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 Graphic/Media Coordinator
My Life Story
I was born in Los Angeles to a wonderful, God-fearing Egyptian couple. Though born in the States we spent no substantial time there; we spent most of my life as residents of Kuwait. Growing up as a middle-class, son-of-Egyptians amongst the affluent society of Kuwait bore it's challenges. My desires were for what everyone else had and I was tremendously under-appreciative of all I had. Thankfully, my parents brought me up in the church, diligently teaching me the fear of the Lord through their speech as well as their conduct, so my poor attitude was always combatted by their discipline.
Though I found myself growing up in the church, memorizing scriptures, singing songs, reading the word, and praying often, my spiritual state was far from authentic and the Jesus I knew satisfied only a portion of my life that I now vaguely recall. My religion seemed to be well set in place but my life outside of the church was less than favourable. I was the typical "loser"; picked on and beat up relentlessly. Naturally, this would chisel away at any godly foundation that once existed. However, in grade five one my teachers spoke to me about Christ and strived to bind my heart to the richness of who He is, as best he could. As such, I made my first profession of faith, declaring Jesus as Lord of my life and that I needed Him more than anything. Then my whole life changed…for about a day. Not too long after that I found myself getting lost in the slime of worldly influence, indulging myself in the pleasures that suddenly became so easily attainable; none of which were healthy in the slightest.
At the age of fifteen my parents insisted on moving to Canada, due to a dream my father had. I thought this was absolutely ludicrous; mainly because I'd just made friends that year as I'd crept my way into the "cool crowd". Regardless of my bitterness and anger toward my parents and this country, I found myself making "friends" with people here and soon enough I was hanging out with the "cool kids" again. These people and the actives we partook in kept me a hefty distance from the church; in no time Jesus was nothing but an insurance plan that sat useless beneath the rest of my life. During this time I'd been approached to join a rock band. After months of writing we began to play shows and my music career began to take off. This brought to my eyes and heart a new attraction; another thing captivating any attention I could pay to the Lord. The prospect of being famous captured my heart, though I'd never admit it because I believed myself still a humble Christian who would dare not boast.
Well, this life continued to escalate favourably and I was enjoying every second of it. But after years of being completely consumed by the music scene, I found it starting to become much less appealing than I had initially anticipated. My desire for drugs and alcohol began to wear off and the general stench of sin began to aggravate and sadden me. During this time my brother had been rescued by God's truth and had began to serve with a youth group. He invited me out to church numerous times and I resisted. Finally, I was convinced maybe it would be worth a visit. I don't recall what I was thinking when I went to this church, but I do remember leaving and thinking, "maybe it's time to get things together…" Shortly thereafter I put everything I trusted in on the line, left the band and began to attend a church in Mississauga and served at the church my brother served at. A year passed by quickly and I found my self seeing more and more joy in the people around me and came to realize that though I've been serving and attending a church for a year, I didn't have the joy these people had…and I wanted it. This realization left me with a nausea intolerable and an anxiety I'd never felt before. For two weeks I remained in this state yet sought the Lord more diligently than I even had at that point. Yet even so my heart grew harder and I saw no response from God. After those two weeks I found myself yet again serving at the church, still with a hard heart and not understanding what this nausea was that would not relent. As I tore down for the night, I found my soul restless and in a fit of frustration, I let out a yell and left the building. I ran out, leaned on my car, sighed, then proceeded to cry…for a long while. I found no better position for me to be in than to drop to my knees as that moment was the pivotal moment where my heart began to truly change. Within a few minutes of this I found myself surrounded by people singing, praying, and rejoicing in the Lord for His strong hand and changing work in my life. From then on the nausea escaped me, addictions ceased to exist, and my life has never been the same. God revealed Himself to me in His word and His grace was outpoured in a way I'd never realized was possible. Convictions cut deep, His word was more delicious, and the world was not enough to satisfy me anymore. This led me to let go of many unhealthy aspects of my life and start anew, this time truly redeemed and changed by His blood.
Hope For Harvest
Simply put, I hope to see more lives genuinely changed to the glory of God. There are many things in the world that grab for our attention, but none of these things will ever top the work that Jesus did on the cross. I pray and hope that Harvest will continue to preach this truth.
(905) 827-4157
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