Omid Azgomi, pastor at the Ottawa Persian Church, had the privilege of baptizing 27 people a few weeks ago.
He explained some of the reasons that people were drawn to Jesus and the decision to be baptized:
Whenever there was talk of killing and terrorism, Islam was often associated with it, and they wanted to distance themselves from that stigma. In contrast, before coming to faith in Christ, whenever they heard about forgiveness and love, they were told these were the teachings of Jesus.
Before immigrating to Canada, some in Iran had a deep desire to attend church and hear the gospel message. However, due to the government’s hostility toward churches, they were never given that opportunity.
Some had always been searching for God in their lives, trying to find and please Him through religion and law, but they never found true fulfillment.
Others wanted to know the truth about the Christian faith, since the Iranian government often prevented them from learning what Christianity really teaches.
Some were initially introduced to the church by lawyers who advised them to attend for immigration purposes. In these situations, they usually were not serious about Christianity at first, but after studying the Bible and participating in church life, they discovered a sense of value and purpose that became far more important to them than the success of their immigration case.