Yusif* and Fidan* had pushed all the furniture in their living room to the walls and brought in more chairs for the gathering that would soon take place. As some of the only followers of Jesus in their small town in Azerbaijan, they host a weekly house church.
The first family arrived. Everyone greeted one another with a handshake or kiss: Women greeted the other women with a kiss on both cheeks. Men greeted one another with a handshake and a single kiss on the cheek.
Tarana* had brought some red roses from her garden. It was another member’s birthday that day, and the roses were a gift. Fidan went into the kitchen to find a vase. After arranging the flowers, she hid them for later.
Ali*, the pastor, and Nuray,* the birthday guest of honour, arrived next. Everyone greeted them and wished Nuray a happy birthday. Several years earlier, Ali had received business and discipleship training from OM’s microcredit project in the Caucasus. After that, he started a small business and a discipleship group in his house. That group grew into this house church, a vibrant community of Jesus followers. Yusif and Ali lead the group together as pastors, with Yusif focusing on the local community and Ali travelling to other regions of Azerbaijan for outreach and discipleship.
Fidan had prepared tea and refreshments beforehand. The women began passing out the snacks, while Fuad,* one of the younger men in the group, started serving the tea. Taking the large tray of small tea glasses, he poured a little amount of dark, concentrated tea from a teapot into each glass. Then he added hot water from a large thermos until the liquid turned a dark caramel colour. Serving the elders first, he began passing out the glasses. Usually, the person who had been served would pass the glass to someone else, to share and show blessing and honour. Once everyone had been served, they started to drink and eat the snacks.
Families kept coming. One of the new arrivals, Layla,* had baked a large cake, decorated with light pink frosting. She carefully hid it in another room, so that Nuray wouldn’t see. More glasses of tea were poured and shared. There were about 20 adults in the room.
At last, after everyone had arrived, Sheyla,* another member, picked up her guitar. They called the children to join them. The doors and windows were closed to keep the noise down and avoid drawing too much attention from their Muslim neighbours. Sheyla led everyone in worship. She had sent out the lyrics earlier in a group WhatsApp message. Praise and joy filled the room.
After singing four or five songs, the children were dismissed. They went into the kitchen, where one of the teenagers, Zeynab,* led them in their own activities. Yusif welcomed everyone again, and then Ali shared a small sermon, talking through several stories about Jesus from the Bible. At the end, he asked if anyone had questions. Several people did, and they discussed them together as a group. They also shared prayer needs and testimonies of talking about their faith with others. Then they prayed together.
Although the ‘official’ service was over, no one rushed to leave. They sat and enjoyed one another’s company.
Suddenly, it grew quiet. Then, on a cue, music started to play from a speaker, and everyone erupted into singing “Happy Birthday”. Fidan, Tarana and Layla brought in the cake and roses. Nuray had a huge smile. As the cake was cut and more tea poured, people spoke blessings over her. She thanked every person.
Over the next hour, the families slowly started to leave, but only after finishing their pieces of cake. Just as everyone had greeted one another upon arrival, they said goodbye to each other with kisses and handshakes as they left. Some women stayed and helped Fidan clean up. Finally, the last family left. The joy and love of the fellowship was tangible, and although the gathering was over, those remained.
Please pray for vibrant communities of Jesus followers to multiply in Azerbaijan and across the Greater Caucasus region.
*name changed
