Two Christian pastors have returned to Martinsville after a year and a half of study in Iran, where they set out to learn and build trust and love between the people of both nations.

Husband and wife David Wolfe and Linda Kusse-Wolfe, both Quaker ministers, studied Islam and Iranian culture at the Imam Khomeini Education and Research Institute in Qom, Iran, from January 2007 to May 2008.

There, they found a “very hospitable, very gracious people” and made lasting friendships, Kusse-Wolfe said.

“It was a really privileged look at a society many Americans don’t get to see,” she said.

The trip was an exchange program through the Mennonite Central Committee designed to deepen religious and cultural understanding between the East and West.

“We’ve had deep interest in reconciliation work, so when this opportunity opened up, we leaped at the chance,” Kusse-Wolfe said.

Though they are Quakers, not Mennonites, the exchange program is “open to Christians active in their church and committed to pacifism,” she added.

Kusse-Wolfe said they embarked on the trip expecting to “make good friends, do a little traveling and know what it’s like to live in a Muslim republic.”

Wolfe said they also wanted to “get a feel for all the questions we as North Americans ask about Islam. How do people live out what they believe? What does the Quran really say about different things?”

Perhaps the ultimate question is, “How do you live in a world with each other when you have significantly different histories and tradition?” Wolfe said.

“You have to do it. You have to be sociable and respectful and figure out how to get along,” he added. “Even if some of our beliefs are different, we have to find ways to respect and love each other.”

During the exchange, the couple took classes in English about the Quran, Islamic mysticism, Iranian culture and the Farsi language. But the learning didn’t end in the classroom — both were struck by the warmth and hospitality of the Iranians they met.

Before the trip, “we had people ask us, ‘Aren’t you scared to go over there?’” Kusse-Wolfe said. “I’m convinced the (Iranian) people would’ve laid down their lives for us.”

“We never heard an unkind word,” Wolfe said.

The city of Qom has a “significant number” of English-speaking people, Kusse-Wolfe said, especially among university students.

“They would almost immediately invite us home to meet their parents and share a meal,” she said. “There’s a saying in Iran that guests are friends of God. They really understand that.”

Iran is “very diverse,” with communities of Christians, Jewish people and Zoroastrians, Wolfe said.

Every other week, the couple took a train to the city of Tehran for an Armenian Christian church service. The service was in Armenian, but “someone sitting behind us would make notes in English and pop them over back of the pew to us so we could know what was going on,” Kusse-Wolfe said. “It was very kind.”

On the train ride, she added, people often would get up and offer her a seat.

While in Iran, Kusse-Wolfe had to cover her hair and wear a long cloak. The traditional women’s garment is called a chador.

“There’s still a traditional culture where women are the boss of the home and men are the boss of the public domain,” Wolfe said.

The woman’s role in Iran is “very complex,” Kusse-Wolfe said, and they are proud to have much more freedom than their counterparts in Saudi Arabia.

“Under the chador, many women have master’s degrees and Ph.D.’s. We knew female professors and business people,” Kusse-Wolfe said.

Visas between the United States and Iran are “extremely difficult to get,” Wolfe said. “We read that only about 300 American visas were accepted last year in Iran. There’s kind of a tit for tat between the countries.”

The couple had to apply for entrance and exit visas. After their experiences, Kusse-Wolfe said, “We’re encouraged now and want to support really aggressive diplomacy.”

For those who cannot travel to Iran in person, the couple put together a PowerPoint presentation from the trip. They spent five weeks in Kansas and Arkansas sharing what they learned with churches and civic groups.

Now, they hope to make presentations locally and give people a better idea of what life in Iran is really like.

“We don’t have positive media images of everyday people in Iran, and most of them are just marvelous human beings,” Kusse-Wolfe said.

Just as many Americans have misperceptions about Iranian people, television has given rise to many stereotypes about Americans.

In Iran, “satellite dishes are illegal, but a lot of people have them,” Wolfe said, which gives them access to American shows. “Think what your perception of Americans would be if your only knowledge came from movies and sitcoms.”

Some people were surprised to find out that the couple — and other Americans — believe in God, Kusse-Wolfe said. But by living their faith, they proved the stereotypes wrong.

“As we practiced our faith and shared with them, that opened a lot of doors. It meant we had integrity,” she said.

Muslims consider Jesus an important prophet, and the people they encountered showed a great respect for the couple’s faith, she added.

Muslims consider Christians and Jews to be “people of the book,” Wolfe said. “They believe that we all worship the God of Abraham, and they are all protected and have a place in Iran.”

“Islam is a great monotheistic faith, very moral and ethical, with a deep sense of community and respect,” Kusse-Wolfe said. “What impressed me was their deep practice of their faith in God.”

Explaining Christian beliefs to their Muslim hosts was educational for the couple, as well.

“We’ve learned from having to explain what we believe,” Wolfe said.

Kusse-Wolfe added, “My personal faith is certainly deeper, more joyful, more trusting now.”

Before the trip, Wolfe was the chaplain at Memorial Hospital in Martinsville, and Kusse-Wolfe ministered at First United Methodist Church.

“We’re significantly different people from having done this,” Wolfe said. “So what does this mean for our ministry? We don’t know yet.”

They do know, however, that encouraging peace and understanding begins at home.

“We could start by loving our Muslim brothers and sisters in our own towns. That would be a huge step forward for peace and friendship,” Kusse-Wolfe said. “Even if we disagree, we simply have to advocate for each other to live in peace.”

By KIM BARTO

travel to Kurdistan

After spending a small amount of time in Kurdistan, I’m left with a few impressions of the region. Although I am by no means any sort of expert, I found the negative stereotypes I heard about Kurds while in Tehran to be anything but true. Iranians are extremely hospitable, and even by those standards Kurds managed to outperform. I could not believe that was even possible. Literally everywhere I went in Kurdistan I was invited into homes, offered meals, fresh water, taxi fares, and gifts, even when no English or Farsi was spoken. Even though I am the camera-toting tourist, I found that several times I was the one being filmed and photographed by the Kurds. They certainly were curious bout how I live and what the customs and laws in my country are. Funny that now that I am back in Tehran, my friends wonder how I escaped Kurdistan not being raped or killed. Instead I tell them that I spent about the equivalent of 20US$ for a week there due to all the generosity and care the Kurds offered me. Ontop of that it has been my favorite region in this country, which certainly says something. How can I ever reciprocate? I kept asking but they kept insisting that they derive great pleasure from taking care of others and “serving” -something I am not very used to or comfortable with, but I did my best in offering friendship and cultural exchange.

As far as socio-economics, I saw several beggars in Kurdistan, which was surprising since I had not many in other parts of Iran- Tehran, Tabriz, Shiraz, Esfahan, and Yazd. I was lead to believe that many of the beggars (many who are clad in black including the face covering below the eyes) are from Iraq. I often gave them money; I felt it was the least I could do seeing what a mess my country has made of theirs. As you know, like many I am against the war in Iraq, and would like to see the occupation end soon, however being in Kurdish country, I was exposed to the Kurdish take on ths situation. The Kurds I met highly appreciate and respect the Americans and their vision of autonomy for the Kurds. Again, they have been treated horribly throughout history but I am still trying to figure out why—not that there is ever any valid reason for such treatment. According to friends who are Iraqi, or have close ties there, Kurdish Iraq has now been likened to “heaven” by more than one Kurd I met here. Apparently, the occupiers have built hospitals, schools, etc- for the Kurds there and they are living in freedom that they never had before. In addition there is supposedly little military presence in that part of Iraq. When I was traveling to the Oruman valley on the border I wanted to go to the actual border- however it became apparent that this was too dangerous an affair. Close by there were dirt roads full of dilapidated cars with hundreds of jugs of gasoline waiting to be smuggled into Iraq. I guess gasoline in Iran is much cheaper here in Iran than there in Iraq. Many men risk their life in the heat walking through the mountains over the border with jugs upon jug on their heads, back, etc just to try to make a living because there is little other way to make much money in the region (from what I heard the government has not invested much any factories or industries in the Kurdish part of Iran). Men usually put blocks of ice ontop of their heads and in their shoes before making the journey with all of this illegal gasoline since it is so hot- when it was there it was well over 100 degrees! One of my friends said it best: “they will pay their life just to have the chance to try to make a living for their families.” True. A different friend told a story of crossing the border when another car was going over the border with illegal gasoline smuggled in the car. Reportedly, police shot at this car and of course, it exploded; all lives in the car were lost. Again, I am getting this information from various random people I met, so do not quote me on any of this.

Before coming to this region I raved about Iranian roads. They are still pretty good here, but it was interesting to see that there are no paved roads in many parts of Kurdistan, including the road to the Oruman valley, which has large potential to draw tourism and therefore money to the region. Iran’s largest fresh water lake is also in this border region, but few tourists go there compared to other parts of Iran. Also, this region suffered greatly during the Iran-Iraq; just as I saw in Vietnam (on a smaller scale here though) there were a few people walking around with deformities from the chemical warfare that took place. Many buildings lay in ruins, with no apparent reconstruction plans in sight, and reportedly there are still many many landmines in this area which are still active.  I was told some of the gasoline smuggler have lost life and limb this way as well.

Although I loved Kurdistan I did notice that it was more “traditional” than other parts I have been to in Iran. By traditional I mean there are fewer women around during the day- meaning that they are at home cooking, cleaning and caring for their children. I do not want to impose my western values on this but for me, it seems pretty limiting that so may live that way. I am sure some really do love doting on others, but how can all? At times it made me uncomfortable how women would be incessantly attending to my, their children’s, and husband’s needs but never sit down at eat with us because they were too busy cleaning. Sad. This exists in many parts of the world, but I guess it stood out because it was more dominant in Kurdistan than other places I have been here- although it definitely still exists, big-time. One woman I spoke to expressed that she too sees this in her culture, and she cannot wait to move to Tehran. She said she will resist getting married because she does not want the sort of house mom life, which she sees as unavoidable if she gets married. We both separately likened it to a sort of prison. The good side of the traditional bent, is that I saw fewer black chadors in Kurdistan, and instead more traditional color and relaxed hejab fashion (and not in a tacky Northern Tehran sort of a way- just a more natural sort of way).

By Michelle May

The Polish Postal Service has commemorated the role Isfahan played during World War 2 in caring for Polish orphans.

The new stamp, “Isfahan - the City of Polish Children”, went on sale earlier this month. It depicts a pupil at School No. 15 near Isfahan (Stanislaw Stojakowski), standing in front of a Persian carpet woven at the city’s Carpet School in 1944.

In 1942, Isfahan housed thousands of Polish orphans released from the Soviet work camps of Siberia and Kazakhstan. At its peak, twenty one areas of the city were exclusively allocated to the welfare of the ragged and emaciated orphans who had been sent there from reception centres in Anzali, Tehran and Mashad. Many of them remained in the city for up to three years, earning it the title “City of Polish children”, the name which also appears (in Polish) on the stamp’s First Day Commemorative Cover. In addition, the cover sports a design showing hundreds of the Polish names fading illegibly into oblivion.

Between 1942 and 1945, Iran played host to almost 150,000 men women and children of the “Polish Exodus from Russia”. The majority of the children ended up in Isfahan.

The stamp, issued on 10th June 2008, has a face value of 2 zloty 40 groszy, and is already proving extremely popular with the Polish public.

Ryszard Antolak