Refugee families welcome Scriptures

Namik Kerimov is passionate about taking God’s Word to refugees. Photo: UBS/Dag Smemo (AZE06DJ-20.JPG)

Just a few miles from the Iranian border, in the south of Azerbaijan, is a town called Imisli. It is an arid area with few trees and poor soil. Thousands of refugee families have been living in camps and villages in this area for more than a decade, trying to scratch out a living.

Namik Kerimov, who is responsible for work among migrants and refugees at Kitab Shirketi, brought a team to visit a few families in this area for the first time in July, bringing with him some food and a few short Scripture Selections to give them.

“There are many refugees here, and I did not know which homes to visit,” he says. “So I prayed and asked God to lead me to the right ones.”

In early September, Namik and a team from Kitab, including its Director, Gulshan, and some members from churches in Baku, made the long journey from Baku to visit those families again, bringing with them more gifts and Scriptures. On his last visit, Namik took photographs of the families, which he uses to help him locate them again.

A local man on the roadside agrees to help the team find the families again. He is a refugee, too, he says, and has been here for 13 years. He has no family.

These young boys were delighted with the colourful Scripture books they received from Kitab Shirketi. Photo: UBS/Dag Smemo (AZE06DJ-75.JPG)

“It’s very hard to live here,” he remarks. “There are no proper houses or any of the things people need to live. Nobody has helped us.”

He is interested in what the team is doing and listens as they visit each family. When the team leaves, Namik gives him some Scriptures for himself, including some Faith Comes By Hearing tapes. He also takes more Scriptures to give to his friends.

As the team visited the different houses, they distributed some Scriptures to some children and adults they met along the way. Some children were so excited they fetched their brothers and sisters and friends so that they, too, could receive copies.

“The next time we come and visit you here, we will ask you some questions about what is in the books, and the person who knows the most will get a prize,” Mrs Huseynova promises them. They smile and wave as the team leaves.

by Dag Smemo and Andrea Rhodes

The following stories (Vasif’s big day, ‘We have lost hope’ and The poet) show how four particular families near Imisli reacted to the team’s visit. These stories relate to projects 50610, 71803, 71815 and 71818. (WR 407/24 - 12.06) [4 photos]