A story ... a murder ... and God's forgiveness
How Did I Get out from the Abyss of Evil?
Source: WCC >> Evangelism Blog
I received a letter from a prisoner in Hong Kong who I shall call Jimmy. So far he has served ten years of a prison sentence for ‘a very serious crime.’ This is Jimmy’s story in Jimmy’s words.
I am still serving imprisonment since I committed a very serious crime I am not yet released even after more than ten years. In these years, I have met many people who committed different kinds of crime we shared our story and I know their reasons … I am even worse than them, because those people (rapists, thieves, robbery, drug related criminals) did not harm their families. I did. The tragedy happened when my mother-in-law intervened in my marital problems with my wife. I began to treat her as my enemy and forgot about her kindness towards me. In verbal and physical conflicts, I was very bitter and violent to her; and eventually, I murdered her. I was very scared. But at that moment, I was scared of the consequences of what I had done. Later on, I regretted that I not only took her precious life away, but also brought extreme sadness to my wife and her family.
Since I am imprisoned, many church volunteers, pastors and priests have come to visit me. The most precious thing is the gospel of the salvation of Jesus Christ about which they told me. They brought me a Bible and some booklets to help me to understand. Some (of them) were once criminals who were very helpless to get out from sin themselves; but after believing in Jesus, they did not think about committing crimes and began to have so much joy of being free from sinful thoughts. Their testimonies showed me that there is a God, who is righteous and merciful. I was touched by His love and decided to believe in Jesus as my Saviour. The more I attend the fellowship meeting (in prison), the more I understand God’s love, and the more I love God. From the Bible I learn that God created us after His likeness (Gen 1:27), which means every human being has the image of God. Since I love God, I should love every human being who has God’s image. Because of this thought, I don’t want to hurt anybody. I regret all my wrong behaviour which hurt others. Now I have the joy when I don’t think about revenge and cursing others; I have the peace when I put my trust in God and fear Him. These changes in my heart give me so much freedom. When I have problems with others, I will solve them rationally; ask for help from people and God. I will also forgive people.
Since (being converted) I rarely miss any meeting and have understood more about God’s righteousness and mercy. I am so touched by God’s love and hence I can love others. I realized how important it is to nurture my spiritual life through reading the Bible and listening to sermons and testimonies. Then I begin to give thanks to God and be filled with joy. I have learnt to love others as a way to love God. Because of this godly love, I am sensitive to others’ feelings and I am concerned about hurting people by my words and deeds. I also understand how terrible sin is and the importance of confession. Because of this godly love, I surely know that I have walked out from the abyss of evil.
Source: WCC >> Evangelism Blog
I received a letter from a prisoner in Hong Kong who I shall call Jimmy. So far he has served ten years of a prison sentence for ‘a very serious crime.’ This is Jimmy’s story in Jimmy’s words.
I am still serving imprisonment since I committed a very serious crime I am not yet released even after more than ten years. In these years, I have met many people who committed different kinds of crime we shared our story and I know their reasons … I am even worse than them, because those people (rapists, thieves, robbery, drug related criminals) did not harm their families. I did. The tragedy happened when my mother-in-law intervened in my marital problems with my wife. I began to treat her as my enemy and forgot about her kindness towards me. In verbal and physical conflicts, I was very bitter and violent to her; and eventually, I murdered her. I was very scared. But at that moment, I was scared of the consequences of what I had done. Later on, I regretted that I not only took her precious life away, but also brought extreme sadness to my wife and her family.
Since I am imprisoned, many church volunteers, pastors and priests have come to visit me. The most precious thing is the gospel of the salvation of Jesus Christ about which they told me. They brought me a Bible and some booklets to help me to understand. Some (of them) were once criminals who were very helpless to get out from sin themselves; but after believing in Jesus, they did not think about committing crimes and began to have so much joy of being free from sinful thoughts. Their testimonies showed me that there is a God, who is righteous and merciful. I was touched by His love and decided to believe in Jesus as my Saviour. The more I attend the fellowship meeting (in prison), the more I understand God’s love, and the more I love God. From the Bible I learn that God created us after His likeness (Gen 1:27), which means every human being has the image of God. Since I love God, I should love every human being who has God’s image. Because of this thought, I don’t want to hurt anybody. I regret all my wrong behaviour which hurt others. Now I have the joy when I don’t think about revenge and cursing others; I have the peace when I put my trust in God and fear Him. These changes in my heart give me so much freedom. When I have problems with others, I will solve them rationally; ask for help from people and God. I will also forgive people.
Since (being converted) I rarely miss any meeting and have understood more about God’s righteousness and mercy. I am so touched by God’s love and hence I can love others. I realized how important it is to nurture my spiritual life through reading the Bible and listening to sermons and testimonies. Then I begin to give thanks to God and be filled with joy. I have learnt to love others as a way to love God. Because of this godly love, I am sensitive to others’ feelings and I am concerned about hurting people by my words and deeds. I also understand how terrible sin is and the importance of confession. Because of this godly love, I surely know that I have walked out from the abyss of evil.
Beirut by Night
Վարդանանց Ոգեկոչման Հանդիսութիւն Հայ Հոգեւոր Երեք Համայնքապետներու Հովանաւորութեամբ
Testimony of Kohar Apkarian
Dr. Seta Dadoyan on Rethinking the Armenian Experience in the Near East
On Thursday, March 22, 2012,Haigazian University hosted a lecture entitled “Rethinking the Armenian Experience in the Near East” at 7pm in the auditorium for this month’s Cultural Hour.
The guests were welcomed by Dr. Arda Ekmekji, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, who observed that the roots of the relationship between the Armenians and the Islamic world go back much further than the last century.
Being one of the most prominent scholars studying this relationship, Professor Seta B. Dadoyan was invited to speak in depth about her research, in particular in relation to her new book, “The Armenians in the Medieval Islamic World,” the first of a three-volume work and the culmination of twenty years of effort.
Dadoyan shared her appreciation for Haigazian University as an alumnus, saying it was a “big part of her research and her life.” With her background in philosophy, Dadoyan approached her research with the idea that the methodology and perspective were of primary importance. Thus her book is based on paradigms of interaction, taking specific and well-documented cases that contradict current ideas about Armenians and the Islamic world.
Dadoyan intends her research to be a launching point for further development in this “novel area” which has “a lot of room to build and reevaluate.” The vast majority of material on Armenian history has largely remained unstudied until now, she claimed. Dadoyan then moved into a discussion on her book, giving examples of paradigm cases that address such ideas as Armenian Christianity and dissenters. Adopting a holistic approach, Dadoyan determined to look at things from every angle, taking the good with the bad. She also emphasized the importance of using Arab sources, which are much more extensive than the Armenian ones.
Dadoyan concluded by giving several examples of historic Armenian-Islamic interactions, stressing that “there are so many connections to be made.”
The lecture was followed by a QA session and ended with some refreshments served outside.
The guests were welcomed by Dr. Arda Ekmekji, Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Science, who observed that the roots of the relationship between the Armenians and the Islamic world go back much further than the last century.
Being one of the most prominent scholars studying this relationship, Professor Seta B. Dadoyan was invited to speak in depth about her research, in particular in relation to her new book, “The Armenians in the Medieval Islamic World,” the first of a three-volume work and the culmination of twenty years of effort.
Dadoyan shared her appreciation for Haigazian University as an alumnus, saying it was a “big part of her research and her life.” With her background in philosophy, Dadoyan approached her research with the idea that the methodology and perspective were of primary importance. Thus her book is based on paradigms of interaction, taking specific and well-documented cases that contradict current ideas about Armenians and the Islamic world.
Dadoyan intends her research to be a launching point for further development in this “novel area” which has “a lot of room to build and reevaluate.” The vast majority of material on Armenian history has largely remained unstudied until now, she claimed. Dadoyan then moved into a discussion on her book, giving examples of paradigm cases that address such ideas as Armenian Christianity and dissenters. Adopting a holistic approach, Dadoyan determined to look at things from every angle, taking the good with the bad. She also emphasized the importance of using Arab sources, which are much more extensive than the Armenian ones.
Dadoyan concluded by giving several examples of historic Armenian-Islamic interactions, stressing that “there are so many connections to be made.”
The lecture was followed by a QA session and ended with some refreshments served outside.
