Annual Report from Azizollah Sadaghiani in Germany
(January 1, 2009 – August 1, 2010)
August 1, 2010
Dear brothers and sisters,
Brother Sepehri wrote about the work and situation of the Iranian Presbyterian Fellowship in his Annual Report for 2009. I would like to give you my report about the social work we are doing here.
2009 and the first eight months of 2010 were a good and blessed time for our ministry.It is still increasing and growing, especially because of the political situation in Iran and Afghanistan, which leads to many people coming to Germany. The Presbyterian Church has a very strong tradition of combining evangelism with social work and Pastor Sepehri and I are very blessed to be working together as a team and to complement each other’s work.
Many people first come into contact with our ministry because they have pressing practical needs. They receive support and help through our social work. Later they become interested in the Christian faith and start visiting our services or Bible study groups. In this way our social ministry is the access point for many of these people on their way to hearing about the gospel and opening their hearts to God. Sometimes God uses quite interesting ways to reach people — for example, a dog.
This is what happened last year. I got a phone call from an asylum seekers’ home that I had had dealings with in the past. They had a couple staying with them who had brought a dog with them. The problem was that dogs are considered “unclean” by Muslims and that there is not a lot of room in these homes. Yet the wife was very attached to her dog. She and her husband had fled to Germany because she was a member of the Assyrian Church while her husband was a Muslim. I was able to convince the people in charge of the asylum seekers’ home to let the dog stay with them (it was a little dog). The couple was very grateful. They followed my invitation to visit our church and joined a Bible study group. The husband was baptized on May 10, 2009. God used a dog to lead him to Christ.
I am available on the phone 24 hours, seven days a week. Two days a week I have official office hours in our church. The rest of the week I meet people in cafés or other places[1]. I accompany them to government agencies, to court, to lawyers as an interpreter, to schools, to the hospital if they are sick or to landlords. I am always reachable on my mobile phone. People send me letters and applications to proofread. Those who have just come to Germany need help with their asylum application. Later they often contact me about other problems they have.
Some of the things we do and problems we help with are the following:
Excursions
Trip to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg
People whose asylum application has not yet been decided live in asylum seekers’ homes, or if they are very lucky in their own apartment, and are normally not allowed to leave the area they were assigned to. A good way to brighten up their lives and show them that we care about their situation is to organize events and excursions that are not primarily evangelistic in nature but just give them an opportunity to get out of their normal surroundings and get to know us in a relaxed setting. That will often open the door for them to also visit church later on.
Last year we took a group of people to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg, the town where Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to a church door and thus started the Reformation. On May 30 we visited an Amazonia exhibition by Dr. Yadegar Asisi in Leipzig. This artist — whose parents are Persian — creates 360° panoramas that are beautiful to look at and also provide great inspiration for discussions. A good example is the Everest exhibition, which we had visited with a group in the past. This exhibition contrasted the differences between an Oriental and Occidental approach to the Mount Everest. This was a great starting point to talk about differences between the culture the people came from and the new (German) culture they now found themselves in. We have also visited Asisi’s exhibitions on Rome and Dresden. After visiting the Amazonia exhibition last year we were invited — all 85 participants of the trip — to a church in Leipzig to have a barbecue with them. It was a great time for everyone and we are very grateful for the hospitality of this church.
Trip to Lutherstadt-Wittenberg
Every time we take people on an excursion [See more pictures] we have to apply — for each of them separately — for permission to leave the area the live in. This is a lot of work, but it is all worth it when you see how happy these people are to participate in a special cultural event.
Family counseling and support
Many families that come to Germany have difficulties dealing with the new situation. It can take years before their application for asylum is decided. During this time they live in small spaces without the opportunity or money to get out much. Some of the couples can’t take the strain and decide to get a divorce. In these cases I have to talk to the spouses separately to try to help them work through the situation. Because they often don’t know German I also help families to register their children in kindergarten or school and sometimes accompany them to parent-teacher conferences to interpret. Family situations can also be strained because the children often learn the new language much faster than their parents and end up translating and organizing things for them — thus reversing the normal family roles of care-giver and caretaker. In all these situations I offer support and counseling to the best of my abilities.
Health problems
Many people who come to Germany have been on a long journey to get here. They often come to Greece and try to get into other European countries from there. Because they have little or no access to medical care during this time they often develop health problems — for example, liver conditions (because of a bad diet), skin diseases or psychological illnesses. When they get to Germany they need medical care but don’t speak the language. In these cases hospitals often call me in to interpret — if necessary in the middle of the night. When people need to have surgery they need to sign consent forms. Unfortunately these are not available in Farsi, so I have to translate them for the patients.
Deportation detention
If a person was denied asylum and the authorities think he or she might want to stay in the country illegally they can put them into “deportation detention.” In Berlin these people are put into a specialized detention facility in Berlin-Köpenick. The Protestant and Catholic ministers who regularly visit this facility often call me in to translate. This can be at any time of day. I travel the 30 km. distance quite often. These people often have tragic stories to tell.
Mr. A. and his wife were in Berlin-Köpenick because they were supposed to be sent back to Iran. Mr. A. had been tortured in the past and now faced execution if he went back to Iran. One day at 6 a.m. I received a call that the couple was going to be deported to Greece that day. (As mentioned above, many people who come to the European Union (EU) for asylum enter it through Greece. According to the “Dublin Regulation,” the state through which a person entered the EU is the one responsible for their asylum. That means that many people whose lives are in danger in their home countries do not receive asylum in Germany but are instead sent back to “safe” Greece — just to be sent home from there.) When I got the call I tried to talk to the policeman in charge but he refused to listen. A little while later I received a call from a hospital: Mr. A. had been so desperate that he had broken a perfume bottle and cut his wrists to commit suicide. I went to the hospital to interpret for the psychiatrist, and Mr. A. was put into a mental institution. He tried to hang himself one week later with his bed sheets. Fortunately they did not hold him. I visited Mr. A. often. His lawyers did everything they could. We sent a letter to the police and to the members of the parliament asking them if they really wanted to be responsible if this man got executed in Iran. Eventually they gave in and Mr. A. and Mrs. N. were allowed to stay.
Ms. P., a young Afghan woman, was in Berlin-Köpenick with her family. She was only 17 years old but had enough tragic history for a lifetime. While her family was in an asylum seekers’ home in Berlin, she was in a home in Kassel with her husband. Her husband was a heroin addict who beat and abused her (she had the injuries to prove it). So she fled to Berlin. Yet the home her family lived in refused to take her in because she was not in Berlin’s budget. So I called an Iranian lady I know who runs a women’s refuge. After Ms. P.’s husband overdosed, his brothers were looking for her to bury her with him so that “his soul might rest in peace” (as was their tradition). Still the authorities forced Ms. P. to go back to Kassel. Fortunately a former fellow student of mine who was working in Kassel took care of the girl. Eventually she was able to go back to Berlin to be with her family. Their deportation was canceled, and she now lives in an apartment with her mother.
Apartment hunting
Even if people do receive permission to stay in Germany, it is extremely hard for them to find a place to stay. Although a lot of apartments are empty in Berlin, many house owners just won’t rent to “foreigners.” Looking for apartments for them is a very time-consuming process. I am very lucky to have a wife who is understanding enough to not complain about me being out apartment hunting and taking care of other matters so much.
Trips to other European countries
As Pastor Sepehri mentioned in his report, we support refugee groups in several European cities and regularly travel to other countries to support refugees there. For example, in 2009 we traveled to Greece, Norway and Turkey.
Continuing education
Meeting in Tampere, Norway
I constantly have to learn about the newest developments in asylum, alien and family law, psychology and pedagogics in order to serve the people who come to us in the best way possible. I read books and magazines and visit workshops and seminars to be up to speed on these topics.
Cooperations and educating others
We work closely with other Christian, secular and governmental organizations and institutions. For example, I regularly participate in meetings with 10 lawyers who specialize in asylum law. I also report about the situation in Greece and other relevant topics at different meetings. We can only support the people who turn to us for help in the best way possible if we join efforts with others and tell people about the situations they face.
There are a lot of other things I do but I don’t have the room to tell you about them all. I do want to let you know that God has been faithful once again in the previous months and that we are blessed to take part in his work. We are very grateful for your prayers and support. We are looking forward to continuing this ministry in the future.
God bless you,
Aziz Sadaghiani
The 2010 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 191
[1] Since we are guests in the Bethlehem church our rooms are occupied on the other days. Therefore I have to deal with matters that occur outside of the official office hours in other places.
Excursion to Peacock Island
Barbecue in Leipzig
Boat trip
