A Case Study in Reaching Muslims for Christ - Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids
What is Being Done by WRF members to Reach Muslims with the Gospel of Jesus Christ? This is a critically important question and we share here the answer to this question from one WRF congregational member – Seventh Reformed Church in Grand Rapids.
Perhaps some of what Seventh is doing can be a stimulus to others of our members.
And perhaps what some of our other members are doing could have the same effect. After all, the WRF exists so “That the strengths of some might become the strengths of all in the service of Jesus Christ!”
The Senior Minister at Seventh Reformed Church is Dr. Tim Trumper, himself an individual member of the WRF. He has reported to the WRF that the leadership of that church has just completed reading the Quran together and will be starting shortly to develop what they see as “the theology of the Quran.”
Dr. Trumper also provided two sections from Seventh’s “Anniversary Book” which provide more details about how this one congregation is intentionally seeking to “minister in the context of Islam” (to use the phrase which has, for several years, described one of the WRF’s priorities). Dr. Trumper specifically gave us permission to post these two sections on our website and they are below.
We would LOVE to receive similar materials from others of our members!
Gathered at the Cross: Celebrating God's Grace to Seventh Reformed Church, 1890-2015 (Grand Rapids, MI: Seventh Reformed Church Publications, 2016)From Chapter 9: Seventh Reformed Church and Media, pp. 144-45.
The Farsi Media Ministry: Rahi Soltani
The Farsi Media Ministry (FMM) works through two websites: www.shadkami.org and www.roshdino.org. The gospel is presented indirectly on the one, but directly on the other. The biblical justification for this approach is found in the book of Acts. When, in Acts 17, Paul shares the gospel with the unbelieving intelligentsia of Athens, he used as his “text” the statue of the unknown God, for Athenians had no “Bible” and therefore knew no “chapter” or “verse.” In Acts 13, by contrast, Paul uses the Scriptures very explicitly when ministering to the Jews of Antioch in Pisidia: “. . . we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm. ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you.’” (Acts 13:32–33)
The indirect approach utilized on www.shadkami.org takes account of the fact that there are many reached through the FMM who believe neither in Christ or in religion. Since Iranians love poetry and history, we thought it may be effective if we communicated with them by these means. My wife, Lili Moshki, has training in Farsi literature, having graduated with a degree in it and writes well. She uncovers poems related to the Word of God and uses the poems as an explanation of biblical truths. We also arrange interviews with visitors to the website, and chat about the struggles they have in life, seeking thereby to find ways to talk about their souls. Additionally, the website includes recorded conversations, short stories of a spiritual nature, on-line radio, music, cooking, and provides other links. The website has 44,400 monthly visits and 2,300 different visitors. This means that www.shadkami.org has more than a 1,000 people visit the site daily. Of these, between 80–100 look at the materials and use them.
The direct approach on www.roshdino.org is for those who show an advanced level of interest in Christian things. On this website we talk overtly about Jesus and the gospel, and advertise many Reformed books which have been translated into the Farsi language. Visitors to the site can download them and save them on their computers. At www.roshdino.org we also arrange Bible studies which believers can join in from anywhere in the world. Alternatively, they can download them from the website. Additionally, we guide visitors through links to pages where the Reformed faith is taught. On on-line radio the audience can listen to the Word of God, to hymns, and to good preaching every day. The website includes poems, a library, Scripture and Bible commentary, with links and Psalms for Afghan visitors. Our monthly visitor count is 23,400 of whom 3,840 search for items. This means that daily 800 people visit the site, and about 100 of them use the material on the website.
Each day we share materials from both websites on our Facebook page, or we email them out. We also speak with our audience through Skype, Viber, or other free Internet devices. In all these ways, we look to the Lord to glorify his own name and to spread the kingdom of heaven.
From Chapter 12: Souls Saved, pp. 192-99
CONVERSION TO CHRIST OF MUSLIMS
RAHI SOLTANI AND FOROUGH PIRSEYEDI
Rahi Soltani
According to my birth certificate I was born on February 5, 1973. I cannot remember much from my childhood but I recall asking many questions about God. Some of these were amusing and made my parents laugh. Often I pondered different things in my imagination and dreams. I also remember my parents talking about God and the importance of religion. They thought that by doing good deeds and following religion they could enter heaven. I tried to think like them and sought to be a good person and to follow the Islamic religion.
I started practicing Islam at the age of 8 and continued until I was 14. I was serious about it, both in my practice and my prayers. In private, I tried to read the Quran, but understanding its teachings was hard for me. I read the short stories of the Islamic prophet Mohammad and the Imams. At the age of 12 I read the complete life of Mohammad and his Son Imam Hossain (the third Imam of the Shia). I was impressed by their suffering and their lives, and asked myself why they had to suffer so much. Yet, I observed and was troubled by the fact that they seemed to get their way by force; whether by holy war (jihad and the spoils of war), the enslavement of women and children, and the affording to men the right to have many wives. I also began to feel a deep emptiness in my inner being. To fill this void, I initially spent much time in prayer and in the practice of Islam. This felt good but, ultimately, I could not get rid of the feeling of emptiness. I strove harder but to no avail.
By the age of 16, I began to doubt God and the purpose of my prayers. I gave the matter much thought and began to study the Quran. I faced my questions, the contradictions I saw in the Quran, and its many commands which seemed to me to be unloving and unjust. I observed that Islamic culture lags far behind modernity and is illogical, that the governing authorities act like religious dictators, and that most people around me did evil in the name of Islam. Thus, although the Quran is deemed the holy book and the source of Islam, and is followed by many, I grew increasingly dissatisfied and decided to leave Islam.
Initially, I thought more about science and nature. I came to believe that God is a form or source of energy—the Creator of the material world by dint of “his” conversion of energy into material existence. At the same time I began to draw. Artwork calmed me and gave me some satisfaction since people liked what I drew. When I was aged 20 I received a psychology book titled Ten Steps to Happiness which was written by Dr. David Burns. After reading it I felt the need to study more about my psyche. I, therefore, read psychology books for six years and studied how to live and to act. Although these writings gained me self-confidence and self-induced calmness, thus encouraging me and increasing my feeling of well-being, I still experienced an inner emptiness. There was yet something I needed and did not have.
Along the way, I met Lili. We got to know each other and got married. Lili is a great person who changed me. Typically, we got on very well together, but sometimes we struggled. Although she did not agree with my psychology readings and practices, she continued to support and to encourage me to grow as a person. At the age of 27 or 28 I came across an Indian Mystic, Rajneesh Osho, and started to read his books. After all these years of hard work and effort, I believed his writings would help me reach my final goal, namely, depth in my being. I thought, rather egotistically, that I could achieve in this material world the power of healing, the power to fly, or any other supernatural ability! And yet, after these many years of searching and practice, there was no spiritual change in my life. I had received no lasting help and had become more self-centered. I was able to dispute but, spiritually, was very weak. All the while I tried to live by Osho’s books. I observed that most of the people who practiced his methods began to stray. Some even became atheists. That said, God used these practices to teach me how to be still and to be silent, for stillness and silence were to become for me an important aspect of Christian living. I refer not to stillness and to silence abstractly, but as gifts given us by God through which we may become sensitive to him.
It was seven years ago that I, at last, embraced the Christian faith. Lili and I had recently moved to Cyprus. In those first days in Cyprus some strange things happened. In front of my hotel in Larnaca was a very busy street. Many people walked there in the evening. On one of the occasions on which I set up my easel to sketch for the passers-by, sister Tuba—an Iranian living in Germany and travels the world in the cause of mission—gave me a Farsi New Testament and prayed for me. In the same week I got an order for two oil paintings from an Orthodox church. While I worked on these paintings I had dreams of Jesus, but I did not take them seriously. I was preoccupied at the time with purchasing an apartment for Lili and our son, Sam.
By 2009 we were informed by Cyprus’ immigration department that we would need to renew our visa, and that we would have to return to Iran to apply for the visa from there. Since I had drawn political caricatures and cartoons about religious leaders in Iran, we felt it was not safe to go back. We might be arrested. So, we asked the immigration office if we could renew our visa in Cyprus. No allowance was given even though we pressed hard for this. In fact, all the doors closed on us. We thought hard, and even pondered the possibility of using a lawyer.
This unusual period of time coincided with our rental of a small apartment in another town. Our landlord came one day to our home for the collection of the rent. We talked together about our problem. He tried to help us through friends, lawyers, and so forth, but the best help he gave us was to connect us to brother John. He was a strong believer who, at that time, painted icons for the Orthodox church. John was the first real follower of Jesus that we met on Cyprus. His love and kindness were most profound. We had never seen such love, even from our own family. He easily forgave people, and let me do some painting on his paint jobs, teaching me how to go about it. When the job was finished he would give me all of the money he received. He also gave us the Word of God, both by sharing the Word and by the way he lived his life. During breaks in the work he explained to me the Word of God and talked about Jesus. This lasted for the six months we were together. Much was revealed to us during that time which led to us coming to faith in Jesus. I had always thought that maybe I could meet God after death, but I never thought that God could enter my life in the here and now!
Since all the doors to the visa renewal remained closed, Lili and I came to the view that we must apply for asylum in Cyprus. Lili and I consulted with brother John who agreed that this is what we should do. I was drawing cartoon and portraits in downtown Limassol at the time. One day an Iranian shopkeeper named Silva came and spoke to me. She worked for a political party called the National Front. She and her husband, Payman, were also asylum seekers. She told me how to apply for asylum, but also invited me to become politically active as a cartoonist for the National Front. I agreed, and from August 2009 I started working for the party as an active member.
To apply for asylum, Lili and I had to go to the Asylum Department in Limassol. First of all we filled out the forms. These asked us about our religion. Although we had believed in Jesus we didn't know a lot about the differing theological traditions within Christianity. We wrote “Christian” on the forms, because we knew nothing of Orthodoxy, Catholicism, or Protestantism. The authorities, however, wanted us to list one of these. I asked Lili, “Which are we?” Since Lili said she didn't know, I said we should write down that we are Protestant. Only later when we visited an Iranian church and asked them about this were we told that we are Protestant evangelicals. In this we saw how the Lord was working by his Holy Spirit in our lives. Meanwhile, we were at the Asylum Department all day, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. They did not want to accept us. The head manager went so far as to screw up my application in a ball and threw it in my face shouting, “Why do you want to apply for asylum?” They insulted us and threatened to handcuff us and send us back to Iran, but the Lord had a great plan for us.
Since the process for asylum took time, our first interview did not occur until six months later, in February 2010—the same day as our baptisms. Our road to baptism began with our desire to attend an Iranian congregation and pray to the Lord in our own language. We had no idea, though, that there was an Iranian congregation in Limassol, that is, until the day I searched on Google for one. I found a website and called the church. I spoke in English as the brother asked me where I was from. When I told him I was from Iran he started to speak in Farsi to me. It turned out that he was the pastor of the Iranian church in Limassol! I was amazed and praised God. We started to attend the church and her Bible studies, and felt so good about it. We prayed with tears and rejoiced in God. Every day the Lord showed us new things. After a few months we told our pastor that we profess faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and wanted to be baptized. He said, “No, you need more time before being baptized.”
We asked again every once in a while, but he always answered in the same way. One day Lili found the New Testament we had received from sister Tuba two years earlier. Lili saw that on the last page sister Tuba had written her telephone number in Germany. We called her, and after she was sure of our professions of faith she came to Cyprus with another brother, Pastor Friedman, to baptize us. After the baptism sister Tuba asked if we could use our home as a house church to which people could come and worship. Lili and I said, “Yes, of course!” We, therefore, began to hold prayer and worship in our home twice a week. This lasted for about a year.
That same day in our home, sister Tuba and Pastor Friedman prayed for us and for our next interview at the Asylum Department. It was to take place in Nicosia, the capital city of Cyprus, two or three weeks later. The interviewer, however, did not turn up, so the Asylum Department promised to send us a date for another interview. We praise the Lord that the new appointment did not take place until the next year. During that year we prayed, had fellowship with other believers, and walked with the Lord. We saw him work every day in our lives. In particular, there were a lot of Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons around us who tried to stop the Lord’s work. One day I had their booklet with me. Brother John told me that while they are good people they are false teachers. I, therefore, became more alert and learned more about them. One of the leaders of the Jehovah Witnesses, who was Iranian, sought a close friendship with us. He and his fiancée came to our home. One day I told him that I believed Jesus to be my Lord, but that he didn’t believe. He answered that the Scripture declares Jesus to be Lord more than 133 times, but that the Jehovah Witnesses don’t believe this. So I told him that when he had come to believe that Jesus is Lord he could return to our home once more. He never came back.
It was in June 2011 that our appointment with the Asylum Department finally took place. I was interviewed for about five hours and was asked many questions, but there was no attempt to try and understand why we had a problem with returning to Iran. Rather, the authorities looked for a reason to reject us and evidently the translator shared the same perspective. The next day Lili was interviewed for another four or five hours. We felt their opposition and their indifference as to whether the Iranian government arrested us were we to return. Lili thus became depressed after the interview, crying every day and becoming sick. We prayed every day and asked every believer we knew to pray for us. We were without hope and found those days very difficult. Yet, after a week or so Lili came to me early one morning exclaiming, “Rahi, wake up! We won the green card lottery for immigration to the USA.” I asked her how she knew. Lili answered that her sister, Ladan, had called from Iran and told her that she had filled out the visa lottery form and that we had won! Although I was awake I wondered whether this news was a dream or real.
With that, we started preparing our documents for the move. We needed many from Iran which our families sent to us. It took us a year to prepare them all in readiness for our interview with the U.S. embassy. Through it all, we saw how the Lord brought us out of our difficulties. He said to us in effect, “If I am for you, who can be against you?” (Romans 8:31).
Our lives are like a land in which our Lord sows seeds. Every day he is watering us by the Holy Spirit. With hindsight, we rejoiced that God had closed the doors to stay in Cyprus. Every day the Lord blessed us richly and gave us our daily bread, both materially and spiritually.
In August 2011 we participated in an Iranian conference in the city of Larnaca. The conference was arranged by the Middle East Reformed Fellowship (MERF). It was attended by new believers from Cyprus, was addressed by pastors from Norway (Mahmoud Saffaran) and America (Iain Wright), and was led by Rev. Victor Attallah, the Director of MERF. After the conference we began attending the church where Pastor Victor serves. One day he asked us whether, in addition to coming to the church, we would begin a Farsi Media Ministry. We told him we would love to do this, but that we did not know how to begin. He arranged, as an initial step, for Rev. Bruce Powell to study with us Louis Berkhof’s A Summary of Christian Doctrine. From then on we drove twice a week the one-hour drive from Limassol to Larnaca for the Bible study with Pastor Bruce. After that, Rev. Victor suggested that we learn more about working with computers. A few months later brother George came from Lebanon to teach me how to record and to produce programs. Thus it was in November 2011 that we began to broadcast our recordings for 15 minutes on the Internet and shortwave radio. We also built ourShadkami website and joined Facebook. To begin with, we had little experience, but we brought our difficulties to brother George. From him we learned much.
In September 2012 we migrated to the USA. Rev. Victor arranged for us to settle in Grand Rapids in order to work under the Consistory of SRC. Here we continue our research and the production of our programs. Weekly, I am mentored in the faith by Dr. Tim and am blessed. During our first week here I talked with brother Mahmoud Saffaran on Skype and told him our testimony. He told me of a dear brother in the USA who knows the Farsi language, but he did not know in which city or state he lived. However, he gave me the phone number of brother Allyn Huntzinger, and I saw from the area code that he lived in the Grand Rapids area—the same city to which we had come to live! Brother Mahmoud asked me to call Allyn. I did and gave him the address of SRC. After just five minutes he came and met me at the church! How the Lord worked! It was really amazing.
Brother Allyn is American and had worked with his wife for 16 years in Iran until the Islamic revolution of 1979. He speaks Farsi and helps immigrant Iranians and other Iranians worldwide. Brother Allyn had just moved a year earlier from near Philadelphia to Grand Rapids, and here we were, brought by the Lord from Cyprus to SRC. If it had not been for Rev. Victor we would have gone to California where Lili’s brother, Shahriar, lives. He was, after all, our sponsor during our migration to the U.S. From the first day until now, brother Allyn has helped and guided us in every way he can. He and his wife, Diane, are our best friends, a brother and sister to us, and more besides. I am sure our sovereign Lord arranged all this. Thus, I end with prayer:
Thank you Lord! O Lord, you think of everything! I am amazed by your plan for our salvation. That which you have worked out through Christ, has given us great peace and shown us that our real home is in heaven. For many years we were lost, had difficulties, were tired, bound to Satan, far from God, but thirsty for truth. Suddenly you brought the good news of Jesus Christ to us. Thank you Christ for purchasing us! Now we are yours and we ask you to use us for your glory. In this hope we rejoice.
Forough Pirseyedi, 1939–2015
Forough was born into a Muslim family in Tehran, the capitol city of Iran, in February 1939. She married Shahab who became a manager of the Agriculture Bank. Forough and Shahab were married for 56 years, during which time she gave birth to their firstborn son, Shahriar, then to three daughters, Sharzad, Lili, and Ladan. During the marriage Forough and Shahab moved to different Iranian cities due to Shahab’s work, and settled in 2013 in Northern Iran, near the Caspian Sea.
In 2013, Forough came to the United States to visit Rahi, Lili, and Sam. She had not seen them for six years. During her trip Jesus met with Forough. She received him as her Savior and Lord and was baptized at SRC on her last Sunday in the United States, September 15, 2013.
Returning to Tehran because of family health concerns, Forough went to be with her Savior around midnight on Monday, March 2, 2015. She died in a hospital in Tehran due to a bleeding stomach, and went to her Father in Heaven.
Forough was survived by Shahab, her husband, who passed away on December 28, 2015, and is survived by her children—Shahriar, Sharzad, Lili, and Ladan; her son-in-law, Rahi; her grandson, Sam; and an older brother and a younger sister who live in Canada. This is her testimony:
Almost four years ago I heard that Lili and Rahi had come to Christ. I could not believe it and was saddened by the news, yet I did not take the news seriously. That is, until six months ago I came to America and recognized that they had become earnest believers and very insistent that I, too, believe in Jesus Christ.
I was very sad. When they spoke about the Word of God and of Jesus Christ during the first two months, I just got angry and told them to please stop. I even told them that if they continued I would go back to Iran, for I had just come for a visit and not to change my religion. I asked them not to speak anymore about Christianity. So they spoke no more about their faith, but I saw in their actions how they lived their lives. A miracle had happened to them. I also saw their contact with the church and other believers. This made me think deeply about Christianity. I had many questions about it. A few times, when Dr. Tim visited me, he answered my questions very logically and I really felt comforted. I recognized that I was living as a Muslim only in name, and was not really a Muslim. In fact, I did not have any religion.
I discerned in all this the plan of God. He brought my children to the United States and then he brought me to visit them, and, in doing so, to meet Jesus Christ. I saw, thereby, the need to believe in Jesus Christ. I am so glad and thankful for that. At last, at the age of 74, I now recognize my religion. I found and chose it, but, of course, I should say that God chose me and found me and gave me in Jesus the grace of salvation.
But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:13).
What I meant for evil, God meant for good!