A letter from Sadegh Sepehri serving in Germany
November 2014 - Rest, Fellowship, Evangelism
In 2013 the Iranian Presbyterian Church Berlin hosted a conference in Berlin, Germany, for Iranian and Afghani refugees. This conference was a great success and well received by the refugees as it provided both a time of physical rest and spiritual nourishment. This year as we thought of organizing another conference our attention was drawn to the situation of refugees in Greece. The refugees in Greece do not receive as much support and many are living in worse situations than those in Germany, so we decided a conference would be more beneficial near Athens. Our hope was to create a time of rest and fellowship with opportunity to share the gospel.
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Everybody attended the conference with happiness and joy
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The group photo of the gathering, totaling 57 participants
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Worship hall of Bethlehem Church in Berlin where the Iranian Presbyterians worship every Sunday
We began our planning by creating a budget and soliciting fund-raising support. Upon receiving initial funding, my colleague Aziz Sadaghiani and I traveled to Athens to search for an appropriate location and discuss the conference with our friend Hamid, who has a Persian home church in Athens. It was important for us to find an accommodation that would be restful and economical, with regular meals provided and hot showers. After looking around Athens it became apparent that the area was very crowded and hotels were more expensive than we desired, so we began to look for a quieter location outside of Athens. We were able to find a suitable location about 250 km from Athens at a comfortable and affordable hotel. We made a contract with the hotel and returned to Berlin to continue planning.
Hamid assisted us in finding the location as well as selecting people to attend the conference. We wanted to focus on the people with more limited resources, but they needed to have a recognized status from the government with permission to travel. In total 57 people attended the conference, a mixture of single people, couples and families.
At the conference we had the opportunity to sit with people and listen to their stories. Each day we began with breakfast followed by worship and prayer. Following morning worship we had two teaching sections separated by a rest time midday. The teaching focused on the effect of sin in our lives, with the main point of the conference toward evangelism and offering hope through the Word of God. I provided the main teaching with time for Aziz to share with people and listen to their individual immigration situations. Hamid and our new mission colleague Ryan White spoke during the morning worship time.
At the conclusion of the conference everyone was very happy, and many expressed their thanks for the time of rest and hearing God’s Word. Most people shared that they felt strengthened both spiritually and physically. I want to share with you some of those testimonies:
“As you might know, most of the refugees in Athens have gone through difficult times including lengthy detention. Oh, what a joy they had during these conference days!!” (A sister from Japan working with refugees in Greece.)
“After the conference, God inspired me to do the same things our Christian brothers have done for me. I’d like to be an encourager for those in need. “ (A brother from Iran.)
“I had so much stress before the conference. Taking care of my little daughter without her mother is difficult and I desperately needed rest. God heard my cry and gave me and my daughter such a wonderful opportunity to be in this conference.” (A brother from Afghanistan.)
“This was the best trip I have ever had in my life. It was so sweet and full of love.” (A brother from Iran.)
We are happy that the Word of God had an impact on their hearts, which was evident by the mix of joy and sadness seen on the faces of the people as the conference ended. We are prayerful that God’s Word continues to take root in the lives of the refugees and hopeful for future opportunities to partner in ministry in Athens.
I invite you to engage in God’s mission among Iranian and Afghani refugees in Europe. Your prayers, correspondence, and financial commitment to sustain the position I hold are needed for this work to continue. With many thanks for your ongoing prayers and interest,
Sadegh Sepehri
The 2014 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 312
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 328
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