FROM REFUGE TO SHEPHERDING
April 28, 2026
By Ghazal Amini
A Testimony of Grace, the Cross, and the Faithfulness of God
If someone had told me years ago that one day, from the midst of exile, brokenness, tears, and helplessness, God would bring me to a place where I would shepherd His people, I would never have believed it.
What I could see was only a wilderness. But what God could see was a spring in the desert.
Ghazal looking out over the streets of Türkiye during her early years as a refugee. What seemed like a wilderness of uncertainty would become the place where God began shaping a new journey of faith, service, and calling.
When Everything Seemed to End
Because of my Christian faith, I was forced to flee Iran and seek refuge in Türkiye with my husband, Harpak.
Leaving behind my homeland, family, past, and sense of security left deep wounds in my soul. Being a refugee is not simply a change of location. Sometimes it feels as though you have left part of your identity behind as well.
There were days when I lived with many questions and very few answers. There were nights when tears became the only language of my prayers.
Yet in those very days, when I thought everything had ended, God was just beginning.
The God of the Bible is the God who creates new beginnings out of endings. The same God who parted the sea for Israel and brought resurrection out of a tomb was also at work in the ruins of our lives.
Healing Through Serving Others
In Türkiye, God gave me the opportunity to teach English to Afghan and Iranian refugee children.
Outwardly, I was teaching them. But in truth, God was also healing my own heart.
Every time I saw a child smile in exile, I was reminded that the light of God still shines in the darkest places. Through those children, God began teaching me that our own wounds do not have to prevent us from serving others. Sometimes He uses those very wounds to help us recognize the pain of another person.
Ghazal and Harpak with Pastor Fred and Kelly Shin during a visit to the ancient city of Laodicea in Denizli, Türkiye—a time of fellowship and encouragement as they began walking together in faith and ministry.
Then God placed Pastor Fred and Kelly Shin in our path. They stood beside us at a time when many people could see only our weakness and limitations, yet they saw the calling God was developing in our lives.
Through their encouragement, prayer, and guidance, another door opened.
From Architecture to Building Lives
Before leaving Iran, I had studied architecture. But now God was calling me to a different kind of building.
I entered the Master of Divinity program at Grace Mission University. This time, God was preparing me not to build structures, but to help build lives.
The journey was not easy. The courses were in English, the theological concepts were challenging, our circumstances were difficult, and the burdens on our hearts were often heavy. Many times, I reached the point where I felt I could go no further.
It was there that I began to understand more deeply the words God spoke to Paul:
“My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
Where my strength ended, I learned to depend on the strength of God.
Harpak and Ghazal during a visit to ancient Colossae in Türkiye, the city associated with Paul’s Letter to the Colossians—a meaningful stop along their journey of faith and preparation for ministry.
A Church Begins in the Midst of the Journey
While we were still studying and facing the uncertainties of refugee life, God began placing a new burden in our hearts for the people around us.
On November 13, 2022, Harpak and I began gathering with a small group of believers in our home in Kırıkkale.
We did not begin with a building or a large congregation. We began by opening our home, studying God's Word, praying, worshiping, and caring for one another.
What began as a small Home Church gradually grew.
With prayer and support from those God placed around us, we eventually moved into a dedicated worship space, where we began holding services on March 12, 2023. That small Home Church continued growing into what is today Grace Church Kirikkale.
One of the first Home Church gatherings in Kırıkkale, Türkiye, beginning on November 13, 2022, as Harpak and Ghazal opened their home for believers to study God’s Word, pray, worship, and grow together in faith.
By God's grace, the church has grown into a community of more than 60 people. Throughout the week, we seek to help people grow through Bible study, discipleship, ministry to children and families, community outreach, and worship.
Looking back, I see something beautiful: while God was preparing us for ministry, He was already allowing us to begin serving His church.
Through the Valley
But in the middle of those years came one of the darkest chapters of our lives.
Harpak battled severe liver disease for several years. The hospital became almost like a second home. Medical tests, difficult reports, uncertainty, and fear became part of our daily lives.
At times the pain was so deep that prayer itself could only be expressed through silence.
There were moments when the future seemed to disappear before us. We were walking through what the Psalms call “the valley of the shadow of death.”
Harpak undergoing medical tests at a hospital in Ankara during his battle with severe liver disease. Living in Kırıkkale meant traveling about 90 minutes for hospital care, making repeated medical visits part of a long and difficult season for their family.
Yet God was with us.
When our hands were empty, His hands were still full.
When medicine reached its limits, His mercy had no limits.
When tears flowed, His hand had not grown short.
In 2024, Harpak received a liver transplant.
God preserved his life and gave us strength to continue the journey He had placed before us.
From Students to Pastors
Even through ministry, illness, hospital visits, and uncertainty, God enabled us to continue our theological studies.
By December 2024, Harpak and I had completed all the requirements for our Master of Divinity degrees. In June 2025, we officially graduated from Grace Mission University.
Harpak and Ghazal with Rev. Paul Ki Hong Han and Pastor Fred and Kelly Shin following their ordination as pastors in Türkiye on April 17, 2026—a joyful milestone shared with those who had walked alongside them through theological education, ministry, illness, and pastoral preparation.
But the story did not end with graduation.
God had another surprise for us.
We had thought it might be impossible to travel to the United States for our ordination. Instead, God opened another way. In 2026, Pastor Han came to Türkiye, and Harpak and I were ordained together into pastoral ministry.
That day, I wept.
Suddenly, the whole journey passed before my eyes:
From fleeing to being called.
From refuge to shepherding.
From hospital rooms to the altar.
From tears to anointing.
From the cross to glory.
The woman who once fled her homeland as a refugee was now being entrusted with the responsibility of shepherding God's people.
Only grace could write a story like this.
The God of the Wilderness
Today, as Harpak and I serve at Grace Church Kirikkale, I understand something more clearly than I did before:
God is never in a hurry, yet He is never late.
He works in silence.
He shapes us in waiting.
He meets us in suffering.
And in His time, He brings forth fruit.
Harpak and Ghazal together at Pamukkale in Türkiye during their journey—a quiet moment along a path marked by uncertainty, faith, and God’s sustaining grace.
If someone reading our story is walking through a difficult season, I want to say this with all my heart:
Do not look only at your wilderness—look at the God of the wilderness.
Do not look only at the tomb—look at the risen Christ.
Do not look only at what you lack—look at the sufficiency of His grace.
Perhaps today you cannot understand why you are walking this road. I could not understand many parts of my own journey either.
But now, looking back, I can see that God was present even when I could not see Him. He was shaping us through the wilderness, preparing us through suffering, and turning places of brokenness into places where we could serve others.
God is still writing stories.
He is still restoring lives.
He is still calling people.
He is still bringing beauty out of ashes.
Our journey is not finished. We still depend upon His grace every day.
But the God who met us in the wilderness is the same God we trust to lead us wherever He calls us next.
To Him be all the glory.
Ghazal in Türkiye, looking back on a journey she could not have imagined when she first arrived as a refugee—a journey through loss, service, faith, suffering, healing, and calling, sustained by the grace of God.
Pastor Ghazal Amini
Kırıkkale, Türkiye · 2026