عمل فیض عظیم خدا در جفاها و بحرانهای زندگی کشیش ادوارد هوسپیان

Pastor Edward Hovsepian (an Armenian Iranian) was born in a very poor family in Tehran, Iran. His biological Dad abandoned the family when he was under the age of 2. His Mum struggled to bring up Edward and his older brother Haik. She became very ill physically and mentally suffering from different health issues such as heart disease, high blood pressure and severe depression.

Financially they struggled to make ends meet. Not only that, but Edward and his brother were surrounded by very mischievous friends who had a negative moral impact on their lives. Years later His mum remarried to a noble and caring man. Things got better, but Edward was still mixing with a bad crowd who were teaching him bad habits. Things were going from bad to worse.

He was eventually able to meet up with a man of God called Rev Leon Hairapetian. As a result of his evangelism to his family, he and his older brother and their mum became born again Christians. Right from that point, he was very eager to learn the word of God and he became a man of prayer and a very committed servant of God. He grew in his faith so much that he was appointed as a church minister at the age of 18. He ministered at different Assemblies of God Churches in Isfahan and Tehran as a pastor for over 25 years. He eventually became the Superintendent of the Assemblies of God churches in Iran and served in that position for 10 years.

He has been the supervisor of some of the Iranian churches in Europe and London over the past 17 years since he moved to London. Throughout the time Rev Edward ministered in Iran, he faced much opposition from the authorities because his main ministry was amongst those coming from an Islamic background. This was considered a big crime by the Islamic regime. However many Muslims were turning to Christianity. During his ministry, he had received many threats from the authorities including frightening phone calls threatening to kill him if he would not stop evangelising Muslims. The largest church he was serving was in Tehran. There were over 400 members in that church majority coming from an Islamic background. In January 1994, his older brother, Rev Haik was brutally martyred being stabbed by knife 26 times. This was because he was ministering amongst Muslim background Christians and was trying to release an Iranian pastor from prison. during that time many Iranian Christians visited Rev Edward and his martyred brother’s family, trying to comfort them. After his martyrdom, Rev Edward was asked to take over the position of his late brother as the superintendent of the Assemblies of God churches in Iran. This was a difficult and huge task. He testifies that it was only by the grace of God that he was able to minister in this position.

What encouraged him the most was that during that difficult time of persecution, many Christians from a Muslim background, would approach him and the leadership handing over letters to them that were signed by their own blood. They promised that they would remain faithful to God and to the leadership of the church no matter what the cost of following Jesus would be. Rev Edward’s wife was very active in serving people alongside him. He had met her when he was 10 years old. Unfortunately, in November 2001, his wife died of cancer at age 48, leaving him behind with their 4 young children. It was a very painful experience. This loss caused him to go into depression for several months. He had to take medications to soothe his mental condition. He was not able to connect to God for several months. He suffered her loss much.

However, he testifies that they were 4 things that helped him to move forward despite the loss and his circumstances.

1) the prayer and counselling of a man of God who had travelled to Iran and spent 3 months with Rev Edward, counselling him and praying with him.

2) His children were a great source of joy and comfort to him. They showered him with their love and support.

3) a year and a half later, he remarried Nazi Mirpanj (an Iranian Christian lady), whose presence was a great source of comfort. She had lost her first husband and could love him and empathize with him well.

4) The final thing that helped him much was the grace of God. He was able to acquire better knowledge about the grace of God through reading different books on this topic He studied the bible thoroughly around this topic.

Through the grace of God he was able to overcome the mental pressures he has been facing despite different persecutions and oppositions in his ministry. Relying on the grace and mercy of God has enabled him to have a victorious Christian life. He is encouraging us all to have the assurance if we face dead ends in our lives, God will be able to aid us a the time of the most need through his grace.Amen