Gift to St Nicolas Ankara from Iranian parishioners


In our parish of St Nicolas, Ankara, there are a number of members from Iran. These members have often faced great hardship because of their religion. The priests and people of St Nicholas offer pastoral care, counsel, and fellowship in a warm Christian community in this parish situated at the crossroads between East and West.

Three Iranian women parishioners recently painted a mural for St Nicolas, as a gift to the community which has welcomed them and supported them. The mural which depicts the Resurrection in Eastern style is pictured above.

The women have written this comment about their work:
We are three Iranian sisters who live in Cankiri, a city in Turkey.
We are interested in art and painting. We used to paint portraits and landscapes, but were always searching for our own style. On the day we were born again and received Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, we knew that we were to paint the word of God . We believe that people can turn to God through painting, just as well as through sermons. We therefore call our work a "visual sermon". By the help of God and the support and assistance from the Church, we were able to do a small service to St Nicolas' Church in Ankara.
The subject of this painting is the resurrection of Christ. We hope that our picture conveys the message of God's endless love for all mankind. We wish that with each brush stroke that we can bring hope to those who have lost it.
Our desire is this work is appreciated and we believe that with grace the of God we will be able to do this type of service more in the future. We sincerely thank all whom helped us in this service.
Grace be with all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with love incorruptible.


Comments

  1. Myrabarinick13 October 2016 at 14:32

    How moving, how lovely...the warmth and glow, God bless these talented people

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farewell to the Diocese in Europe

Image
Deacon Frances and I packed up our office yesterday and turned over our official files, emails and equipment. Thus a close working together for 22 years comes to an end. So it is hard to believe that today, St David's day, a new chapter begins, after 44 years of stipendiary ministry, 22 years as deacon then priest and 22 as a bishop.  Here are just a few memories from the last couple of months...   But now it is time to begin a new chapter.  O God, by whose command the order of time runs its course: forgive our impatience, perfect our faith and, while we await the fulfilment of your promise, grant us to have a good hope because of your Word,  even Jesus Christ our Lord. (St Gregory Nazianzus, 330 - 390)
Read more

Archbishop of Canterbury's Pentecost Letter: A European Consequence

Image
In his Pentecost letter, the Archbishop of Canterbury warned of certain consequences for provinces of the Anglican Communion which have failed to stand by the three moratoria . (No authorisation of blessings services for same-sex unions; no consecrations of bishops living in same-sex relationships; and no bishop authorising any ministry within the diocese of another bishop without explicit permission). One consequence would be that representatives from such provinces w ould not be able to participate in the formal international interchurch dialogues of the Communion. One of those dialogues is the Anglican-Old Catholic International Co-ordinating Council ( AOCICC ), the official instrument set up to deepen the relationship of communion established in 1931 between the Anglican Communion and the Old Catholic Churches of the Union of Utrecht . As the member Churches of the Union of Utrecht are all European, the AOCICC is effectively a European body. (I am one of the members, appo...
Read more

Bishop Austin Rios of California

Image
It was a joyful, colourful, multicultural three-hour liturgy. At Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, the Revd Austin Rios was consecrated the bishop coadjutor of the Diocese of California. I have known Austin from his time as the Rector of St Paul's Episcopal Church in Rome, where he was a great friend and collaborator with our own Church of England All Saints Chaplaincy in that city. The liturgy, appropriately, marked the multiculural make-up of the diocese, with prayers, readings, hymns and songs in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Tonga and Mandarin. The final procession was led by a Chinese dragon! I was told that there were about 300 in the procession and 2000 present in the beautiful gothic cathedral on Nob Hill San Francisco. My good friend and ecuenical colleague from Rome Fr Keith Peckers SJ was also in attenance, so the Church of Rome and the Church of England were both represented! Among the bishop friends present were Bishop Mark Edington of the Episcopal Convocation in Europe, a...
Read more