Remembering Haik Hovsepian and the birth of a movement in Iran.

Haik Hovsepian

The movement of God that is sweeping Iran had humble beginnings. In 1969, Haik Hovsepian, a young Armenian-Iranian pastor, started reaching out to Muslims in Iran. The new disciples met in homes and spoke Persian (Farsi), rather than an ethnic Christian language like Armenian or Syriac. By 1976, twenty Muslim background believers gathered in five churches.

Despite the hostile environment, Haik’s ministry continued to expand. By 1981, the number of disciples had grown to sixty. The Islamic government demanded that Haik reveal the names of these Muslim background believers, but he refused.

In 1993, Haik drew international attention to the plight of Mehdi Dibaj, who the Islamic courts had imprisoned for over ten years for apostasy. The campaign embarrassed the government, and under international pressure, they released Mehdi. Three days later, Haik disappeared. Eventually, his body was found, riddled with stab wounds.

The death of Haik Hovsepian sparked a fire across Iran. Hundreds of Muslim background believers defied government agents—who were recording their names—to attend Haik’s funeral. A movement was forming.

UPDATE: After I published this post, I learned that January 19 was the anniversary of his death in 1994.