Testimony of Nazanin Baghestani

 Mrs. Nazanin Baghestani was born into a Zoroastrian family. Zoroastrian is an old religion worshiping nature originated in Iran. Her father and mother  were always at war with each other. They separated after seven years of marriage when Nazanin was 6 years old. Her mother was a nurse. She had to work day and night to support the family. Each night a friend or relative would come and spend the night with Nazanin and her sister, Nancy, who was a year younger than her. It was very difficult for Nazanin’s mother to take care of the children alone, as well as work. Therefore, in 1978, she sends them to India to live with their aunt. They were admitted to a Christian school. They lived in a boarding school. They also attended Bible classes every Friday night. One night, the Bible study leader, Mrs. Mary George, lead the group in the sinner’s prayer of repentance. It was at that time that Nazanin and her sister gave their life to our savior Jesus Christ. She continued to attend these classes and to learn more about God’s Word. In 1984, after graduating from high school, Nazanin retuned to Iran. During her absence, while she was in India, her parents reconciled. She resented the attention that her parents gave her younger siblings and began to rebel. Nazanin lived a life of rebellion for the next five years. Although she did not attend church after returning to Iran, she longed for fellowship with believers and kept contact with her teacher and friends in India. She’ll repent of her sin, and then would rebel again. One day, she became tired of her sinful life, and planned to run away from home. As she was packing her suitcase, God reminded her of His love. At that very moment, she knelt down, crying, and prayed. That was the beginning of a new thirst for God. She did not know of any churches or Christians in Iran, so she wrote to her sister, Nancy, who had stayed in India and got married to a minister. In her letter, she asked for church address in Iran and Nancy gave her the address of a church in Tehran. However, she could not find the church. Hence, she started to pray and read the Bible again on a regular basis. One Sunday in December 1988, after finishing work for the day, Nazanin decided to try to find the church. On that day she found the church so easily that she was sure it was a miracle. She went inside, it was a beautiful church  with a big wooden cross and very plain that surprised her. All the churches she had seen in Iran were full of pictures and statues. Nazanin was so exited to finally find a Persian speaking church in Iran that she was a changed person when she went home and her family saw the joy in her. Later on she started to attend the discipleships classes. She was baptized in May 1991, at the same church. Mrs. Nazanin and Mr. Elnathan met at the church and married on July 1991