Dastan has served as a church planter and pastor for 25 years in four cities, and a few years ago I visited him in his city, but today we meet here at the theology program, and in the evening, sitting in a caf\u00e9, I ask him to tell me his story and why he studies theology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dI am happy to serve in my ministry. But the road has been long and difficult,\u201d says Dastan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dastan came to faith in Jesus in 1996 and felt a call from God to serve as a pastor and church planter. Four years later, he enrolled in the missions program at a Bible school for nine months. Bible school was in the morning, and in the afternoon he worked to earn money for his stay. However, when he enrolled in the Bible school, an error occurred and he was not registered on the list and in the system like the other students. This mistake would later prove to have a major impact on his life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dI was only seventeen years old and my dream was to go to a city where no one had preached the gospel and start a church. After finishing school, I had to do an internship in a church. All students were sent to different cities and to other countries, but my name was not mentioned. I begged both the school dean and principal to send me to start a church in a city, so they decided to send me to a small town in a remote mountainous area of the country. Not long after, both the school dean and principal got other jobs and left, and I was forgotten!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dThat summer I arrived in the city in the mountains. A small town between beautiful mountains and a quiet river. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here I started telling people about Jesus. One man opened his house, so I started a small house church, which grew and later became several house churches in the area.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dI lived in the city for two years and it was the best but also the hardest years of my life, because the money I brought I spent in a couple of months and I couldn't find work, so it was really overnight for me and I didn't want to ask for money\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dIn the meantime, my mother moved to another city and I didn't get her new phone number. She tried to find me, but no one knew where I was because I wasn't registered anywhere and the new management at the Bible school hadn't heard of me.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dSo no one knew where I was. I was alone, left to my own devices, but God took care of me, just like he sent ravens to the prophet Elijah in the Old Testament!\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dPeople would bring me food, invite me to eat even if I didn't ask, and sometimes when I came home, there would be a big carrier bag full of food at my door, or some clothes with a banknote in the pocket. Yes, I was really hungry sometimes, but I always managed, and I didn't buy clothes and shoes for two years.\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201dI often sat on a big rock by the river and thanked and praised God and prayed for the new Christians\u201d <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u201dThrough this difficult time, my character was shaped to become who I am today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was there that I learned to trust God. There, I learned that God never fails or abandons. In those two years, I strengthened my prayer life and faith in God's provision, and learned to hope only in God.\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dI often sat on a big rock by the river and thanked and praised God and prayed for the new Christians and thought: \u201dif only I had gotten better Bible training, it would have been much better for the church, because I am not able to equip them well enough'. I finally got it, even though it took many years,\" says Dastan with a smile.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dTwo years after I first arrived in the city, a church from another city heard about me and sent a pastor to minister in the mountain town, and they also paid my way home. But by then everyone in the mountain town had also heard about salvation in Jesus, because the new Christians and I preached to people with great boldness.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dWhen I found my mom's address, we were both very happy to see her again. It's a day I'll never forget!\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201dOf course, it would have been ideal if I had had a theological education when I traveled to the mountain town, but that wasn't the case\u201d<\/strong><\/mark><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
\u201dIn 2015, I finally got the opportunity to start a theological education (with the support of the Danish European Mission's donors and improvers, ed.). It was a big wish come true for me, because I had never received more than my short Bible school education, and there we did not go at all in depth with the Scriptures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In theological education, I gained a systematic review and theological understanding of the Bible. I learned church history, interpretation of the Bible, homiletics, apologetics, and Bible interpretation in our cultural context, all of which are important for equipping the church well. In 2019, I received a bachelor's degree in practical theology, which I have used in my preaching and to teach students on the theological diploma program.\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why did you start the Master of Theology Dastan and what do you want to do with the degree?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\u201dIn 2023, I started the master's program because I had a great desire to be able to teach and equip new priests who study theology at the bachelor's program. With a bachelor's degree, you can teach new pastors in the shorter theological diploma program. This is good, because there is a need for more priests in our country who receive a good education.\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201dOf course, it would have been ideal if I had had a theological education when I went to the mountain town, but that wasn't the case. However, God was faithful and used me anyway with what I had, and it was up there in the mountains that I learned to trust God.\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n
\r\n\t\t\t\t\tSupport Theological education for pastors in the persecuted church<\/h3>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t