I Want To Follow Jesus

My name is Theodore Rasouli. I was born in Iran in 1994, and my early life was shaped by a quiet but persistent longing for God, a longing I did not fully understand until many years later. Although my birth name was Mohammadtaher, after my first baptism in March 2022, I took the Christian name “Theodore,” because I finally understood that my life itself was a gift from God.

Growing up in a Muslim family, faith was never forced upon me. My father was secular, my mother gentle and peaceful. But when I was about eleven years old, I watched The Jesus Film on a CD my father brought home. Something awakened in me that day. I was deeply touched by the compassion and purity of Jesus. Although I knew nothing about Christianity, I began speaking to Him silently in my heart.

As a teenager, I secretly wore a cross at school. When my headmaster saw it and tore it from my neck with anger, I realised for the first time how dangerous even an innocent expression of Christian curiosity could be in Iran. Still, the small flame of faith inside me did not fade.

In 2011, during university, I met a Christian friend who explained baptism and the Christian faith to me. For the first time, I said openly,

“I want to follow Jesus.”

But after speaking with his priest and family, he returned frightened. They warned that helping a Muslim-born Iranian convert could be life-threatening. My first attempt to follow Christ ended painfully, and my faith went underground again.

After moving to Tehran, I visited churches quietly, lighting candles and whispering the Lord’s Prayer. I searched everywhere for a Persian Bible, until in 2019, a man online sent me one. Reading the Gospel of John moved me deeply and stirred my longing for Christ again.

In 2021, I fled Iran and lived in Turkey without documents. Out of fear of being arrested or deported, I rarely left the house. During this time, I read the New Testament fully for the first time. In March 2022, through a WhatsApp video call, I was baptised by a ministry who reached out to me. That moment was meaningful to me, even though I did not yet fully understand Christian doctrine.

But soon afterward, I fell into a period of darkness. I drifted into atheism, struggled with alcohol, and fell into depression. One night, in despair, I walked to a bridge intending to take my own life. At that very moment, my brother called me unexpectedly. I now believe the Holy Spirit intervened. That phone call saved my life.

In 2024 I arrived in Greece and began visiting different churches. I longed for a faith that embraced truth, beauty, tradition, and reason—one that did not reject science or questioning. Then I discovered the Anglican Church. For the first time, everything made sense: the balance of Scripture, reason, and tradition; the beauty of liturgy; the honesty of the prayers.

In September 2024, I began attending St Paul’s Anglican Church in Athens, where I received patient and loving guidance. On Easter Vigil, 19 April 2025, I received my formal baptism under the Diocese in Europe of the Church of England. It felt like coming home after a lifelong journey.

In October 2025, I came to the United Kingdom and joined St Wilfrid’s Church in Grappenhall. I attend Holy Communion regularly, take part in the Psalms Study Group, and volunteer in the church’s gardening team. For the first time in my life, I worship freely, without fear, openly as a Christian.

Christ has carried me through danger, exile, doubt, and darkness. He is the Shepherd who found me when I was lost, the Light who guided me through the shadows, and the Hope who saved my life. I share my testimony to glorify Him alone.

Thanks be to God.