Jesus says, “Rejoice with Me, for I have found My sheep that was lost” (Luke 15:6). Last year, a teenage Iranian girl was taking baptismal instruction in our Persian Lutheran church here in Hamburg. At the beginning of our course, I asked her why she wanted to be baptized. Her story surprised me. Some ten years earlier, her parents had moved to Germany from Iran. As is the case with so many people from that country, the parents had already been secret Christians back home, so they took instruction here at Zion Lutheran and were baptized. Unfortunately, catechesis did not trickle down to the daughter who was not baptized. A few years later, as a young teenager, she fell in with a crowd of Muslim girls in public school. They were quite aggressive about their faith, she explained, and leaned on her heavily to become Muslim. Sadly, she gave in to their pressure and converted to Islam (at the age of about 13). I asked her why she had done that because Islam clearly rejects Jesus as God—not to mention treats women as second-class citizens (see for instance Surah 4,3: “Marry whoever pleases you among women—two, three or four.”). Sheepishly, she replied, “They were the in-crowd, and I wanted to be part of that group…” I can only imagine the discussions between her and her parents after her very unfortunate decision. But our Good Shepherd was watching out for her. After a few years, she recognized that she had made a serious mistake by converting to Islam. Guided by the Holy Spirit, she started going with her parents to church. About six months later, she contacted us pastors, took instruction, and was baptized several months afterward. *** We are all vulnerable to seductive siren songs—perhaps even more so when we are young. Praise God that our Good Shepherd is always watching out for His flock, forgives us straying sheep when we repent, and joyfully welcomes us back to the fold.
The Tiews in Germany 