Haik Hovsepian Mehr

[donsaeid]

Haik Hovsepian Mehr (January 6, 1945, Tehran, killed January, 1994), was an Iranian bishop and Christian martyr. He was the Bishop of the Jamiat-e Rabbani church (part of the Assemblies of God church movement) until his death.

While Armenian by ethnicity, Hovsepian Mehr had a strong motivation to evangelise Iranian Muslims. He was an outspoken Christian apologist and evangelist and a gifted musician. Many of his sermons and songs are still available on the Internet.

He was responsible for initiating increased collaboration between evangelical churches within Iran after the Iranian Revolution. He was the Chairman of the Council of Protestant Ministers of Iran.

Hovsepian Mehr spoke up for the rights of Christians in Iran. In 1993 he was one of only two church leaders to refuse to sign a declaration stating that they would not allow Muslims or Muslim converts into their churches. He also refused to sign a statement that Christians enjoyed full rights in Iran. He compiled a detailed report on violations of religious freedom and invited Professor Reynaldo Pohl, the United Nations Special Representative to Iran, to visit the country and meet Protestant ministers and government officials to discuss these violations. He also met the Ministry for Islamic Guidance for Minorities to call for the government to respect the rights of religious minorities set out in the 1979 Constitution.

He was killed after protesting about the treatment of his friend and colleague Mehdi Dibaj at the hands of the Iranian government. While the government initially denied all involvement in his death and even charged two members of the Mujahideen-e-Khalq with his murder, Iranian Christians and independent observers claimed that he was murdered for his beliefs and outspokenness by Iranian security personnel. This view was confirmed in 2001, when the murder was confirmed to be a part of the series of political murders of authors and activists ordered by Saeed Emami, then Vice Minister at the Ministry of Intelligence, exposure of which shook the Iranian political establishment.

He was succeeded by his brother Edvard Hovsepian Mehr in his role as Bishop of the Jammiat-e Rabbani Church.

[donsaeid]

Bishop Haik Hovsepian - Church of Tehran
Bishop Haik disappeared from the streets of Tehran on January 19, 1994.
Remember those in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoners, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering. Hebrews 13:3, NIV


Bishop Haik disappeared from the streets of Tehran on January 19, 1994. The authorities reported his death to his family on January 30. Haik was a man of God who believed in the God-given right of a person to believe according to his conscience. He loved the people of Iran whether Christian or Muslim. For their religious freedom, he gave his life.

Pastor Haik Hovsepian-Mehr did not believe in succumbing to government pressure and chose instead to "tell the world" about the plight of Iranian Christians. He said: "If we go to jail or die for our faith, we want the whole Christian world to know what is happening to their brothers and sisters."

One of the persons who worked very hard to overturn Rev. Dibaj's sentence was Bishop Haik Hovsepian-Mehr. Bishop Haik, an Armenian pastor, shared the news of Rev. Dibaj's death sentence as well as other violations of religious freedom of Christians in Iran with the world. Due to the world's reaction, Rev. Dibaj was released on January 16, 1994.

Five months after the release from prison, Rev. Mehdi Dibadj was abducted mysteriously and suffered martyrdom in June, 1994.




"Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection... they were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword... the world was not worthy of them." -- Hebrews 11: 37-38.

[donsaeid]