KEYNOTE SPEAKER:  Dr. Daniel Shayesteh

Having made the life journey from radical Islam to Christianity, Dr. Daniel Shayesteh shares the details of his life in a captivating keynote presentation that compares the light of Christ with the heart of Islam. His testimony is a multi-dimensional message that tells about his life and worldview in Islam, his encounter with Christ, and his spiritual journey that has led to his position today as a Christian evangelist.  His message is powerful as well as hopeful, enlightening as well as encouraging.

Dr. Shayesteh was a practicing Muslim from childhood.  After entry into a university in Tehran, he became deeply involved in the Iranian Fundamentalist Revolution (1979).  He helped bring the Ayatollah Khomeini into power and advanced himself as a political leader in Iran. 

After the Revolution, he became a leading Muslim political leader and teacher of Islam and religious philosophy in the northern part of Iran. However, he fell out of favor with Khomeini and was kidnapped and sentenced to death.  Miraculously, he was released, though his fellow cellmates on death row were executed.  After two attempts, Daniel escaped to Turkey where he came into contact with a Christian group who led him to Christ.  His life has since become a pursuit to make the Truth of Jesus Christ known across the globe.

Dr. Shayesteh is a National Evangelist for The Christian and Miissionary Alliance and director of the inter-denominational organization Exodus from Darkness, an apologetics and evangelical ministry.  He has a doctorate in Theology and Pastoral Ministry and a Ph.D. in International Management.  He has written three books on the foundational beliefs of the world’s religions, the tensions between those beliefs, and the uniqueness of Jesus Christ as the One Truth.  In addition, he has a satellite television program that is broadcast to millions of Muslim’s worldwide through which he speaks openly and boldly about Christ. 

Dr. Shayesteh calls for us to “search for truth together” and is confident that people who search openly will discover, as he has, that “eternal confidence is only found in Jesus Christ”.

http://www.crown.edu/advancement/home/events/presidents-gala/dr-daniel-shayesteh-bio.html