I am Kurdish, and I come from a non-Christian background, but my family never really practiced our religion, but my parents raised us to be good people and do the best we can in our community. Growing up, I had a lot of anger towards God because I blamed Him for the passing of my father when I was young. I have 7 sisters and 4 brothers. Being the youngest of my family, and after all my sisters were married, I ended up taking care of my ailing mother. At that point in my life, I felt like I had nothing that was mine except my education, so I spent many hours reading and studying. In college, I met my now husband, Fawzi [also an ABTS Student], whom I married in 2016. Fawzi had come to Christ one year into our relationship, but I could never accept his God. When the war started, I was still early into my college education. I had to suspend my studies and move back to Afrin. In 2017, Fawzi was conscripted into the Kurdish forces. Shortly before the end of his term, there was a large-scale attack on Afrin, and we lived a brutal war for 65 days during which I would often lose contact with Fawzi. One day, he told me about a mission he was assigned, and I just felt that he was going to his death, so out of desperation, I started to pray. I couldn’t call God Lord, so I would say “Fawzi’s Lord, please bring my husband back”. When Fawzi came back, he told me that he was happy because he knew I was praying for him and that I had accepted Christ.

Shortly after the attack, Fawzi and I were left without a home, and we escaped to Lebanon to seek refuge where I continued to struggle with my faith until I was finally baptized in 2019. Today, Fawzi and I serve through the Resurrection Church – Beirut. I pastor many Arab families – some of whom were part of the attack on Afrin. The online Certificate in Ministry program helped me learn a lot about my faith and my Lord. This is why I am insistent on continuing to study theology, because I want to continue to grow to new depths of knowledge of the Lord and His word.