More loving than ever
Shiites are a minority in Afghanistan. I was born to Shiite parents. They called me Hassan,
which means (nice, sweet, helpful) .
Until bleeding
When I was three years old, my father was murdered by the Taliban. My mother had to flee to
Iran, but she could not take me. I belonged to my uncle who was a Sunni. I would live there
for 5 years.
This was really the most terrible time of my life. My uncle beat me to bleeding. One day he
even smashed my skull, and I had no place where I could go where I could find peace.
On the run
Because I suffered brain damage, I can’t remember much of this period. My uncle was a
gambling addict and wasted a lot of money on it. When he was broke at one point, he decided
to use me as a prize. A brother of my mother saw how badly I was and helped me flee to my
mother in Iran. I was eight years old at that time.
By my mother
But finally, after much oppression, I would find peace with my mother in Iran. My mother
had a new husband in the meantime. It was time to build a new life together with him and my
mother.The new husband of my mother also had a daughter. He cared a lot for her, and saw
me as a threat to her. He put me away from home, away from my mother, and again I found
no rest.
Guilty
While I was wandering around Iran (Afghanistan was too dangerous for me) I heard that the
Taliban had been searching for my uncle. Because they did not find me, they took the
daughter of my uncle. To stay out of the hands of the Taliban, she committed suicide at the
age of twelve. My uncle still keeps me guilty for the death of his daughter.
Peace
My life was a mess; until something changed. When I was seventeen years old, I fled to the
Netherlands and ended up in an asylum seekers' center. Two Afghan people there took me to
the church: ICF Utrecht.
From the moment I arrived in the Netherlands, everything went better: I got the necessary
brain surgery, had no more headaches, and the people of the church treated me more lovingly
than anyone ever treated me before. But more importantly, in church I finally found peace. In
Jesus Christ. Who supports me and who is always with me.
