Matthew 4:18–25 (NIV)
“As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. … They were fishermen. ‘Come, follow me,’ Jesus said, ‘and I will send you out to fish for people.’ At once they left their nets and followed him. … Jesus went throughout Galilee … teaching … proclaiming … healing. And news about him spread all over.”
In 1859, John Haskell Shedd arrived in the isolated mountain town of Urmia, in northwest Persia. Shedd, along with his son William Ambrose, served as Presbyterian missionaries in the region for over four decades. The Shedds’ presence in Urmia coincided with a turbulent period in the country’s history.
Tribal conflict and foreign invasion brought a humanitarian crisis to Urmia, resulting in thousands of deaths. Under John Haskell Shedd’s leadership, missionaries distributed essential supplies and acted as mediators in the conflict. Their work opened the door for the U.S. government to formally establish a diplomatic relationship with Persia. In ensuing years, a hospital and seminary would be built in Urmia. The younger Shedd sheltered Assyrian, Armenian and Jewish refugees during World War I. His diaries record a time when religious and ethnic groups were able to live in harmony before global war brought displacement to millions.
The Shedd family not only responded to Jesus’ call to “fish for people”; they embodied the good news of God’s peaceable Kingdom. While we are not all called to serve in a foreign country, we live in a time of vast human migrations rooted in injustice and violence. The opportunity to offer shelter and work for harmony among “foreigners” just might be here in our own communities.
Prayer:
Amazing Creator, you come to us offering personal transformation and purpose. As we seek to align ourselves with your healing and reconciling work, grant us courage and endurance to be peacemakers in turbulent times and places. Amen.
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