August 5, 2004

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Greetings in the name of Jesus. Praise God, who opens new doors for us that we can pass through and find new fields for evangelism and bringing people to the Lord.

For more than a year we have been traveling to the former East Germany and visiting asylum camps where a lot of Iranians are living as they await a judgment on their requests for political asylum. Unfortunately, most missionary groups in Germany that are working among Iranians work mostly in the former West Germany. Refugees asking for asylum in the east are largely forgotten. They live in isolated villages, where they have no possibility for learning the language or finding a lawyer. They have to go to the nearest city to shop or visit a doctor. After several visits with these people and talking with them about the love of God, they were calling us and asking us to come back.

April

On April 18 we had a service of baptism in which a young woman named Mona who had opened her heart to the Lord was baptized. Two weeks later, we traveled to the village in the former East Germany where Mona lives and visited a church and its pastor. We introduced him to Mona and asked him to accept her as a member of his church. The pastor was a very kind person and with full love accepted our suggestion. In a worship service on Sunday which we also attended, Mona was introduced to the congregation and was warmly welcomed.

A month later, another woman, Samira, wanted to be baptized with her son. We had been regularly visiting her and some others in the city of Sowicau. We went with them to the office of the central church of the city. They accepted Samira and her son with open arms, and we had good fellowship with this church. They agreed that the people whom we baptized can become members of the church and come under their pastoral care. On June 20, Samira and her son were baptized in the central church in Sowicau and became members of that church. Our relationship with that church will be very helpful in the future.

We have talked to prison officials and made a plan to go there in early September to baptize him in the jail, because he has no permission to go out.

Let us rejoice and give thanks to the Lord.

I have always wanted my wife to be at my side in mission as I serve the Lord. I have prayed for this, and God has answered me. Pouran, my wife, after a short course of study, is now helping me. She is leading our worship services and joins me when I visit church members. Some women in our church call her when they have a problem or something that they want to share. She has a good relationship with church members. We pray together for our work, our church members, and for the future. Please keep praying for her as she starts cooperating with me, that God give her wisdom and guide her with the Holy Spirit.

Rev. Sadegh Sepehri
Berlin, Germany

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 330