Who Are They,
Those Iranians?

It is estimated that approximately 2,000 Iranians come to study in Kyiv every year. So in one given year, the total number of Iranian students reaches 13,000. This is a wide field for ministry and outreach. Starting this fall we hope to be able to do just that. Many believing Iranians have already started using the UEC as a meeting place for a Bible study. They benefit from the library and the wealth of technical and spiritual literature as well as Christian CDs both in English and Russian. We have come to meet some of them and get to know more about their culture and life in Kyiv. In partnership with the Christian Iranians we hope to reach out to their unbelieving friends.

So who are they, those Iranians? What do they seek when they come to Ukraine? These questions, in a more hostile way, are often on the mind of an average Ukrainian. Usually Ukrainians do not seek to befriend Iranians - there is a certain level of mistrust. Why do they come here? It's worth finding out.

Similarly to Ukraine, every young Iranian male has to serve in the army for a number of years. It's mandatory and there is no way to avoid it as long as you are between 18 and 39 years old. If you stay in Iran, you are likely to end up in the army sooner or later, and unlike in Ukraine, you cannot bribe the officials to let you go. You can only escape the army if you study abroad. There are many firms in Iran that advertise Ukraine and Ukrainian education. Traditionally Iranian higher school is very intensive and it requires a lot of effort to complete it. So these companies suggest that it's much easier to travel to Ukraine, learn Russian or Ukrainian language and get a degree here, instead of their own country. And of course it seems like it's worth it, because as a part of the deal you get a chance to get away from the conscription. Who would refuse that, after seeing wonderful pictures of the best dorms in Ukraine and hearing from their friends that you can take it easy here? Usually, it's well-off families who can afford to pay the agency to send their children to Ukraine. It costs several thousand dollars to accomplish that.

Ukraine, by the way, is also one of the few countries in the world that would grant visas to Iranians. But those expenses are just the tip of the iceberg. When they come here, they find out that you don't really have to study. You can buy your grades (and hopefully your family is sending you money), and you don't even have to come to classes - just go party all the time.

A few other things happen after students from Iran come to Ukraine. They find that in order to fit with the student culture here, they have to start drinking and smoking. Whereas at the beginning, 95% of the Iranian freshmen have never even tasted alcohol in their life, by the New Year about 90% of them would be drinking and smoking. Before they know it, they are sucked into the life of partying, lying to their parents about their studies (they do have good grades on paper after all), and coming to school only to pay bribes.

Their life here follows this pattern, and compelled by the love of God we want to break it. Many of international students from Iran started coming to the UEC recently, and many of them started actively using our library. We want to help them with their classes by providing study materials both in English that many of them know, and Russian that they are yet to learn and give them hope that they can indeed learn and get honest grades in schools here. Please pray that we can break their perception of Ukrainians and any mutual prejudices that might exist. It's a whole new and exciting field, and we hope and pray that God will save at least some.

Posted on October 16, 2007