A letter from Sadegh Sepehri in Germany
September 2011
Iranian Evangelical Church in Berlin
Go throughout the whole world and preach the gospel to all mankind (Mark 15:16).
Thank God that He makes us able to do His will and spread the Good News of salvation and bring people to Jesus.
Unfortunately these days we are hearing almost only bad news about Christians in Iran. They are living in a very hard situation: some of the church leaders are in jail, some are forbidden to leave the country, even some of the underground churches are discovered and leaders and members are put in jail.
Even though every day the new believer numbers are increasing, on the other hand a lot of them are leaving the country. Those who are leaving are scattering into different countries around the world and seeking refugee status. This is not easy. They have left their family, home country and friends, and now they are strangers—another pressure on them, which is very heavy, is that host countries do not welcome them. As soon as they register as asylum seekers they should go to a refugee camp and are not allowed to go farther away than 30 km. They do not have permission to work. They do not know the language and cannot speak to others. Now, please close your eyes and imagine this situation—where should they go and with whom can they talk?
The first place where they can go and ask for help and be sure that they receive attention is the Iranian Presbyterian Church in Berlin. That is why we receive a lot of telephone calls from different parts of Germany or even Europe. When they come to us the first thing that makes them happy is the language. After we listen to them carefully, we give them necessary advice and most of the time go with them to different departments and, most important, pray with them and ensure them that God loves them and will not leave them alone. In two ways we try to help them: (1) socially and (2) spiritually.
Socially there are different kinds of problems, such as reading the letters they receive from federal offices, finding a good and reasonable lawyer, and of course having someone to go with them for interpretation. And to be with them if they are going to a physician, etc.
Spiritually we invite them to our worship services. In this way they can hear the Word of God, which gives them peace and hope. This also is an opportunity for them to get to know other members. Most of them after some time are asking for baptism, but they should attend our baptism courses for about four months. In 2009 we baptized 14 people, including 2 Afghanis; in 2010 we baptized 9. And in 2011, I have 17 inquirers in my baptism class who will be baptized on October 16.
Recently we decided to train some of our members who have an interest in preaching and leading worship. At the moment my wife is leading the worship and I preach and pray.
Every year, especially in spring and summer, we make plans to take refugees out of the city for a change. For this purpose first we should get permission from the police office because they are not allowed to go out of the city or more than 30 km.
Another activity is telephone counseling—receiving telephone calls day and night from different parts of Europe and West Asia. Most of these telephone calls are from people who are coming out of the country with a wrong idea about being refugees. But, anyhow, at the moment they are faced with a lot of problems and need help. Sometimes if necessary we make arrangements to go and visit them. This kind of problem is more with those who are coming to Turkey or Greece. In these cases they receive nothing from the government, not even resident permission. They stay in parks or just in the streets. In our last trip to Athens we took some photos that show them sleeping in parks or in streets—the same photos that were taken by the Green party. At a result of this, the federal office decided not to send back those asylum seekers who are coming to Germany from Greece.
Enclosed I am sending some pictures from our different activities. Please remember these people and pray for them. Also pray for us that God give us more patience. We need to have more activities for these people, especially weekend conferences and any kinds of programs that will make them happy. For these purposes we have financial problems, which we are praying for with hope and are looking for help from those believers whose hearts God touches.
Rev. Sadegh Sepehri
The 2011 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 197
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