Why do you think it's important to preach the gospel in people's native language?
Azerbaijani only really became widespread after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. As a child, my knowledge of Azerbaijani was therefore limited and my first language is Russian, my second language English. Azerbaijani is only my third language. I learned Azerbaijani mainly to be able to tell the Azerbaijanis about Jesus. I could see that they wouldn't receive the message if I didn't speak it in Azerbaijani. When I speak in Azerbaijani and use an Azerbaijani Bible, they experience the message as their own and that God is not a foreign God.
It was therefore a great challenge to preach the Word of God when we only had the New Testament in Azerbaijani. At that time, I led a house church and used to translate the parts of the Old Testament that were part of the preaching myself. So we were happy when we heard that the translation of the Old Testament was on its way. It was published in 2006, both in Latin and Cyrillic alphabets.
Have you and your house church experienced persecution?
Years ago I led a house church and today I assist in a house church where I lead worship and encourage people. In order to hold Christian meetings you have to be registered with the authorities, which is very difficult, if not impossible. Therefore, we don't have church buildings like I see you have here in Denmark. In the capital there are only 2-3 church buildings.
When we are allowed to meet in homes, it is criminal. I have therefore had the police investigate where we hold meetings. Once I was told to appear before the public prosecutor, who asked why we were meeting in my home. I replied: We meet and pray, read the Bible and worship God. The prosecutor said: You can't do that, why do you do that? There was no telling what the authorities would do, and we stopped the meetings in my home. However, we continued the meetings in another home. Some years later, the owner of this home and I were called to the police. The police asked what religious group we belonged to? I said: We just meet and worship Jesus.
How do you think Christians in Denmark can help the persecuted church in Azerbaijan?
The most important thing you can do is pray for us! We want new people to become part of the church. There is not a hunger in the country for God's Word, so please pray that people will be drawn to Jesus and realize that the Christian faith is not just a philosophy.
Pray also for the believers who are already in the house church. Because of poverty in the country, we work a lot. For example, I work 60 hours a week, from eight to eight Monday to Friday. Therefore, please pray that despite the heavy workload, we will have the energy to develop the work in the church and preach the gospel.
FACTS: The translation of the New Testament into Azerbaijani is a gift from Denmark to Azerbaijan. In fact, it was mainly funded by donors from the Danish European Mission. In the interview, Aynura talks about what a blessing Bible translation is for Christians as an effective tool to share the Gospel with people who have not yet heard about salvation and new life in Jesus Christ. However, there is still a great need for Danes to look beyond Denmark's borders and give the Bible to people groups who cannot yet read about Jesus in their native language.
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