EMQ » July–September 2020 » Volume 56 Issue 3
By Angela De Lange
“I was forced to learn Islam as a child and now I hate that religion. I don’t want the same thing to happen to my son with Christianity, so I’m not going to make him go to Sunday school.” Instead, this father allowed his son to roam unsupervised around the church building during their Iranian worship service in a suburb of Vancouver, and the actions of this boy and a couple others tested the goodwill of the Canadian host church to the point that they almost evicted the Iranian church on several occasions.
Baggage from Islam is one of the challenges in discipling Iranian children. Fear of replicating stern religious instruction with lists of do’s and don’ts that drive children away from faith is a real concern among some Iranian Christians. As most parents are new believers themselves and often have not had experience in a non-Iranian church setting, they have not witnessed loving discipleship of children that aims to draw young hearts to a Savior who welcomed them.
Issues of Discipling Iranian Children
For Iranian Christians who do recognize the need for children’s discipleship, creating and sustaining children’s programs in Iranian churches, where a significant number of Iranian believers in the diaspora may be found, has challenges of other natures, the first being leadership. Though the Iranian church is the fastest growing church in the world at present,[1] capable, qualified leaders are scarce.[2] Some churches have nothing organized for children during the worship service, leaving children to entertain themselves, or they have light supervision from their parents. In other cases, the organized children’s ministry is little more than a daycare for the younger ones, in which adults supervise children playing with available toys or perhaps offer coloring pages or Play Dough.
Older children typically are left to their own devices, literally, their electronic devices, or running around the building. Volunteers most likely have not had experience or training in children’s ministry and have not been briefed on child abuse policies. Their supervision may be compromised by parents who come and chat with them rather than participate in the worship service. These issues result from two problems: lack of understanding of children’s discipleship and lack of competent teachers. One pastor, when asked who could volunteer for the church’s Sunday school, discounted almost every church member because she believed they should be listening to the sermon since they were so new in Christ.
An additional issue for discipling Iranian children in North America is that of language. Iranian children, though they may emigrate only speaking Farsi, quickly learn the language of their new country of residence. Because they attend English-speaking schools, they become more proficient in their new language, and they respond better to the classroom management style of their new country. For the children born in North America to Iranian parents, this is obviously the case as well. The rare Iranian adult who is willing to be involved in children’s ministry in an Iranian church most likely does not have the same language preference as the children nor the behavioral management strategies to which the children have grown accustomed. The result, too often, is chaos.
The Importance of the Christian Home
However, discipling children does not primarily belong in the sphere of the church but the home, which presents the greatest challenge in discipling Iranian children. With new believers, there is no model of godly Christian parenting to offer guidance. Faith formation through spiritual disciplines such as family prayer, Bible reading, and consistent Christian fellowship are not part of the collective memory, let alone how to apply Christian principles to sensitive topics such as dress and sexual behavior. The truth that a living and active Christian faith is not passively passed down from generation to generation through ritual, church attendance, or societal influence but that individual discipleship best fosters a child’s relationship with the Lord is difficult for any Christian parent. It is perhaps even more difficult for one coming from a country such as Iran where religion is synonymous with government, school, and culture.
If Iranian parents are aware of the need for discipleship in the home, there are other obstacles to face. Parents are most likely busy; often both parents work outside the home and possibly attend language classes as well if they are recent immigrants. They may also be in school to make their previous education compatible with local standards. As most Iranians in the diaspora live in expensive urban areas, their economic situation is probably stressful, as may be their immigration status, as may be their concern for relatives back home. Immigration may have broken their family, or perhaps they immigrated because of a broken family. Culture shock and depression can be debilitating.
The children of these parents frequently feel alone in navigating two cultures. Whether or not the children immigrated with their parents or were born after their parents arrived, the children inevitably understand the North American culture better than their elders and language and cultural barriers arise between them. Spiritual barriers emerge as well. In school children learn that only what is observed, tested, and proven is real. They learn from society that attractive physical appearance, material wealth, and pleasure are the goals of life. The vibrant spirituality of their parents’ new-found faith in Christ can be perceived as embarrassing, over-zealous, or as simply another superstition like others in the less progressive country they left behind.
One Iranian teen, who felt some pressure from her very emotive parents to be baptized, told them before her baptism at a church in the Vancouver area, “I believe, but I’m not as into this as you.” While the spirituality of Muslim background believers contains an assumption of the existence of a supreme being and his involvement in the world, the spirituality of their children growing up in North America does not. The questions and presuppositions of Iranian children in North America are Western, not Eastern, questions, and these differences in worldview create tension between parents and children who do not understand each other. They also present challenges for any Iranian adult immigrant seeking to work with Iranian children in North America.
Despite the various challenges in discipling Iranian children in North America, the call for God’s people through time and across cultures remains the same: teach the next generation. Immediately after giving His people their confession of belief for the first time God commanded them to speak about their faith with their children (Deuteronomy 6). This exhortation does not change in the New Covenant but is reiterated in Ephesians 6. God wants children taught because He loves them, and they are part of His plan of redemption. He used children such as Miriam, Samuel, and David “to do and to reveal significant things.”[3] Jesus healed children and laid His hands on them.
Children are “signs of His blessing … worthy of protection … fellow-agents of God’s mission … examples of the simple dependence that God’s kingdom requires of adults” and “in need of teaching.”[4] Proverbs instructs to “train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6), and this is confirmed in studies from the George Barna Research Group that indicate “by age 13, one’s spiritual identity is largely set in place.”[5] According to this research, there is a thirty-two percent chance of children ages 5–12 coming to faith in Christ, while there is a six percent chance for individuals over age 19.[6]
Phases of Learning
Since the call of God to disciple children is clear, despite the difficulties, it must happen. However, equipping Iranian parents and churches in North America to do so will not happen with a single lesson, training, or conference, and it will best be aided by collaborative effort between Iranian churches and North American churches that have resources, experience, and mastery of the language with which many Iranian children are more familiar. Even then, as with all discipleship, it will develop in phases. In the world of classical education, three phases of learning have been identified and termed the grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric stages.
In the first stage of understanding any subject a student must master the grammar or the vocabulary of new material. This occurs primarily through observation and memorization. Once this foundation has been laid, the student is able to then formulate questions about the subject and make connections between ideas new and old. In the final phase, the student is able to synthesize the vocabulary and analysis to create a replica or something new.
Jesus exemplified this process with His disciples. After He called them to Himself, they spent time following Him and observing what He did. They then began to practice what Jesus did and ask questions: “Why couldn’t we drive it [an unclean spirit] out?” (Mark 9:28) “Do you want us to call down fire down from heaven to destroy them?” (Luke 9:54). Eventually, after Jesus ascended the disciples carried out His work on their own, teaching, working miracles, and equipping others to live as they did.
The House of Omeed
In Vancouver, we are in the first stage of learning, trying to raise awareness among Iranian parents and churches of the need for and nature of children’s discipleship. A platform that has helped, if not been essential for initial progress, has been the House of Omeed. The House of Omeed is a Christian, non-profit organization started in 2016 by an Iranian Muslim background believer. Sustained by the financial and prayer support of US and Canadian churches and individuals, the House of Omeed offers free services such as English classes, tax clinics, and paperwork assistance for Iranians, which create opportunities to share the Gospel with them. The House of Omeed’s other purpose is to strengthen Iranian churches in the local area and promote kingdom work among them. It organizes conferences and outreaches for local Iranian churches, and it provides them with materials for discipleship as well. In its four years of existence the House of Omeed has gained the trust of several Iranian churches as well as the Iranian population at large and serves as neutral ground where Christians loyal to their own pastors or churches and suspicious of others can meet and fellowship together.
In 2018 we began offering childcare at House of Omeed events, the first being a concert given by a popular Iranian Christian singer. The childcare was staffed by non-Iranian volunteers, and included organized games, singing, and other activities. Some parents were surprised that there was a place for children at the concert, and a couple parents preferred to stay with their children, observing what we were doing. We repeated this format at another House of Omeed event in the spring of 2019.
Then, in the summer of 2019 the House of Omeed offered a week-long children’s summer camp for Iranian children between the ages of four and twelve. The goals of this camp were not only to promote spiritual growth among the children but also to raise awareness about children’s discipleship among Iranian parents and churches and provide a practicum for volunteers from Iranian churches to observe, participate, and acquire ideas. For this, we had fourteen Iranian volunteers (two of whom were the children’s ministry coordinators at two different Iranian churches) as well as seven non-Iranian volunteers. Only two of the Iranian volunteers had any experience with a Christian camp or Vacation Bible School, while the non-Iranian volunteers all did.
We held a volunteer meeting the month before the camp to examine the Scriptural basis for children’s discipleship as well as to explain the logistics of the camp. Iranian volunteers were paired with non-Iranian volunteers for several of the camp stations, which included Bible story, crafts, sports, and snacks. Non-Iranian volunteers led teams of children between the stations and conducted worship, Bible memory work, and science experiments during the morning and afternoon assemblies. Pastors of the participating Iranian churches were invited to take turns giving a devotional during the morning assemblies in order for the children to see church leadership caring for them and to raise awareness of children’s ministry among the pastors.
During the camp each day there was a place where parents could have refreshments. Two Iranian volunteers were available to talk with them, and each day several parents stayed, some because of transportation issues but others out of curiosity about the event. A couple asked, “Why are you doing this?” since they had never seen an event created specifically for children. At the end of the camp some parents commented that they had not realized they should be teaching their children. One asked where she could get a children’s Bible. Several of the Iranian volunteers asked to be notified of future events because they wanted to assist again. The children, too, were affected positively. One boy who attended the camp insisted that his family start praying before meals. Another could not stop saying, “Jesus is my friend!” which was the theme of one of the days of the camp.
When the House of Omeed offered a one-day Christmas program for children the following December, many of the same Iranian volunteers and children returned. We had the same format as the summer camp, but in addition a Canadian church created and performed a drama for the morning and afternoon assemblies, and one of the Iranian worship leaders came to lead a time of singing in Farsi for the children. (During the summer camp we had only used English children’s worship songs from YouTube.) The aims of the Christmas program were much the same as the summer program with the additional goal of teaching the sacred meaning of Christmas.
Both the summer camp and Christmas programs fulfilled the aims for which we created them and helped pave the way for future events and education for Iranian children, parents, and churches. In January 2020 the House of Omeed hosted a three-day conference with well-known Iranian speakers, and at this event it was encouraging to see the progress made in a year and half in children’s ministry. The faces of children and volunteers were mostly familiar; parents were comfortable dropping off their children and leaving; the concept of childcare was understood; the volunteers were mostly Iranian, and childcare was shared between the House of Omeed and two Iranian churches. In addition, at least twice during the conference Iranian pastors publicly thanked the children’s ministry volunteers, and the audience clapped in appreciation. These are small steps but good and necessary. It would now be beneficial to have follow-up discussions and training with the Iranian volunteers on how to take what they have experienced with the House of Omeed children’s ministry and apply it in their own context. There has also been discussion of organizing a parenting conference for the Iranian churches in 2020.
Children’s Resources
Children’s programs and childcare at events are only part of promoting children’s discipleship among Iranian families and churches, and in areas where churches are not cooperative, they might not be possible. Parenting education in any form, whether sermons, small groups studies, workshops, or conferences, are needed, either in individual congregations or regional gatherings. A key component of these sessions should be raising awareness of existing children’s resources available in English and Farsi.[7] If a relationship exists between a North American congregation and an Iranian congregation, there could be great mutual benefit from arranging meeting times of both groups in order for children’s ministry such as Sunday school to be shared. This would benefit Iranian volunteers with opportunities to learn from others with experience and would benefit North American volunteers with fresh insight and spiritual enthusiasm. Iranian children would benefit from the structure and linguistic diversity. This partnership could extend to other youth programs as well.
Another means for North American churches to partner with Iranian churches is in the area of education. As the quality of scholarship and morality in public schools declines, Iranian parents are frequently disappointed and seek alternatives. Often, however, they are not aware of Christian school or homeschool options, or they cannot afford private tuition, or the loss of an income required for one parent to stay home and teach. Christian schools, homeschool co-ops, or church sponsors could intentionally introduce themselves to Iranian Christian communities and raise awareness about scholarship opportunities or find creative ways of making Christian education accessible to those who cannot afford it.
Interfacing with North American Christian Families
Although harder to provide but with perhaps the greatest potential for fostering discipleship in Iranian Christian families is relationships with North American Christian families. Witnessing how a Christian family lives and operates is an opportunity few Iranian Christians have had. Furthermore, Iranian parents in North America often do not have family nearby to help with childcare in case of a health crisis or work obligation. Relationships with North American Christian families may provide Iranian children with invaluable sources of godly input and leading as well as trusted friends who parents can turn to for help in a time of need.
Conclusion
One Iranian father recently commented that, “Iranians don’t care about their children.” He made this comment after attending a birthday party for a young Iranian boy that started at 7:00 a.m. and ended close to midnight. He observed that the children were tired and tearful as it was late, and no activities had been planned for them; there was only the typical entertainment of food and dancing for the adults. He contrasted this with what he has seen during his three years of attending a Canadian church and attending numerous gatherings with families who plan events with the children in mind. He desires his family follow the example of the latter. May God work among His people so that the children of the Iranian church will be an example to the opposite, that Iranian Christians docare about their children because the Savior that has called them out of darkness cares about their children.
Angela De Lange and her husband are church planting catalysts with East-West Ministries International and partners with Resonate Global Mission. They work among Iranians in Vancouver, British Columbia and Seattle, Washington.
Notes
[1] Mark Bradley, Too Many To Jail: The Story of Iran’s New Christians (Grand Rapids: Monarch Books, 2014), 26.
[2] Roy Oksnevad, The Burden of Baggage: First-Generation Issues in Coming to Christ (Littleton, CO: William Carey Publishing, 2019), 111.
[3] “There are No Unreached Children,” Lausanne Movement, accessed February 4, 2020, https://www.lausanne.org/content/there-are-no-unreached-children?_sfm_wpcf-groupings=Cape+Town+2010+Advance+Paper.
[4] Lausanne, “Unreached Children.”
[5] Lausanne, “Unreached Children.”
[6] Lausanne, “Unreached Children.”
[7] Examples of parenting and children’s resources available in Farsi can be found at: www.judeproject.org, www.sabzak.com, www.koodakeirani.com, https://vimeo.com/showcase/5726930, www.kalameh.com.
EMQ, Volume 56, Issue 3. Copyright © 2020 by Missio Nexus. All rights reserved. Not to be reproduced or copied in any form without written permission from Missio Nexus. Email: EMQ@MissioNexus.org.
