Joseph

When my family arrived in our host country, we had no idea what we were doing. A family of six, we found ourselves in a new land among new people with a new language and a new culture, none of which we understood. After one month in our new home, we met Joseph who had just arrived from Turkey as an Iranian refugee. He was forced to leave Turkey when one day the police showed up at his door and told him he had ten days to leave. He left Turkey in a hurry and he was a godsend to us. So, there we were—him and us, peoples in a foreign land and culture.

Thankfully, Joseph speaks both Farsi and English, and he has been our window into the culture and language of Iran. He came to Christ as a teenager while in Iran and quickly became an evangelist. Eventually, the government discovered him and threw him in prison. After he was released from prison, he knew they were following him, so he fled the country so as not to endanger himself or others. His sister was the first family member to come to Christ, but as of 2016, his whole family now believes in Jesus Christ (his mother was an Islamic teacher so this makes the story all the more amazing).

By nature, Joseph is a shy person, but he loves Jesus and desires to obey Him. He faithfully attends our discipleship meetings and has church with other Iranians every week. We love to hear about him sharing the gospel with other Iranians both inside and outside the country. We know, because of his shy nature, that it’s a huge step for him every time he shares. It has been awesome to see his growth as he catches and passes on the DNA of a church planting movement. Just like us, he carries the vision of making disciples who make disciples who make more disciples.

We have learned so much from him about Iran and the Persian understanding of Christ. Eventually, he became our language teacher. He now joins us in our discipleship meetings and in our weekly prayer times for Iran. His heart is to be led by God in all walks of life and feels called to lead his Iranian brothers to Christ as well. We are very excited for him and his calling. He has taught us a lot about honor and shame, community, and the ways Persians think which are quite counter to our individualist, innocence-and-guilt, American cultural upbringing. In all personal matters, he is like a family member to us. You might even say we have seven in the family now. We are so privileged to have him as a cherished friend and family member.