Shahzad Nathaniel
A line about this testimony
Part 1: The Beginning and Dubai Journey]
Let me start from the very beginning to share how everything happened and how I truly came to God. My name is Shahzad Nathaniel, I am from Pakistan, and I am 27 years old. I was born into a Christian family. As you know, Pakistan is a developing country with a lot of poverty. I wanted to earn a good living to support my family, so I had been trying to go abroad for many years. Eventually, I went to Dubai on a three-month visit visa, trying to secure a job or a work permit. However, I couldn't find employment there, and since my visa was about to expire, I had to return to Pakistan.
[Part 2: The Canadian Visa Scam]
When I returned to my home country, I worked here for a while. After some time, I tried once again to find a way to go abroad for my family's financial well-being. A cousin of mine told me about an agent who supposedly had a work visa for Canada. The agent demanded 700,000 rupees to secure a work permit from a Canadian company and send me there. I told him it was a huge amount for me, but I decided to try and arrange the money. Since I didn't have any savings, I took an interest-based loan from the bank, withdrew the cash, and gave it to him. My plan was to go abroad, earn well, and gradually pay back the loan. However, he turned out to be a scammer. He stole my money and blocked my phone number. If anyone ever needs proof of this, I have everything saved on my phone—the scammer's voice messages, the fake visa he sent, and the money transfer receipts.
[Part 3: The Darkest Phase of Life]
I had no idea back then that his deception would put my life into such immense trouble. After the scam, I fell into deep depression and anxiety. I had no money to pay the bank installments. Bank agents would come to my house, shout at me, and treat my family and me very badly. Their daily harassment was like mental torture, constantly demanding why I wasn't paying back the loan. My life was filled with unbearable stress. Around this time, I had a very dear girlfriend whom I had loved since my school days and truly wanted to marry. However, when she saw the financial crisis I was facing, it led to many issues between us. Because I was buried under a mountain of debt, she also left me. This broke me completely, making me feel even more anxious and depressed. In that dark moment, I felt completely hopeless and decided that I wanted to end my life.
Part 4: Turning to God and The Dream]
During this dark period, I heard a message from a pastor. He said, 'If you give your life to Lord Jesus, your problems will be solved.' Although I was born into a Christian family, I never truly walked with God back then. I was living in sin—drinking and smoking—and had never turned to Him. But after hearing the Word of God on Facebook, I thought, 'I should give my life to God; He will definitely solve my problems.' So, I repented of all my sins and accepted Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior.
[Part 5: The Message from Lord Jesus]
In that deep darkness, one day, Lord Jesus appeared in my dream. I said to Him, 'Lord Jesus, I have accepted you, but my problems are not decreasing—they are increasing more and more. Why is this?' He replied, 'Son, I see you in all your troubles. I am with you, my son. I am putting you through these difficulties so that your faith may grow, and to see how much you love me.' Then I said, 'Lord Jesus, you loved me so much that you paid for my sins and died for me. I will try too. I will love you just as much, and all these problems cannot bring me down. I will still follow you.' Since that day, I have been praying and reading the Bible daily.
[Part 6: The Test of Honesty at the Cafe]
Shortly after dedicating my life to God, my faith was put to the test. I was working as a cashier at a local cafe. One day, my employers told me not to punch cash orders into the system. They said, 'We should hide cash order taxes to save money, which will save us a lot of profit by the end of the month.' Because our POS system is connected to the Pakistani tax authority (FBR), they wanted to create a secret, parallel system just for cash, while only using the government-connected system for card orders. I stood my ground and replied, 'Sir, if you are charging tax from the customers but not entering it into the official system, then that money will not reach the government. If you record it in a separate system, it means the tax is being stolen. Please, I cannot commit this act because I am a Christian believer.' Then, I gave them my Bible reference: 'Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.' (Matthew 22:21). I requested them, 'Please sir, remove me from the cashier post. I will not work as a cashier, but you can assign me a job as a waiter.' Unfortunately, people here are not afraid of corruption at all. My bosses got very angry, fired me from my job on the spot, and withheld my salary for the days I had already worked.
[Part 7: Faith, Fasting, and Hope for the Future]
For the past two months, I have been at home, praying and fasting regularly. I hold onto a deep hope in God, believing that since I chose to leave my job for His sake, He will bless me with a job that is far better than anything I could have ever imagined. My faith is firm. In the past, I was so eager to go abroad and tried everything on my own strength, but nothing worked out. Now, I have placed my complete trust in God. I know He will provide me with an amazing job—whether here in Pakistan or perhaps by opening a door for a visa and an opportunity to work abroad, far beyond what I could ever think or ask for. I believe that if you read this whole story, you will be blessed today.