Trips Blog

by Rev. Lisa Johnson, for the team

“The Iranian Diaspora wants to bless others and receive from others for the sake of the Kingdom. It is not hard to see that we are not the only broken people.”
-Pastor Shapoor, Liverpool Iranian Church

Early this morning our team boarded a train in London and rode a picturesque two hours to Liverpool where we were greeted warmly with flowers and hugs from the two bi-vocational pastors of Liverpool Iranian Church, Shapoor and Mehrdad. Their church is made up of 120 people all of Muslim background and they are uniquely blessed that 30-40 of those church family members are youth and children.

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by Brian Stewart, for the team

“The law of the Lord is perfect, refreshing the soul. The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold,…”   Psalm 19:7-10a

I’m not sure but I must have a heart for theological education given all the tuition I’ve paid for my three theological degrees. Now I’m studying for a fourth, and my father half-jokingly asked me once whether there was not a pension plan available for career students like me. My answer, of course, was “no,” but there are no doubt incredible dividends for Christ and his Kingdom when leaders are trained to faithfully teach and embody his Word.

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by Tracie Stewart, for the team

In 1979 I was a young teenager. I vividly remember the televised images of the Iranian Revolution and Ted Koppel’s nightly report, “America Held Hostage,” with its count of days. Our media often portrays Iran as a violent, backward place frozen in time. What an incredible experience our team had today as we visited the British Museum and encountered artifacts from Iranian history. I knew of Cyrus and his celebrated role in returning the Jewish people to their homeland after the exile. But I had no idea of the beauty, power and sophistication of his empire. It had seemed just a short stop between Babylon and Greece on our way to the Romans.

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by Dana Allin, for the team

And he said to them, 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.   Luke 10:2

This passage struck me in a new way today as our group learned more about the ministry of Pars Theological Seminary. Pars is led by Mehrdad Fatehi as its founder, president, and executive director. His daughter, Shadi, is the director of programs and our wonderful and attentive host.

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by Jen Haddox, for the team

Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matthew 5:11-12 

Today I heard these words preached in a whole new context. I heard them spoken at the Iranian Christian Fellowship in London, among refugees and immigrants from Iran. We observed as they warmly greeted one another as family and welcomed strangers like us as friends. They passionately sang songs of joy, surrender, and hope to their Savior. And the preacher, Brother Robert, who himself was imprisoned for his faith in Iran, spoke about the seemingly paradoxical nature of God’s blessings as they come to us in Jesus Christ. “Poverty of spirit is a gateway to experience God’s blessing.” It is in our willingness to humbly recognize our need for God’s grace that we are blessed. 

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Our First Day in London: Tired but Hearty

from Tom Widmer, for the team

The Iranians in Diaspora team arrived in London today, arriving from California, Idaho, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina separately. But with God's grace, we found each other! The purpose of this trip is to meet Iranians who have left their home country and are living abroad, actively doing ministry to others in diaspora but also to those still in Iran. Our team is small in number (seven), tired from overnight fights, but curious and eager to get started.

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