(soft piano scale)
(uplifting music)
(ominous low music)
(singing in foreign language)
- [Narrator] This is a group of Christians
at their summer camp in Iran,
singing a song about trusting their lord.
Although numerous
Christians were persecuted
for their faith in the '90s,
several ministers among this
group were ultimately murdered,
brutally, not long after this camp.
This is the story of Haik
Hovsepian, an Iranian martyr.
(singing in foreign language)
(adventurous music)
Iran, December 1993.
An Islamic judge condemned
to death a zealous
Christian convert from Islam, Mehdi Dibaj.
His only crime was
converting to Christianity.
Mehdi Dibaj had already
served 10 years in prison.
A copy of the Dibaj's
execution order was leaked out,
and got into the hands of Haik Hovsepian,
the leader of Protestant
Christians of Iran.
Haik, risking his life,
chose to speak out and launch
an international campaign
for the sentence to be overturned.
Haik's campaign was successful,
and Dibaj was released only a few days
before his execution date.
But there was a price to pay.
This is the story of one
man's fight for human rights,
and the consequences he paid.
(heart beating)
- The country today
known as Iran was called,
in the ancient period, Persia.
And Persia played a very large role,
particularly in the Old Testament,
and to a less degree,
in the New Testament.
- [Narrator] Haik was born in 1945
to an ethnic Armenian
minority family in Iran.
A rare occurrence at that time,
Haik's parents were divorced
when he was just nine years old.
Seeing the intense social
and financial pressures on his mother,
he began working on the
streets shining shoes
to help support his family.
In 1958, at the age of
13, a neighbor invited him
to come to the prayer
meetings they had started
in their house.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Soon after, Haik
came to believe that following
God was not about religion,
but about a relationship with Jesus,
and he committed his life
to following the teachings of Jesus.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Haik's passion
for his faith was contagious,
and others soon began
to commit their lives
to following Jesus
because of his influence.
Haik believed that God
was giving him a vision
to preach the gospel to all.
Haik, on September 14th, 1967,
married Takoosh, a courageous lady
who completely supported his vision.
In 1967, the leaders
of the Christian church
confirmed Haik's vision to
plant a church in Gorgan,
a radically Islamic part of Iran,
that had no Christians.
Although in the 1960s,
Iran, under the Shah,
was closely allied with the liberal west,
cities like Gorgan were still ruled
by the Mullah and the Mosques,
and nothing was to threaten
the glory of Islam.
- Haik loved people and especially
he loved the people that
he was surrounded by,
mainly Muslims, and they knew it.
As he went out on the street,
they would recognize him.
And he would talk with
'em, and he'd pray with 'em
on the street, in between church,
some were baptized as well
and it didn't take long for
many people in the city to
hear about this church and
this young pastor.
- [Narrator] In Gorgan, they
met opposition and tragedy
that would have sent most
men into early retirement.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The opposition
was not subtle either.
An extremist group, called Takfiri Islam
would throw stones at
the church's windows,
and sometimes even physically
break up the meetings.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] In the midst
of all this hostility,
as well as the economic pressure
all ministers of the gospel faced,
the temptation to leave
the work of Evangelism
was very real.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] So despite
the fierce opposition,
Haik kept on preaching,
and many Muslim's chose to turn to Christ.
Those who chose to turn to
Christ were often rejected
by their families,
and their lives were
threatened by fanatics.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Muslim extremists
want to burn the church down
this was their only answer to the gospel.
- Before they reached the church,
God spoke through a Mullah.
He stood before that crowd
as they were headed for the church,
and he said, "If you're
going to destroy that church,
"you have to first destroy me."
And that mob was turned away.
- [Narrator] The pressures
of ministering in Gorgan
were peaked by a very
tragic personal loss.
- My wife and I and our
three children went over
to pick up Takoosh And Haik,
and their six-month-old baby.
About 45 minutes before we reached
the end of the that journey,
we were blinded by lights
coming at us in the darkness,
and ran into the back of a farm trailer,
and our vehicle impacted that
trailer with such a speed that
the entire car was just ripped open.
That was it.
We were all unconscious for,
I don't know how long, but
all of us were unconscious.
- [Narrator] Haik's first born child
died in that car accident.
And the other missionary couple
lost all three of their children.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Haik had his hands up
as weak as he was and he was saying,
"Whether dead or alive, praise the Lord."
I would never forget that scene.
(speaking in foreign language)
- What seemed to be a
tragedy, even at that time,
I said I believed that God was
going to turn into triumph,
and he did that, for
brother Haik, and for us.
- [Narrator] The opposition
was to reach new intensity
when Ayatollah Khomeini's
Islamic revolution
drove the Shah out of Iran in 1979,
and established the world's
first Islamic Republic.
Christians, and those who
opposed the common faith
were attacked in the very
early days of the revolution.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] In Shiraz, the
vicar of the Anglican church,
Reverend Arastoo Sayah has his throat cut.
In Isfahan, terrorists
broke into the apartments
of the Anglican bishop Hassan Dehqani,
and fired shots at his sleeping body.
Miraculously, he escaped.
- Two gunmen got into the house
and went to my parents' bedroom
and one of them shot
from a very close range,
about five times.
My mother put her hand out to protect him
and she got shot in the
hand, and injured, obviously.
But not one of them hit my father.
- [Narrator] In the outskirts of Tehran,
other terrorists abducted
bishop Dehqani's son, Bahram,
and shot him in cold blood.
(speaking in foreign language)
- When, for example, the Koran is quoted,
"that there is no compulsion in belief,"
it ought to be understood
in a very real way then.
Is a person in Iran free to disbelieve?
Is a person in Malaysia
free to disbelieve?
Is a person in Indonesia
free to disbelieve?
If you're not free to
disbelieve in a certain faith,
then there is compulsion in that faith.
- [Narrator] Meanwhile in 1981,
when the new Islamic regime
had established an absolute hold on Iran,
the pioneering missionary
to Gorgan, Haik Hovsepian
was elected as the superintendent
of the Assemblies of God churches in Iran.
Later, he was elected the
protestant church representative.
(speaking in foreign language)
- He wouldn't go around often
to the bigger church congregations,
but he would travel throughout the land,
in order to bring
support and encouragement
to the smaller fellowship.
(speaking in foreign language)
(singing in foreign language)
- [Narrator] During Haik's leadership,
he trained many ministers.
Numerous churches and
branches were established.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Haik was a
pioneer for human rights
and humanitarian efforts in Iran.
- Haik organized over 80 volunteers
to come
to the aid of the Kurdish refugees.
For over two months, a hot meal was given
to the refugees every day.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The new government
soon made it's wishes
very obvious to Haik,
the leader of the Iranian
Christian churches.
The unfair restrictions were many.
No services were to be held in Persian.
All services had to be on Sunday,
not Friday, the national weekly holiday.
Only card-holding members of the church
could come to services.
Membership lists had to be
given to the government.
New members had to be approved
by the government as well.
And Haik gave his brave
and defiant response
to the government's orders.
"I and my ministers will
never bow down and agree
"to such inhumane and unjust demands.
"Our churches are open to
all who want to come in."
(speaking in foreign language)
(singing in foreign language)
- [Narrator] There was
constant intimidation
from the Islamic regime,
and in response, constant
courage from Haik.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] In 1990, this clash of wills,
between the government and
the church, turned murderous.
When the Islamic regime
ordered the execution
of Reverend Soodmand in Mashhad.
(speaking in foreign language)
(singing in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language)
- And of course there are
120 verses in the Koran
that talks about killing
and promoting Islam
with a sword, which is
unfortunate, but it is the truth.
Many Muslim's don't believe that,
but the fanatics who stick to the text,
and this is our problem.
Our problem really is with the
text, the text of the Koran,
and the text of the Hadith,
which encourages that.
Unfortunately some people believe it.
And although it's immorality,
it is still a major problem.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Despite the obvious danger,
Haik spoke out against the
murder of Reverend Soodmand,
and made sure his blind widow
and children were looked after.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The church
of Iran did not die
under such persecutions.
It continued to grow.
(singing in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Reverend
Soodmand would not be the only
Christian minister to be killed
for his faith in the 1990s.
Mehdi Dibaj was a Christian
convert from Islam,
who was imprisoned as
punishment for his conversion.
In 1993, an Islamic judge in Northern Iran
condemned the imprisoned Dibaj to death.
His only crime, was apostacy.
Mehdi Dibaj had already
served 10 years in prison.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Upon hearing
of Dibaj's death sentence,
Haik began to immediately plead his case
to the Iranian authorities
for Dibaj's sentence
to be overturned.
They ignored his pleas.
Then, in a sudden turn of
events, Dibaj's official
death sentence document was intercepted
by a prison official who was
sympathetic to Dibaj's case,
and leaked a copy of the document to Haik.
Finally empowered with proof of Iran's
flagrant human rights violations,
Haik launched an international campaign
for the sentence to be overturned.
Haik invited the United
Nation's Special Representative
For Human Rights to Iran
to investigate violations of
religious freedom in Iran.
And at great risk to his own life,
he sent out detailed reports
to the international press.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Haik's efforts made Dibaj
an international figure,
prompting even the United States
congress to official
intercede on Dibaj's behalf
with the president of Iran.
(speaking in foreign language)
- And Haik said, "If they say
that there is no religious
"freedom in Iran, then I don't mind,
"but when they claim to
have religious freedom,
"and at the same time,
bring so much hardship
"and persecution on our
people, I cannot stand.
"And I have to stand for
the truth and justice,
"and make this known
throughout the world."
- [Narrator] The government
of Iran wanted to avoid
any sort of transparency, and did not want
its internal affairs
exposed internationally.
And Haik understood there
could be consequences
to pay for his actions.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Haik's
campaign was successful.
Bernard Levin highlighted the case
in the UK's Times newspaper,
and questions were asked
in the British parament.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] On January 16th, 1994,
Mehdi Dibaj was released.
- Today,
Mehdi Dibaj
is a free man because of
Haik's appeal on his behalf.
(celebratory music)
- [Narrator] This is what Haik wrote.
"Praise the lord for all his victories.
"Brother Dibaj has just
arrived in our house."
When Dibaj entered the
house, all the believers
started singing In The Name
Of Jesus, We Have The Victory.
This was the best welcome
they could offer our hero.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The defiant bravery of Haik
had won freedom for his brother,
but there was a price to pay.
- I was sitting right at my
desk when I got the word,
and I said what a
marvelous example of a man
who used his voice, and
who used his influence,
and who used his reach, for
the sake of a fellow believer.
There he was speaking for
Mehdi Dibaj to make sure
that he would get that
which was fair and proper
and not that which was manipulated.
- I was extremely touched
by the fact that bother Haik
went out
of his inner-most being
to rescue a Muslim believer,
and succeeded.
Not knowing, for certain,
what the result would be.
But I believe he knew in his heart
that often times, a life for a life.
(intense drumming)
- [Narrator] The Iranian
government released Mehdi Dibaj
to save face on the international stage.
But at home, the regime had lost face.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Now the regime's plan was
to teach a lesson to Haik and
other ministers such as him
to keep their faith to themselves.
So Haik's name was immediately elevated
to the top of the list to be eliminated.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] On January 19th, 1994,
just three days after Dibaj was released,
Haik was on his way to Tehran's
Mehrabad International
Airport when he disappeared.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] 11 days later,
the family was asked by the
police to visit the morgue.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Haik said that if his
life would be taken away,
he would be ready for that,
but he made one request, that
he would not die silently.
We say goodnight Haik, we
will see you in the morning.
(singing in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language)
- And if he had a chance to life again,
he would have done everything
to give his life for Jesus,
so that ever person would
hear the message of salvation,
and come to know him.
(speaking in foreign language)
- I wept when I heard it,
but rejoiced that there
were people like him,
who are courageous right
to the last moment,
and that's what true martyrdom is.
He did not use violence,
he did not spread violence.
He was against violence, and
was protecting the innocent.
That's how he was willing to die.
That's what martyrdom is.
Martyrdom is not violent in its means.
It is peaceful and
authentic in its method.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] With complete contempt
for the rights of the family,
the authorities had already buried a man
they knew to be a Christians
in a Muslim graveyard,
only six days after his death.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] The church
demanded the body to be moved
to Tehran's Christian graveyard.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] When they saw the corpse,
they learned how brutally
Haik had been killed.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] All Christians
knew what a great sacrifice
the church had given.
- Haik did lay down his life,
and dare we again.
I call the words of Jesus,
"They did not take it from me,
"I laid it down of myself."
Because he spoke up along others for men.
He said, "I should have died."
(speaking in foreign language)
- And the word of God
says, "There's no one
"than to give his life for his friend."
Jesus gave his life for us,
so we can be his friends.
And Haik gave his life for a
friend to the glory of God.
And for that we praise the lord, always.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] A large group
of government officials
made their presence
known at Haik's funeral.
Confiscating rolls of film and videos,
in order to identify and
intimidate those in attendance.
Christians from around the world
brought their support and prayers
to help the family
recover, heal, and forgive.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Haik's
martyrdom was not the end
of the persecution in Iran.
Only six months after
Haik's death, on July 1994,
Reverend Mikaelian was shot in the head.
He was a zealous Christian
teacher, writer, and pastor.
Only a few days later, on July 5th 1994,
Reverend Mehdi Dibaj was found dead
in the forest of Karaage near Tehran.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Two years later,
on September 28th 1996,
Reverend Mohammed Bagher Yousefi
was found hung from a tree
in Northern Iran.
He was known as Ravanbakhsh,
meaning soul-giver.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Those who
were behind such killings,
were never officially
introduced or identified.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] More recently,
in 2005, Ghorban Tourani,
a house group leader, was
killed in front of his door.
Just minutes later, his family
faced his bleeding body.
His throat had been cut.
- People behind such criminal
acts are brilliant people.
They know exactly what they're doing.
They know how they're doing it,
and they know what the
end game is in mind.
The Muslim's themselves
that I have talked to
have made an interesting comment,
They say that, "There's
a very thin line between
"the so-called moderate,
and the extremist."
We use those terms, but
isn't it interesting
when the so-called extremists
do what they actually do.
The moderates are the last
ones to really stand up
and condemn it.
It's almost like the
extremist is used as a front
for what greater numbers of
people want to accomplish,
and so you twist words, play
with words, create caricatures,
and then when it is a terrible act,
the extremist gets blamed.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Today, thousands
are coming to Christian faith,
and are being built up in ways
Haik perhaps only dreamt about.
(speaking in foreign language)
- I know first hand
that brother Haik's
family, and other members,
struggled with this spiritual
battle of forgiving,
and releasing, and beginning
to pray for the enemies.
This was not an easy process,
but it was a process that
God, the holy spirit,
brought about.
And it has been a great witness to me,
as I've seen the church in
Iran intercede, and pray,
and weep for those that persecuted them.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] After several
years, Haik's family immigrated
to the U.S., and despite the tragic loss,
they still continue to minister
to Iranians and others.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Martyrdom of
Iranian Christians has allowed
the churches in the west
to recognize their freedom,
and realize that God is continuing to work
in the hearts of the people in Iran.
- Haik understood that the
Muslim is not his enemy.
And he gave his life that
the Muslim would understand
that the love of God wants to reach them,
and they're not an enemy.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Narrator] Today, thousands
of people around the world
are being persecuted and
killed for their faith.
(speaking in foreign language)
(singing in foreign language)
