Profile by Carolyn Stent ...She longed for assurance that she would go to heaven.

Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Send mail to The Voice Muslim girl walks toward the light Gelayol Soltani Haddon helps Colin Goodson, a junior, during the speech lab she teaches at Multnomah. -Tess Chierici, photo Late one evening, Gelayol Soltani stood on the beach and watched waves roll over each other. Born and raised a Muslim, she had agreed to attend the church youth retreat because it sounded fun. Now, as she reflected on the speaker's message, she longed for some assurance that she would go to heaven. It's too late, she thought. According to the Koran, she had lost her chance for heaven when she sinned after turning 9 years old. Glancing up, she watched a group of Christians from the retreat who were bathed in moonlight. The light seemed to say "It's not too late for you." Soltani turned her back on the darkness and walked toward the light. In 1985, when Soltani was 9, her family left Iran because her parents disagreed with the existing Islamic regime. After living in Turkey and then Austria, they arrived in Seattle, Wash., in 1987. "The Lord had mercy on my family and placed believers in our path," Soltani said. Believers like the Brannen family who lived down the street and had a heart for Muslims. They invited the Soltani family over for meals and included them in family activities. In frequent discussions about religion, the Brannens held strongly to their belief that Jesus was the Son of God. Soltani sensed tension in the room as the discussions angered her father. The following week, the Brannens would invite the Soltani family over for a barbecue or brunch. "I remember thinking these people are crazy," Soltani said. The Soltani family also met Bah-ram, an Iranian Christian who had converted from Islam 10 years earlier. "For awhile my Dad just thought he was brainwashed," she said. When Soltani's family moved to Bellevue, Wash., they met a Persian believer. She took Soltani to church. Soltani, who had visited Catholic churches, was disappointed. "There were no nuns, the pastor had a suit on, there was no crucifix or pictures," Soltani said. She returned home determined not to go again. But the Persian woman had other plans. One day she arrived at the Soltani's home and told them she had registered Soltani and her brother for a youth retreat. "Let's go; it's a free vacation," Soltani told her brother. While at the retreat, Soltani listened to the high school kids sing about God. She saw high school boys on their knees praying. "God used [the first sermon I heard] to show me that this God of Christianity is different from the god I'd been following," Soltani said. "This is a God of power. "I still thought this was the God of America," Soltani said. "Jesus was one of the five prophets I prayed to every night." She started visiting Sunday school and a youth group on Sunday nights. Her parents allowed her to go, relieved that she wasn't becoming involved in the rock culture. At one youth event, the pastor challenged the students to read the Bible and pray five minutes every day. Soltani started reading in Genesis. As she prayed, she continued to mention the names of several prophets until one night the Holy Spirit clearly told her she should pray in one name only, the name of Jesus Christ. "I chuckled and thought, only one prophet?" Soltani said. "You won't have enough power." She tried praying only to Jesus for one week. "My prayers were 'I want a pair of Keds,' and 'I want these Guess jeans.' I started getting everything I prayed for. It was crazy," Soltani said. Each time the pastor called people to come forward for prayer during the Sunday morning service, Soltani walked down the aisle. "Jesus was answering my prayers. I was saying, 'Don't forget about me; I'm your follower,'" she said. However, no one explained the plan of salvation to her until Billy Graham held a crusade in Seattle in the summer of 1991. She and her mother attended together. They stood and walked to the front when Graham made the altar call. "For the first time I had two counselors who made it clear to me what was happening," Soltani said. "It made sense." Soltani and her mother both accepted Christ. Bahram, their friend who was also a counselor at the crusade, told them about an Iranian fellowship. There they heard God's word in Parsee, their mother tongue, for the first time. "Reading the Bible in Parsee was like eating a meal after you've been starving for the past 15 years of your life," Soltani said. They also often attended English Sunday morning services at Overlake Christian Church, the church where the Iranian fellowship met. Although Soltani's father only visited the Iranian fellowship once, he accepted Christ as a result of friendships with other believers. In December, 1991, Soltani and her parents were baptized. "I began to see who this God of Christianity is," Soltani said. "Not a God of America but the God of the world." Gelayol Soltani, 25, is a senior at Multnomah Bible College. This summer she married Brian Haddon. Back to Table of Contents | Back to Main Index Previous Profiles | Top Of Page Send mail to The Voice| Journalism department website © 2001 The Voice. No part of this publication may be reproduced in written or electronic form without prior written consent from the journalism adviser of Multnomah Bible College. All rights reserved.