Morley Update 2011 #22

Everyone,

I can't believe it is time for an update again. It seems like the weeks go by so fast! Our last intern left EARLY yesterday morning. Kent took her to the airport at 2:30am. He made the mistake of having some coffee so he could make the drive. When he got home he could not get back to sleep. Wednesdays are meeting days so he had a leadership meeting from 8:30-9:30, team meeting from 10-12:30, and committee meeting from 1-2. By that time he was pretty droopy. He came home and took a nap before team fellowship in the evening.

The short term team from Canada is still here. They have been a real blessing. Their team leader, Pastor Zia is Iranian and is a great guy who has helped with translation, teaching preaching and yesterday stripping the paint from the children's room in preparation to repaint. Three years ago the short term team from Central Christian painted it but it was definitely showing a LOT of wear and tear. Last night at team fellowship Pastor Zia and his wife Mahri shared their story. He started by saying, "I want to share our story with you because we are the fruit of people like you - so be encouraged that what you are doing is making a difference."

He told of his childhood in a Muslim family. His father decided at 4years of age to put him under the local Mullah to train to be a priest. By the time he was 6 he could recite the Koran and his father often "showed him off" by having him recite for
friends. Soon he became the person who called people to prayer throughout the day. One day as he went to call out, he said he could not speak and he heard an audible voice telling him to come to Him. He did not know who this was but decided he could not longer work at the Mosque. Every day his father beat him and dragged to to the Mosque but when they got to the door he would let him go and he would run back home and go off to school. Finally because things were so bad at his home his mother sent him to live with his uncle where things were not much better.

He loved school and desperately wanted a higher education. One day the Minister of
Education came to his school for a tour. He pushed his way through the crowd, knelt down at her feet and began to polish her shoes. She asked him what he wanted and he told her he wanted an education. She granted him a scholarship to finish school and go on to university. He was happy for the first time and by the time he was 16 he was in university. However, as time went by and he was exposed to many new ideologies such as communism he began to believe that there was no hope and even considered ending his life. On that very day he met a man who was a Christian. This man patiently answered question after question about the difference between Christianity and Islam. One day he said, "Do you have any more questions?" Zia answered "No" The man said, "Then can you think of any reason not to believe in Jesus" Zia said he thought about it and then said, "No". "Then you believe and want to be a Christian?" Zia answered "okay" though he really didn't understand what
that meant. He said the man took him to a church and sprinkled water on him and said "Now you are no longer a Muslim now you are Christian." Because this man did not have the skills or inclination for discipling him, Zia said the only change in his life was that he suddenly felt free to do anything he wanted with no restrictions and he began to live that way.

About that time he met his wife Mahri. He told us that her father was the person who
really modeled Christ for him and taught him what it was to love God and love family.
"Everything I know about loving and serving people I learned from this man. Not from what he said but from how he lived his life." He and Mahri were married finally they had the life he always wanted. They had two young children, a beautiful home, and a staff of servants, everything they could want. The came the regime change in Iran and suddenly their dream life became a nightmare. One day the police came to their home and said they were looking for the man who lived there that was a Christian. Zia's brother was home so he told them he was that man. They put him in prison for 8
months. Then one day they called all his family to the prison saying they were going to release him. Instead he was tortured and executed in front of his family. Even his grave was demolished so they had nowhere even to grieve. The police began to follow them everywhere. One day they seized their house and all their assets. Giving them only a suitcase with some clothes, they sent them out of the country.

They arrived in Turkey with nothing, no home, no money,and no language. But God was
going before them even then. As they were walking down a road an old lady began to shout at them and through sign language they told her they needed a house and food. She took them to her home and they were given a room about 12x12 where they could stay. It was mind boggling that in such short time they had gone from living in a mansion with servants catering to their every need need, to staying in this room with the children sleeping on one old iron bed, Mahri on the other and Zia on the floor. They sometimes went without food for days at a time just to give their children one small meal a day. One day at Christmas time, Zia suggested to Mahri that they go to a church. Even though they could not understand the language, maybe the songs would lift their spirits. Their landlady directed them to a church where there were other refugees, some of them Iranian. They were very happy about this because they were hoping that these people would perhaps translate some of what was being said. The pastor got up before preaching and one of the Iranians told Zia they were asking if someone would translate from Turkish into Farsi. No one volunteered and Zia said he once more heard a voice saying "You go and translate". He thought, "this can't be right! I don't know Turkish." He heard the voice again "You go and translate, I will speak through you". Finally he found himself walking forward and saying "I will translate". The pastor began to preach and the words flowed from Zia's mouth as he perfectly translated from Turkish into Farsi. That night the pastor asked him if he would like to work for the church doing translation and they would pay him a small monthly stipend. Zia agreed. On the way home he wondered if he could also read Turkish so he spent a penny, money they could ill afford to buy a Turkish newspaper. His wife said, "How could you spend this money on a paper you can't even read". Zia picked up the paper and began to read perfectly. To this day he still speaks, reads and writes Turkish! After a time of translating the pastor asked him if he would be willing to start a Farsi fellowship and it was the first of several now in Turkey.

I won't tell the rest of their story and how they came to live in Canada, but God has
shown Himself faithful to them even when times were very hard. Zia said "When we
had everything in Iran, I didn't care about God but He always cared about me and was
drawing me to himself. My father decided when I was four years old that I would be a
priest. Little did he know that his prophecy would be fulfilled." 1 Peter 2:9
reads: "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light." Praise God that he called Zia and Mehri and that they continue to tell what God has done for them. Praise God that He is using us and you, our extended team, to continue to call people into his light. Praise God that He is using people who came to faith in Athens to spread the light even in some very dark corners of the earth. Thank you for partnering with us and with God - we love you all.

Serving Him Together,
Kent and Myrna Morley
Tripoleos 76
Elliniko 16777
Athens Greece
011 30 210 96 38 625
backhoeboy1@juno.com
http://kent-uniquelymorley.blogspot.com
To Support:
Online go to: www.iteams.org/give
Or Send to:
International Teams
411 W. River Rd.
Elgin IL 60123
Please designate for the ministry of Kent and Myrna Morley and indicate whether this is a one time gift or monthly support. Thanks ;}