All that changed early this year when his little brother went to a local gathering and brought home a gift box. Hesitantly, the boy opened the wrappings around the box that came from strangers. "There was complete silence as the wrapper was removed," he recalls, "and my brother opened the box. Everybody was shocked when they saw how neatly the box was packed. Inside were gum, toys, candy, and some other things that all kids love. I opened the card on top of the box. Obviously, it came from America. I don't know how to speak or read English, but I recognized one word on the card: Love.

   "The next day my brothers and I decided to go to another meeting. I wanted to see an American, because I had never seen one. When I got to the meeting, I didn't see any Americans, but I did see some Russians who had risked their lives to come to our area in order to bring nice gifts for the children of the war. Before they started giving the gifts away, a man raised a black book above his head. He began to tell us all about the power of God's Word. He said 'Your fathers and brothers fight with other weapons and destroy people's lives. But this weapon is more powerful than any human weapon. This is the Word of God and it is more powerful than weapons or tanks or rockets. This weapon can cut through the human heart, burn away all of the hatred and evil, and replace them with love.'

   "Suddenly," he recalls, "in my imagination I saw American boys and girls sending their favorite things to us who hate everyone, and I felt something happening to me. I have never cried, because I am used to killing in cold blood, and was taught that tears are not worthy of a soldier of Allah. But now I could not hold my tears back. I felt like the weapon that man had described was burning through my heart. I went home after the meeting, secretly wiping away my tears. The first thing I did was hide my AK-47. I wanted to make sure that my father did not see me do that. I was a changed person because the weapon that I had heard about was starting to melt my heart. I suspected that this weapon was love.

   I then saw my younger brothers laughing and jumping as each held a box in his hands. As they opened the boxes, excitement and joy filled our house. I raised my eyes to heaven, and said, 'God if you are the God who fills human lives with love, I want you to be my God.'"