A Persian (Iranian) Love Story .... Amazing people

Typical beautiful street in Antalya

First you must know I will use no names and there will be no pictures of this story.  This is to protect the people I am telling about.  They are terrified of being found and taken back to Iran.

He is a young man, a Muslim, born in Iran with a powerful father who works in the government.   He attended college to become a software/ computer engineer.  He meets a beautiful Persian woman attending the same university.  She is studying English and loves linguistics.  She is also a Christian that had converted from Islam because she did not comprehend the teachings of her native faith and could not believe fear should be the tool of God.  His parents were angry and forbid him to marry the woman he loved.

They completed school and were married behind the backs of their parents.  When his family found out what he had done, they threatened to kill him if he did not divorce her and marry a Muslim woman.  Out of fear for their lives they fled to Georgia (an orthodox Christian country located north of Armenia and on the Turkish eastern border).

 

There are no towns with out old stuff.  Like
Jean Edwards said, "Do you think we have seen
enough old ruins?"

He found work with an airline company and they settled into a life without their families, but with each other.  She looked at the local Christian churches and found the Mormon Church.  Eventually both of them joined the LDS Church and found great happiness in their new religion.

Then one day at work, a representative from the Iranian Embassy came to his work and told him he must come to the embassy.  He knew his father had found him and so they fled to Turkey and never responded to the authorities.  Now they are simple refugees fleeing their country and their family to preserve their marriage and love for each other.  They are waiting like so many others to be relocated or accepted into a country that is truly free.

They are very secretive about their current life and are always afraid someone will find them again.  You should know that Turkey and Iran have a unilateral agreement that allows people from either country to pass between borders without a visa, so an Iranian could easily be kidnapped and returned to Iran without rights.

When he had his police interview to begin his refugee applications, he did not dare to admit he was Christian.  When the police identified that he had a Christian wife, they wanted to know why he would not just divorce her and marry one of the thousands of single Muslim women. 

 

             

Jean and Wayne Edwards at Hierapolis.
Rocks from before Christ.

In a world where love is so rare it is such a storybook tale to see people truly in love enough to sacrifice their families for each other and a relationship with a loving God.

They simply state that their lives have been so blessed for their choices and decisions.  How can you not admire such people?

Perhaps the greatest blessing of this mission is without doubt the people.  We have met so many remarkable and wonderful people that have given up so much for the right to believe and live with agency.

Well, we are just days away of being gone for a whole year.  This week we travel to Kayseri to work with the Hagobians, the Iraqi family distributing food to refugees and then we are off to Izmir to do the next phase of our wheelchair project.

Buns of Marble
Poseidon 

Oh, and the good news, I will be preforming my first baptism in Turkey.  One of the young women, an Iranian attending our family home evening has decided to join the Church and she wants me to baptize her.  I feel bad that she did not choose the missionaries, but it is an honor to be asked to perform this great gift.  Strange, when our kids were little, they did not pay much attention to FHE, but I end up getting a baptism out of my crazy teaching style.

There are now more Iranians (Persians), Iraqis, and other nationalities that are members here in Turkey than there are Turks.  In reality, Farsi or Persian would be a much more valuable language to communicate and share the gospel.

وداع و به همه شما برکت دهد  Just a little harder to read.  Remember you would read this phrase right to left, if that helps.  It says "farewell and bless you all".