Europe #6: Glimpses of the harvest
“The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest,” (Mt 9:37-38).
First, let’s wrap our very full Wednesday, which concluded with a large Persian feast, hearing several testimonies, and lots of picture-taking. We aren’t able to show many of the pictures here due to security concerns. Following good visits with Mehrdad and Reverend Sargez, we traveled by car to the church Sargez pastors. There we were greeted by about 70 people and heard testimonies of people who had converted to Christianity both in Europe and when they lived in Iran.
At one point Sargez came up to Tom and told him, “Look at everyone here. I am the only person who has not first been a Muslim.” For us, this is a significant statement about the harvest that God is reaping at this time from the diaspora wilderness. What an amazing portrait! One Christian among nearly 70 Christians who had been former Muslims. More than this, several have returned after having been granted permission to stay. Many leave the church once this happens because they only wanted to stay in this country. But following a few years of “living the good life” of Western Europe, they still feel empty, without love or peace. So they say God planted seeds in their first church encounters in 2015 only for the real growth to happen six years later. Pastor Saul observed that the Holy Spirit is doing something here that was different than the initial wave of refugees, and it is exhilarating!
The testimonies we heard echoed this and continued on Thursday when we visited one of Pastor Amir’s congregations. The rest of this blog will feature these interactions, but pictures and names are not included due to security concerns.
About ten Iranian Christians came from as far away as seven hours drive to listen to Sasan give a seminar, only to discover the “seminar” was a visit with us! So they shared their stories. One Afghan (not pictured for security reasons) shared his family was killed by the Taliban. He had to escape. He then shared that forgiving was very difficult, but Christ gave him the ability to see that they were broken people, too, and without Jesus, they would stay broken. Forgiveness gave him peace.
Another woman shared her hope for her mother to become a Christian and we stopped to pray as she wept. There is much prayer happening right now and as we spoke with pastors and other leaders who are working tirelessly in the diaspora, many spoke about how much time has been devoted to prayer for Muslims to know Jesus and for refugees to find their Safe House in God.
Echoing this were several of Amir’s baptist pastor colleagues throughout Germany. They have a unique partnership with the German state church (Lutheran) with an official office for the Iranian Christians. There are approximately 600 Iranian Christians in the various German states with 30 communities that are worshiping with their German hosts. Once a month Pastor Mehrdad Seperhi meets with the various groups and provides, in his words, “the salad while the German church provides the main course.”
This connection with the state German church is very positive and born from the vision of one German Lutheran pastor. He observed how Farsi speakers—who also speak German—seemed like they were “born again” after hearing Rev. Mehrdad preach the gospel in their own language. From this vision has spawned incredible ministries of support for refugees seeking to integrate with their larger society. Social media and videos offering teaching, baptism preparation, and counseling play a large role. People are finding Christ and networks of support are being formed that are helping Iranians who have become Christian stay in Germany. One Christian scheduled for deportation was rescued from the plane just a few minutes from taking off because a German bishop spoke with the person in charge of deportations.
Following a long day of hearing wonderful stories, Saul, Tom and Caryl left Sasan so he could spend two hours with those who had come to hear his seminar. Our day ended with one last wonderful dish of Persian soup and a train ride back talking to some of our new friends, hearing even more stories. God has given to us the gift of the best stories in the world. The harvest is ripe! Let’s come alongside these workers in the diaspora that they may reap God’s harvest.
Our day ended with Saul sharing how he was touched by all the stories he had heard with us and is curious about the impact of bringing people like Dariush and Shapoor to Lithuania. He had a knack for speaking with the younger generation and hearing their hopes and dreams for being integrated into European society. But he warns that the zeal he sees may diminish the more this happens much as it has done in Eastern Europe. So he challenged us to carry a vision for church planting as the best way to see the gospel spread through Europe who can disciple and cause roots to grow for those times when God appoints a valley. It was a gift to have his voice among us on this trip.
Saul then led us in a prayer of examin helping us recall how God was present in our conversations, what He was whispering to us, what we may have been too rushed to hear, and thanking him for the opportunity to meet such dear people. We are returning home tomorrow, so thankful to have a better understanding of what God is doing in Europe in and through the people He has called into Europe. The gospel is flourishing among the peoples where it has been silenced before! Let us pray for the deepening of discipleship and new leaders to rise up, receive training, and the planting of many churches that will continue this work. Let’s pray for revival in Lithuania and for freedom in Iran.