shoplifted, sold drugs and even used drugs so I’d have the courage to assault people.
My life was very unstable. I gave in to my flesh and was extremely aggressive. One look was enough to set me off. Everyday I’d have to fight with someone. I became an alcoholic, and under the influence of alcohol and drugs I would start fights with groups of people. Even after getting beaten up, I’d be ready to start all over again the next day. I would never admit to defeat. That was my life: addictions, violence and crime. Every morning I’d wake up with a disfigured face, covered in cuts and bruises.
My life no longer made sense. So I decided to leave my family and travel to a deserted place to meet with a terrorist group, because I was eager to give up everything and start ending the lives of others. A few weeks passed and, amazingly, I could not get in contact with them. Then something happened, I found a Bible that someone had left. At first I hesitated to open and read it (touching a Bible in my country is considered a curse). When I finally did, the words were like slaps to my face. So I stopped doing certain things, like stealing and assaulting people, but was still addicted to alcohol and cigarettes.
I sought the truth deep within myself. I wanted to change my life. At the age of 31 I decided to go to France, thinking that if I moved to another country my life would change, but instead it got even worse. Life in France was not what I thought it would be. I went back to doing everything I had given up: assaults and robbery.
One day, on my way home from an assault, I got hurt. I was drunk and the person I had just robbed let me take everything except the cross around his neck. I tried all I could to get it off his neck, but could not. On my way home, in the subway station, I remembered the Bible I had found in Algeria. As I was thinking about it, I fell onto the subway tracks, which had an electrical current running through them. Nobody saw me fall. But as I was being electrocuted, I thought about God and a powerful force somehow got me off the tracks and I escaped death. I was hospitalized for 7 days.
One day, while I was out with a friend, he gave me a magazine that someone from the Church had given him. I read testimonies of people who had had the same problems that I had, and that caught my attention. So I decided to go to the church. I took part in Chains of Prayers and Campaigns of Israel because I wanted to walk with God.
During that period of my life, I began to change. I was set free from the evil inside of me, was baptized in water and received the Holy Spirit. I was transformed! I am no longer the same man. My character is totally different today. I’m not violent and do not have any addictions. I am happy and I enjoy life. I serve God as an assistant, I find great pleasure in speaking about Jesus to others, and my desire is to give up everything and serve my Lord wherever He desires.
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