I had a small procedure done today, which took all of five minutes. They sent me back to the waiting room and said they would call me up again in ten minutes to check for any bleeding. Sure enough, they soon led me to a small room, where two med techs assisted me. As I lay on the cot, one of the techs asked, “Where are you from?” “I’m German-American, a pastor. I work for an American church body that sent me here as a missionary,” I replied.” “A missionary?! Hmm…You sound like you’re from Hamburg,” she remarked. “That’s why they sent me here,” I chuckled. “Yet my assignment is not primarily to work with Germans but with Iranian immigrants. That’s why I’m learning Persian.” “Really! How is that coming along?” “Hard work, but I’m making progress…”“What religion are you?” she asked. “I’m Christian—Lutheran to be more precise.” “Oh, of course, sorry. That was a silly question. I’m not quite awake yet,” she replied. I turned my head and smiled at her. “Did you know that the most common religion of the Iranian migrants here is Christian? Islam is in second place.” “Wow, I would never have guessed that,” she said. “I used to have a Muslim boyfriend. I had a tough time trying to learn the Arabic alphabet…Wait a minute… this is going to hurt…” Ouch. I continued, “The Iranians most eager to turn to Christianity are the women. Perhaps you know why…” She shot me a look. “Yes.” “What religion are *you*?” I asked. “Catholic. We come from Poland. But our family is totally multicultural.” “Ah, you stayed Christian. That is good… I see you’ve got a tattoo in Arabic on your arm,” I noted. “Yes, can you read it?” She held her arm in front of me. I slowly mouthed the words. “Very good! It means ‘Life is change’…It stopped bleeding. You’re good to go!” “Thank you so much,” I replied. And thanks for sharing your story.” Indeed, life is change. But only “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).
tiewsfamily.org 