The Presbyterian Church of Bayern: A 2024 Wrap-Up Story
In September, The Outreach Foundation fielded a team of 21 people from six congregations to meet with Pastor Sargez Benjamin and his congregation in the heart of Germany. For most of our team, it was their first experience to be with this congregation, and we emerged with a deeper appreciation for Sargez and the role he serves as an anchoring voice in the Persian Diaspora of Europe.
A three-day conference served as the “main event” for our team. Sargez invited The Outreach Foundation to bring meaningful resources to help him serve his young community. Though the ages range from children to men and women in their sixties, each is a first-generation believer. The conference offered study and conversation around the challenges of secularity that we and Persian Diaspora Christians face. Our teachers delivered biblical teaching rooted in Daniel and Esther, who were two role models who also lived in ancient Persia as Jews. The conversations were informative and practical. Worship was robust with the support of Dariush Golbaghi, founder of Safehouse, another one of our partners in the Persian Diaspora.
One of the highlights of both this and last year’s conferences has been the opportunity for intercessory prayer. We were blessed to have a team of six gifted prayer partners who met with more than twenty of the conference participants. Prayer requests ranged from healings to petitions that God would meet dire material needs, including approval of immigration status. Many prayers focused on family back home. Three people visiting from their home country met with the prayer team for confession of faith and baptism. It was especially powerful and a blessing to have been invited “in” on this moment in their lives. Interestingly, at the beginning of the conference, one woman asked our prayer team to pray for these people specifically!
Praying over a new sanctuary
The Outreach Foundation has followed Pastor Sargez’s community closely as they have grown from living as refugees to becoming more settled in Germany. A significant symbol of this development was the recent purchase of a building, a former financial firm, located outside Nuremberg. They have been able to improve the building so that it can function as a center for worship, training, and outreach to the Muslim population, which itself has many refugees. Sargez noted with a smile while carrying food from the kitchen for our farewell dinner, “This church is an answer to our prayers. Our neighbors are relieved this property is with Christians.” In a special dose of God’s mercy, the property is two blocks away from Sargez’s favorite BBQ!
A visit to Dachau and Mehrdad Sajadi
Our visits to the Persian Diaspora include an experience to help us understand the culture. This year we visited the concentration camp memorial grounds in Dachau, where 40,000 people died. Following this sobering visit, we prayed for all those who face persecution. It was a moving visit as we thought of our Persian friends who suffer much in their country. We then had lunch with Mehrdad Sajadi, another of our partners in the Persian Diaspora. Mehrdad works with Quest in their Persian-speaking ministry. Each year, he conducts several seminars for Persian-speaking Muslim background believers to develop them as disciples, training them so they can share the gospel more effectively and pastor a community of Muslim background believers.
The Opportunity
Each of our Persian Diaspora Partners ministers entirely out of their own limited resources, often waiting to hear the outcomes of their own asylum cases. Each of them are serving sacrificially, boldly, and faithfully, craving our friendship and prayers. Sargez’s congregation can offer very little in the way of support as they are faced with employment and immigration challenges themselves. We are pleased to bring US congregations and donors into a relationship with these trusted individuals. The Outreach Foundation seeks gifts to continue building our growing work among our Persian Diaspora Partners throughout the Middle East and Europe. All gifts of any size are welcome. You may make a gift by mailing a check to our office or by giving online via the button below.