At the bus station in Gorgan, the main town of Golestan, we take a taxi to the settlement area. The taxi driver turns out to be Turkmen. He is very hospitable and invites us to his home for Iftar – the evening meal for ending the Ramadan fast. After breaking the fast, we talk about God and the meaning of faith for Muslims and Christians. It is a conversation with high regard for each other. It seems this family is meeting people who follow the Messiah for the first time.
The Turkmen in northeastern Iran live mainly in the Golestan district, east of the Caspian
Sea. You will immediately recognize the Turkmen by their colorful clothes and their distinct culture. Sadly, they have very few ties with the Turkmen in next door Turkmenistan. The Turkmen learn Persian at school, since their own language, Turkmen, is not taught. Therefore, they can neither read nor write in their mother tongue, and they often have trouble finding high-paying jobs.
There are no known disciples of Jesus among the approximately 1 million Turkmen in this province. It is challenging to gain a foothold among them as a Christian from another culture. To the outside eye, it may seem that the Turkmen minority of Iran have gone unnoticed. But God sees them and wants to build His kingdom among them.
How to Pray
- Pray that God will speak to village leaders in visions and dreams.
- Pray for good spiritual conversations between villagers and Christ-followers who are passing through their towns.
- Ask God that complete villages of people will come to faith in Jesus, spreading the Good News from town to town, from the mountain tops to the valleys below.
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