In a small, unassuming lounge room in Iran, Amin* used to meet with fellow believers to talk, pray and share in community. To Amin, the fellowship was a beautiful thing. To authorities, it was a crime.
Despite growing up a Muslim, Amin became a Christian through a house church. In a country heavily opposed to Christianity, Amin grew in faith and his love for Christ, eventually becoming the leader of his house church.
But Amin’s faith came at a price. The first time the secret police discovered his ministry, they arrested him. He was threatened. Tortured. Locked behind bars.
“I hadn’t committed any crime to deserve this,” he said. “All I did was surrender my heart to Jesus.”
Amin didn’t know if he would ever be free again.
Run For Your Life
Despite years in prison, Amin was not discouraged. After his release, he continued his house church ministry. But when the secret police tracked him down again, Amin saw no other option than to leave his home country and flee to Turkey.
In Turkey, Amin didn’t know a single person. Nobody spoke his language. He didn’t know where he could turn for help. There wasn’t a safe place for a refugee like him.
“[I had] some kind of fear, mixed with sadness and confusion,” Amin remembered. “I lost everything. My job, my family, my country.”
He was without basic necessities. Without a safe place. Forced to forge his own path without help.
A Place To Turn
Today, Amin wants to make sure that other Christians who run for their life have a place to turn for the help they desperately need.
His dream is to create a safe space where other refugees can receive the spiritual, emotional, and practical support they need – a library full of books in their own language, a room for Christian training, a café for believers to meet over a cup of tea and receive counselling, and a place to receive emergency aid.
Amin’s dream is now becoming a reality. Along with his local church, he’s been working to establish a community centre to become a place to serve those who need it the most.
This is only possible through the generous support of people like you.
Amin said, “Without the international family of God, we wouldn’t have been able to establish this centre. I feel like God’s hand was in this. He brought us all together.
“I am really looking forward to what God is going to do here, to see the fruits of this centre. All to glorify the name of our God!”
When persecuted Christians are forced to run for their lives, your support can ensure that they get what they need to survive.
*Name changed for security purposes.
