Iranians in Diaspora #1: Gray Day, Bright Greeting
Day 1: Gray day, Bright Greeting – seeds are falling on good soil here!
By Tom Boone, Associate Director for Mission
It was a typical windy and gray October day in Amsterdam yet spirits were glowing! Following months of planning, The Outreach Foundation’s intrepid team from GRACE Church in Bethlehem, PA, gathered in Amsterdam for a week of visits with our dear friends from Iran. After a bright greeting from Dariush, our host during this leg of our visit, we spent the day getting adjusted to a new time zone and getting acquainted with Dariush.
Dariush directs Safehouse, a well-integrated ministry that cares for Persian-speaking refugees in The Netherlands and introduces them to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Refugee outreach, worship, church planting, counseling, prayer, Bible studies, and discipleship retreats are signature pieces of this incredible ministry. It is but one of the myriad of micro-expressions of the church contributing to Iran being home to the fastest-growing church in the world.
This story inspired Grace Presbyterian, just as it has done for so many congregations and individuals who have heard it. Representing this congregation are Rev. Doug Stewart and his wife Susan, Bill and Susan Stevens, and Richard Knauss. Another member, Matthias Mueller, will join our team when we fly to Germany on Thursday evening for the second leg of our visit. We’ll get to that leg in another blog.
Today, though we toured Amsterdam’s canals and took in some Van Goghian air, our conversations were marked by eager anticipation. We will soon be among brothers and sisters from Iran and Afghanistan whom God is touching deeply and whose faith is showing the world that this is a time of harvest for God’s kingdom on earth. Seeds have fallen on the good soil here through servants like Dariush and his pastor Steven, who are helping these seedlings emerge into a flourishing fauna that multiplies a hundred times over.
Interestingly, this team was hoping to join us on our June visit but God shut that door. He knew what we could not have known or even dared to dream. The past two weeks for Iranians throughout the world have been characterized by a tsunami of protests by women, young and old, with men and children joining them. “Women. Life. Liberty” is their chant following the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini. Read the full story HERE. Protests have numbered in the tens of thousands in Iran with many being arrested and some killed. Still, the people stand in peaceful defiance against the tyranny that has pressed them down for decades.
Dariush is hosting us after attending a three-day event in Berlin where nearly 100,000 Iranians gathered in solidarity with their friends and families in Iran. He shared with us that two weeks ago the young people of his ministry in Iran were hoping for the day they could leave Iran. Today, they no longer talk about leaving but want to stay and stand up against the government. God preserved our visit for this time – it is a divine appointment. So we will encourage these dear ones during a time such as this, pray over them, hear their anger, and share in their hope for freedom. May it be that we can all gather soon in Tehran!
