Planting the seeds of God’s Word among refugees

by Dag Smemo and Andrea Rhodes

“God placed it on my heart to begin working with refugees,” says Gulshan Huseynova, Director of Kitab Shirketi, the ‘Book Company’ that is responsible for Bible work in Azerbaijan. Kitab has been working among refugees for the past two years.

Refugees from a lush land In the late 1980s, as the Soviet era was coming to an end, allowing long-suppressed ethnic rivalries to resurface, fighting erupted in the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. The ethnic Armenians who make up the majority of the population in the region declared independence from Azerbaijan, resulting in a conflict that is still ongoing. Up to one million Azeris fled the region. Leaving behind them everything they had built up over the generations, they found themselves having to settle wherever they were told to, with little or no money or possessions, building homes and shelters with whatever materials they could get hold of. Having left a region of lush vegetation and dramatic mountain landscapes, they are now living in various scattered camps across the country, some located in arid areas with few trees and where it is difficult to grow crops. Most have been living in these conditions for more than a decade, some for 16 years, waiting and hoping to one day return to their homes. The government has tried to provide aid, but the sheer number of people affected has made it difficult, and most people have had to cope with no help at all. The lucky ones have family members who have found work in Baku or in Russia, but jobs are scarce. And with no end in sight to the conflict, they face an uncertain future.

Small refugee boys in the south of Azerbaijan. With no end in sight to the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh, they face an uncertain future. Photo: UBS/Dag Smemo (AZE06DJ-93.JPG]

Gulshan Huseynova, Director of Kitab Shirketi, with two refugee children. Photo: UBS/Dag Smemo (AZE06DJ-62.JPG)

“Since Kitab first began work after the collapse of the Soviet Union, we have been mainly concentrating on helping to provide Scriptures and Christian literature for Christians,” explains Mrs Huseynova. “This was because there was a dearth of Scriptures during and after the communist years.

Terrible conditions

“But now we also need to reach those people in the country, and there are very many of them, who have never had contact with the Word of God. We had been thinking about working with refugees for a few years, but it was difficult. I prayed about it often, asking God, ‘Why are these refugees living in these terrible conditions?’ One day I prayed out loud for them in my church. People came to me afterwards and said that my prayer had touched them and they, too, wanted to work with the refugees. Now many people are doing this work, and we provide Scriptures for them to distribute.

Food

“When I first started visiting the refugees two years ago, they said to me, ‘None of your people have come to us before now.’ The only people they had seen were some humanitarian organisations who had been helping some of them with food and other practical help.

“But now there are regular visits to refugees. We have some funding for this work now – not much, but we now have our worker, Namik, who is responsible for this ministry. When I asked him if he would like to do this work he immediately agreed and said, ‘It has been my dream to work with refugees.’

Glimpse

“The way we carry out this work is on a very small, personal level. We travel to an area in which there are refugees, and visit a few in their homes. We ask about their lives and their problems. Then we give them some Scripture Selections, containing just a few verses, or give them tapes that have Christian songs in Azeri music, plus some talking about Jesus. This just gives them a small glimpse into what Christianity is about and some of them want to find out more. And then we leave, promising to visit them again. Most of them are very happy to be visited because they feel isolated and forgotten and they appreciate the fact that we do care about them.

“Then, a few weeks or a month or so later we return, ask them how they are, if they enjoyed the Scriptures we gave them, and then offer them a slightly longer Portion of Scripture, and maybe some Faith Comes By Hearing tapes in Azeri. Then on the next visit we might bring them a Children’s Bible, or a Bible. This way they are slowly opened to God’s Word.

“We never know how people are going to react, but after establishing good relationships with some refugee families in an area, if we feel the conditions are right and if we can get official permission, we, together with churches in Baku, organise a concert there. Each year we hold about four of these concerts for refugees in different areas. That way we further strengthen our relationships with the families we have visited, but also reach out to the rest of the community.

“Many people come to these concerts. We distribute tapes containing the Christian songs from the concert, and sometimes we also distribute Scriptures. A short while ago, for example, we held a concert in a village close to the war zone and 3,000 refugees came. We distributed more than 3,000 audio cassettes and 1,500 Scripture Selections and Portions.” This story relates to projects 50610, 71803, 71815 and 71818. (WR 407/22 - 12.06) [5 photos]