Volume 1 | Number 3
WAVELENGTH
Summer 2012 | woh.org
In this Issue: • Closed Country, Open Hearts: A story from Iran • News Briefs • How to Support Iranian Believers
WORDS
HOPE OF
Good News. No Boundaries.
A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT
SUPPORT IRANIAN BELIEVERS
Saeid’s story mentions the important role
$40 buys a Bible for delivery to an
that Bible conferences have had in his journey to Christian faith. Since 1999 Words of Hope
Iranian believer.
has been following up our broadcast ministry into Iran by regularly hosting gatherings outside the country where seekers and new
$68 buys air time for one Farsi radio
believers come together to learn more about
program for one day.
the Bible and the Christian life, to pray and worship freely, and to enjoy a rare opportunity for fellowship with other Christians. The problem we saw was this. Many people were responding to
$150 provides food and lodging for one person attending a conference.
the gospel in Iran. But most of them were extremely isolated, with no church in their town or city. Some had never even met another Christian and had no fellowship in their new faith. As a result, some of those who were in contact with our ministry leader would write or call for a time, then become discouraged and drift away. What could we do? The answer we came up with was to help people become part of an intensive “church for a week” in the form of a Bible conference. The results we have witnessed over the past twelve years among the
$600 covers all costs (including transportation) for an Iranian believer to attend a discipleship conference.
$1,500 meets expenses for a teacher to lead a week of training.
hundreds of attendees have been greatly encouraging. And to me personally, nothing I have done in ministry has been more rewarding. As we say in Persian, “Qhoda ra shokre!” (Praise the Lord!)
$3,000 covers the cost of translation, typing, and printing of one Christian book into the Farsi language.
WAVELENGTH Volume 1 | Number 3 WAVELENGTH is published quarterly by Words of Hope to raise awareness of the work being done around the world by our ministry partners. All photos are by staff and volunteers of Words of Hope unless otherwise noted. Cover Photo by Hamed Saber Copyright 2012 by Words of Hope. Words of Hope 700 Ball Ave NE Grand Rapids, MI 49503 1-800-459-6181 www.woh.org
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facebook.com/wordsofhope
NEWS BRIEFS Arabic
India
Many young Arabs are using the Internet instead of the radio for
Summer is a time for VBS (Vacation Bible School) not just
their news or music. Many popular radio and television stations
in America, but in India as well. However, in India most
have set up websites to more easily stream their content. Our
volunteers have had no training in teaching or running a
Arabic partnership has now undertaken a 24-hour Arabic language
successful VBS program. So we conducted workshops in the
internet radio station. This will incorporate local church volunteers
city of Ranchi to help them. This was well received, equipping
throughout the Arab world as well as present and future staff. The
the leaders to work with children. Such training will raise the
involvement of this volunteer network means that local churches
level of the churches’ outreach programs, not only this year
take ownership of the ministry.
but also for years to come.
Spotlight
Our Specialized English program Spotlight has seen a
Christy Prins says, “It has been amazing to see this growth.
tremendous leap in the amount of traffic on the program’s
Our marketing efforts account for some of this growth, but a
website. In September 2010, the website had 34,000 visitors.
lot is happening through word-of-mouth. We often see traffic
By September 2011, that number had increased 30%, to
from a country and think, ‘How did they find out about us
44,000. In the last year, we have averaged more than 40,000
there?’ I believe it’s a testament to the quality of our program
visitors every month, with more than 450,000 visitors to www.
and the desire people have to learn English.”
spotlightradio.com over the whole year. Director of Spotlight
WAVELENGTH • Summer 2012 | 3
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CLOSED COUNTRY, OPEN HEARTS How Jesus found a young Iranian man and wouldn’t let go
A Curious Stranger Saied [pronounced sigh-eed] Separ watched the man as he
Saied had to hide his actions from his family, and he wasn’t
welcomed customers to his internet cafe. For three months Saied
always able to attend worship. He turned to Words of Hope’s
had been stopping by to update the cafe’s software. He could see
radio programs for instruction in this new faith. In doing
that the owner was different somehow, but he didn’t understand
this Saied was attending a church-without-walls. By tuning
why. A possible answer came one day when Saied saw the man
in and listening to God’s word Saied was worshiping with a
pray before eating lunch. As a Muslim, Saied prayed at set
congregation spread throughout Iran, their names and numbers
times each day, so this kind of private prayer wasn’t part of his
known only to God.
everyday life. Something clicked in Saied’s head then and the pieces fell into place. The cafe owner wasn’t a Muslim ‑ he was a Christian!
An Open Heart When Saied heard the message, “God loves you. God chose you. God has a plan for your life” it grabbed his heart
Attracted by what he saw in that man’s life, Saied wanted
and wouldn’t let go. He wasn’t quite ready to commit his life
to learn more about Christianity. He knew the place to do this
to Christ, though. Saied had grown up knowing nothing but
would be at a church, but it wasn’t easy for him as a Muslim to
Islam, and the new message of hope, like yeast in a loaf of bread,
go to a church. Four times he tried to attend a service, but each
needed time to take effect.
time he was turned away. He was frustrated and ready to give up. Only when a friend who was known to the congregation attested
Another reason Saied’s conversion was not easy was because
that Saied wasn’t a member of the secret police was he finally
in Iran changing one’s religion can literally be a matter of life
accepted at the church.
and death. Saied’s own mother wailed when he started going to
Left: Saied & The Iranian Flag
WAVELENGTH • Summer 2012 | 5
Left: Mosque in Iran Center: Words of Hope producer recording a Farsi program Right: Saied with a missionary family at a Bible conference
church, not because of her religious convictions but because
Saied began to smuggle Bibles, Christian movies, and
she knew her son could be in mortal danger. In spite of these
Christian literature into Iran. He even had some close calls with
risks, after months of reading the Bible and praying, Saied
the secret police, “One time, I took 25 Bibles in my backpack.
could no longer ignore the call upon his heart. As he says, he
The police stopped my bus and said, ‘We want to check
“opened his heart to Jesus.”
everyone’s bags.’ I kept near the back of the line until there were only two people in front of me. Then the police said, ‘Enough.
Support and Smuggling In 2003, Saied attended his first Words of Hope conference.
Everyone back on the bus.’ This is how God told me: ‘Don’t be scared.’”
“I went with some friends. There was a guy there translating [from English to Persian] and I thought I knew his voice from somewhere. It took me a minute, but then I realized: the radio!” At this conference Saied was able to worship, ask questions, and talk without fear. He met other Christians who lived throughout Iran. Saied also noted one more thing. “After I came to a few conferences, I realized that many Americans and other people around the world are thinking about my country. Brother David [Bast] has a heart for my country. I met people who love my people more than my own government does. I thought, ‘These people live outside the country and have a heart for Iran. You live inside, you need to have more of a heart for the people.’”
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Saied Disappears But he would not always be so protected. One day, with his backpack zipper grinning wide open, stuffed with literature, two men demanded him to answer a few questions. He was carrying so much Christian material it was no good denying anything. The men soon stopped pretending to be anything but police officers. They arrested him and put him in jail. It was as if Saied disappeared from the earth. His family didn’t know where he was. His friends couldn’t find him. Seven days later he stumbled back into the world, his back criss-crossed with welts and bruises.
Left: Farsi radio program recording studio Center: Skip Pylman and Jan Fields with Pastor John Sherrill (center) from Fifth Reformed Church on their visit to Turkey Right: Saied with WOH President David Bast and his wife Betty Jo.
When he arrived home there was no point any longer
In 2011, David Bast brought along several members of Fifth
in trying to hide anything from his family. “Before all this
Reformed Church, including astor Jon Sherrill, to a conference
happened, I hadn’t told my dad. Afterward I told him I had
in Turkey. Pastor Sherrill said, “We knew a bit of Saied’s story
been a Christian since 2003. He froze, not saying anything.
before the conference and said to each other, ‘If he gets [refugee
Then he was very angry, ‘Go!’ was all he said.” Unfortunately
status] granted, we’re going to have to do something.” A few
Saied did not have many places he could go. Once you’ve been
days later, while the conference was still going on, Saied got the
tagged as a Christian in Iran, just visiting someone is enough
letter saying he had been approved to go to the United States.
to place them under suspicion. Saied had been marked by the
The group from Fifth Reformed Church told Saied to request
government, both literally and figuratively.
to be sent to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where they would be waiting for him.
Staying in Turkey In 2009, Saied fled to Turkey. But even there his heart yearned to share the gospel with his people. Since many Iranians travel to Turkey by train, Saied went to train stations to hand out Bibles and tracts to new arrivals. His support network in Turkey was small but faithful, but after two years he knew it couldn’t go on forever. Since he could not return to Iran without risking his life he decided to apply to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) for refugee status.
God Is Working in Iran Last fall, Saied settled in Grand Rapids and was embraced by the church. Pastor Sherrill said that this was mostly due to Saied himself, “Saied is so engaging and has been an evangelism example for us. Saied invited his entire English class to church, even the instructor!” Saied continues to study English, not so that he can pursue the “American dream” but so he can attend college and continue to share Jesus with people. One day, he hopes to return to Iran. He said, “I believe this: closed country, open hearts. Many Iranians today are opening their hearts to Jesus. I know that God is working in my country.”
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