Missionary Stories AZERBAIJAN
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Transcript of Missionary Stories AZERBAIJAN
Stories from
AZERBAIJANBaku • Sumgait
Azerbaijan
Elshan Abdullayev—Baku
Fuad Tariverdi—Baku
Rasima Muradova—Sumgait
EURASIA
Grace Publications6025 Moravia Park Drive
BaLTiMore, MD 21206
Printed in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.a.
Copyright © 2012
Grace Publications is a ministry of
Greater Grace World outreach, inc.
www.ggwo.org
INTRODUCTION
These pages contain what we consider to be
good news from afar. The words are written to
take your imagination to nations, to places, and to
homes so that you would understand more about
the reality of what God is doing in His world. Think
about the people as they tell you about the days of
their youth. We believe their stories will stir you to
pray and that the maps and sketches will give you
a sense of where they are from and of what their
countries are like.
The stories you are about to read are true stories.
They are from people like you who grew up in towns
and neighborhoods like yours and did some of the
things that you do. at some point in their lives, each
of these people became believers in Jesus Christ.
each of them recognized their need for His saving
grace and entered into real spiritual relationship
with Him. also, each of these people came to be a
part of the ministry of Greater Grace World outreach,
a church devoted to preaching the Gospel and to
the mission of making disciples of Christ in every
nation.
our prayer is that these series of books on these
amazing people will help you to see the wonderful
work of God. Through the reading of these stories,
you may find yourself wanting to meet people like
these people and to go to new places and be part of
the great adventures of missionary life.
Special thanks to those involved in producing
this publication: Melissa Quickel, for her interviews
and transcriptions; Daniel Dunbar, for putting these
into story form; karen Janssen, for the drawings of
the people and the places; Sue May, for the layout
and design; and for Bruce May, for the printing and
production.
Steve andrulonis
Editor in Chief
Grace Publications
A z e r b a i j a nSumgait
Baku
AZERBAIJAN
Baku … Elshan Abdullayev
Baku … Fuad Tariverdi
Sumgait … Rasima Muradova
Elshan’s Home TownBaku, Azerbaijan
A z e r b a i j a n Baku
7
Baku, Azerbaijan
Elshan Abdullayev
Did you know that there are some people
who truly enjoy school and studying?
Perhaps you are one of them and you will understand
what i mean when i say that for elshan abdullayev
school was a hobby. Some boys collect coins, action
figures, or pictures of their favorite athletes. elshan
collected grades. He did not care what the subject
was; he studied very hard so that he could get a’s
in all of his classes. He was a perfectionist, always
trying to be and do the very best, and that is why
he worked so hard to excel in school. elshan was
very proud of his intelligence and his ability to
figure things out logically. He thought he was smart
8
enough to be the president of azerbaijan when he
grew up.
azerbaijan was part of the Soviet
Union when eslhan was a boy and
ruled by communists, so he was
taught in school that there
was no God. He heard
in history class about a
godly man named Jesus
who had been killed two thousand years ago, but this
was only information for him to learn to get a grade.
after all, Jesus was part of the Christian religion, and
he believed that if he was going to be religious, he
should be a Muslim, since that was part of his azeri
culture. elshan’s father was a communist, so his
family was not religious. elshan hated him because
he drank alcohol and ignored his family when he
came home from the army. He had never told elshan
that he loved him.
The family moved to Baku when elshan was
old enough to go to university. His parents owned
two apartments and decided to rent one. an agent
brought two Finnish women, elina and Liisa, to see
the apartment and elina played a song on the piano.
elshan’s mother loved the ladies right away and
served them tea and coffee, because she wanted
9
them to rent the apartment. When elshan’s father
came home, he recognized one of the women and
said, “i know you! You were playing the violin in that
place,” and he told his family that he had been going
to a nice cultural club where people talk about God.
elshan was shocked.
elina and Liisa said that their pastor would have
to approve of the apartment before they could live
there. They explained that they were missionaries
and invited the family to come to their church.
elshan imagined a building with a cross on top, filled
with sick, old russian ladies with wrinkly white skin
hoping to find some sort comfort in their Christian
religion. He thought, “What are these two ladies
thinking? i am a Muslim, not a Christian.” He knew
his father could not refuse the invitation, because
that would be very impolite for an azeri to do, but
he expected his answer would be a polite “maybe”
which would have meant “no.”
When Pastor Matti SirviŐ from the Greater Grace
church arrived, he said the apartment was nice
enough, but the neighborhood was too dangerous
for two missionary ladies. elina cried. elshan’s
family were amazed. How could someone they had
known for so short a time love them enough that
she would weep because she could not live in
10
their simple apartment? after this tearful display
of unconditional love, elshan’s father accepted the
ladies’ invitation to their church, and the whole
family went.
elshan was surprised to discover that the church
was filled with hundreds of dark-skinned azeris like
him, and that they all were filled with joy and love.
He thought, “This cannot be a church. This must be
a club where people speak and sing about God.”
He wondered, “Why are these people like me, yet
very different from me?” The people had something
mysterious inside them, and he was jealous enough
of them to want to figure out what this mysterious
something was. He paid little attention to Pastor
Matti’s preaching from the Bible, but spent the
service observing the other people like a scientist,
trying to understand the “trick” that made everyone
so happy. By the end of the service, elshan had told
God that, although he now believed
in Him, he would never
become a Christian, since
he was a Muslim. He
had no explanation
for the trick.
Thinking that
more observation
11
combined with logical thinking would help him
understand the trick, elshan decided to come back
to the church until he figured it out. every Sunday
morning he went to the meeting, and when he
learned there were also Sunday and Wednesday
evening meetings, he attended those as well,
but he still could not understand what made the
church people so happy. Deciding that he needed
even more opportunities to observe, he enrolled in
Bible college, a shy, unsaved Muslim guy, sitting in
the corner of the classroom, not talking to anyone,
just taking notes and feeling strange whenever the
other students told him how much God and they
loved him. He found himself looking forward to the
meetings and his classes.
Finally, after months of observing Christians,
he realized he understood their trick: Nobody in
the church or the college was any different from
him, except that they believed what the pastor was
preaching and teaching. He had learned enough to
know what they did, but he was not believing it. He
knew the Bible said that all men are sinners and that
God loves sinners, but hates sin. He knew that God
sent his only son to die on a cross to deal with sin
so that people, like him, could believe and be free.
it didn’t make logical sense to him, but alone in his
12
home, he prayed, “God, i
want to be a Muslim and
believe in Jesus Christ.
Come into my heart and
change my life. i want to
have the same life that
the people in the church
have, and they say to just
believe.”
Little by little, God changed elshan’s life. He
began singing in the church and he finished Bible
college. He married a wonderful Hungarian woman
and together they serve God in the Baku church
and as missionaries to iran. elshan’s father received
Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior and he stopped
drinking. He came home happy about his life and
brought joy to his family. He told elshan, “i love you,”
for the very first time, and they became good friends
as father and son. it wasn’t elshan’s knowledge that
changed his life; it was his simple faith in Jesus
Christ.
Fuad’s Home TownBaku, Azerbaijan
A z e r b a i j a n Baku
14
Baku
Fuad Tariverdi
When Fuad Tariverdi was growing up in
Baku, azerbaijan, he had many hobbies
and responsibilities. He liked to draw and play
sports. He attended a special club where he learned
how to build a radio and work with electronics. He
enjoyed listening to music and practicing the violin
and the piano. He took care of two birds, some
kittens, and his fuzzy, jumpy dog Top.
But Fuad’s biggest job was to look
after his little brother.
Because Fuad was five years
older, he was put in charge
of his little brother when their
15
mother had to go work
as a doctor. Fuad told his
brother stories and made
up games to play with
him while their mother
was at her job. Because
he did such a good job
taking care of his brother,
Fuad’s family nicknamed
him “second mother.”
Fuad had a busy life, but he sometimes found
time to ride his bicycle on the great, long boulevard
beside the Caspian Sea where families came to relax
and play. He was a happy boy, but he did not know
God. His grandmother was a faithful Muslim who
prayed five times a day, but his own family never
went to the mosque to worship. Fuad’s idea of God
was a big, old, gray-bearded man who watched over
him to make sure he was being good. He liked the
idea that God took care of him, but he was afraid of
what might happen if he wasn’t a good boy.
even though Fuad did not know God, when he
became a teenager he began speaking in his heart
to Him, praying, “if You are there, help me with
this.” He became curious about the priests and the
holy book in the russian orthodox church that was
16
next to his house. He sneaked in and watch the old
grandmothers and grandfathers lighting candles
and he tried to touch the mysterious, sacred book,
but he got caught and was told he could not look
into it.
Fuad had questions
about many things that
were happening in his
life, like the death of
his friend in the army,
but no answers. He went
to college to study to be a
mathematician and fell in love
with a girl who was studying mathematics
too. one day, his girlfriend’s mother came home very
excited. She had seen a poster that asked “is There
Life after Death?” and she had gone to a church to
hear what a pastor named Tom Schaller had to say
on the subject.
Fuad heard that this pastor had spoken from
the Bible, the holy book, and that the people at
the meeting had sung songs, clapped, raised their
hands, and laughed. He thought this was a joke,
because he believed that people talking about God
had to be very serious. after he met an american
missionary, Fuad’s heart began to change. He went
17
to the Greater Grace church, which was meeting
in a little hall inside a school, and when he heard
Pastor vladik preach the gospel from the Bible, he
discovered who God is and received Jesus Christ as
his Lord and Savior.
after his salvation, Fuad married his girlfriend.
They went to church and Bible college together.
Fuad began leading the music in the church, and
when he graduated from Bible college, he became
the pastor of his church. Nothing in Fuad’s life had
happened by accident. remember how he loved
music and practiced the violin and piano? God had
prepared him to be the music leader. remember
his hours as the “second mother” who took care of
his little brother? God had prepared him to be the
pastor who watches people’s souls. What is God
preparing you to become? if you are one of His
children, be sure that He has a plan for your life and
that everything that happens to you is making you
ready to serve Him in a very special way.
Rasima’s Home TownSumgait, Azerbaijan
A z e r b a i j a nSumgait
19
Sumgait, Azerbaijan
Rasima Muradova
Have you ever known someone who was as
close to you as your family? at church we
can meet spiritual brothers and sisters, mothers and
fathers, who love us and make us feel accepted. This
is a story about a girl who found her place in the
family of God.
rasima Muradova started her life in the
countryside of azerbaijan with her three sisters her
parents, and grandparents. Her grandparents moved
to Baku, the capital city, and it was like paradise for
rasima to go visit them. at her grandparents’ house
there was warmth, plenty of delicious food, and many
20
kids and older relatives to play and visit with. Her
grandmother expected her rasima and her sisters
to do chores when they visited, so they swept and
mopped the floors, cleaned the countertops, and
carried buckets of water long distances, because
they did not have running water in the house.
rasima’s family moved to the small city of
Sumgait to be closer to good schools and better jobs,
but her father decided to go to russia to find work,
leaving rasima’s mother to raise four daughters on
her own. Because he spent much of his money on
alcohol, rasima’s father sent very little money, so
rasima’s mother had to move a lot to find work. The
places they lived were usually small and cold, and
two of the girls
slept in the
bed while the
other two slept
on the floor.
Sometimes
rasima’s
mother even had to sell her things to get money.
Making sure her daughters had a good education
was very important to rasima’s mother, and she
made rasima study even though she would have
rather been outside with the other children playing
21
soccer. Before the school year began, she would buy
rasima a new school bag and new white knee socks,
but her school uniform was usually a hand-me-
down from one of her three older sisters. rasima
thought her mother was very strict about school,
and whenever rasima got into any trouble at school,
her mother always sided with the teacher and made
her respect her teachers.
although rasima grew up in a Muslim family,
she did not understand much about religious things,
and she had many questions. When she went to
university to study singing, she wanted to know
more about God, but she did not know who could
help her know him. it seemed that everyone she
knew made mistakes, that nobody was perfect, and
wondered how anyone could be right about God.
She decided that God would have to speak to her
Himself.
rasima’s cousin told her that she
had to be clean to go to God, so she
waited for her family to fall asleep
then poured a pitcher of
water over her head and
shoulders three times, went
to the balcony, opened the
window, and talked to God. She
22
told God about how her mother
had raised her sisters and her,
how she felt she was not
smart or beautiful, and
how she feared ending
up unhappily married
like two of her sisters. She asked God to forgive her
for not praying the right prayers to Him. Because she
was afraid she was not praying right, she asked the
tree outside the window if it would please pray to
God for her. She thought that if she visited a Muslim
mosque, the people there would tell her how to
pray, but she didn’t go.
one day rasima heard a man speaking in public
about Jesus. She was curious, especially when
he heard him invite a woman to a meeting where
people would pray for her healing. although she
was shy, rasima wanted to know about prayer, so
she asked him, “What kind of prayer is this?” He
gave her his telephone number and told him to call
later and he would explain. She called and he told
her that she could learn a prayer called The Lord’s
Prayer and that if she would come get it, he would
give her the book the prayer came from.
rasima met the man at a metro station and went
with him to get the book. He brought her to a place
23
where many russian people greeted her, and she
thought she was in a russian government building,
but it was a Baptist church. She tried to listen to
the message, but her knowledge of the russian
language was not very good, so she had no idea
what was going on. When the invitation to pray and
accept Christ came, rasima prayed what they told
her to say. She went to the Baptist church for a year,
but left because she had trouble understanding the
preaching in russian and was not learning enough
about God.
rasima prayed for God to help her with her plans
to be a singer. one day her sister asked her to have
tea with her in the university cafeteria, something
they usually would not do. a group of Greater Grace
missionary ladies was having a women’s seminar in
the cafeteria, and one of them was someone she
had known from the Baptist church. She introduced
rasima to her friends as a beautiful singer. The
women asked her to sing. although she did not want
to, she did. The women asked rasima and her sister
to come to their church on Sunday. rasima and her
sister went and heard Pastor Glenn Cannon preach.
She stood, joined hands with the others, and sang,
“How good and how pleasant it is for brothers to
dwell together in unity,” and the Holy Spirit spoke
24
to her heart and told her that this was the place she
had been looking for, that these were her people.
rasima began spending a lot of time with her new
church family, and this made her family members
angry. in her culture, family is very important, and
rasima’s family expected her home by six o’clock
every night unless there was a very good reason.
Going to a Christian church was not a good reason
to her family, but rasima went anyway. She had
found spiritual mothers and sisters, who hugged and
kissed her and told her she was beautiful, something
her own mother rarely did. She had found spiritual
fathers who told her that they loved her and fed her
the Word of God. it was a difficult time in her life,
but, in time, many of her relatives believed in Jesus
and became spiritual family members too.
rasima, her husband, and her son are now
missionaries bringing people into the family of God
by preaching the gospel wherever they go in the
world. She knows how missionaries changed her life
and desires to teach others how to love the same
way God loves her.