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"My father's greatest wish was that I could recite from the Koran, and he was incredibly proud of me," says Massoud Fouroozandeh about his father who was a fundamentalist Muslim and a senior official under Ayatollah Khomeini.
Today the 40-year-old Iranian sits in Vartov before one of the final lessons leading to the title Master of Theology. The pulpit in Iran has been replaced with one in a free church in Odense, that Massoud Fouroozandeh is the leader of, and the Bible replaced the Koran years ago. The journey has been long and includes a ride with a broken leg over the Kurdish mountains. It also includes a father who has denounced him, and a meeting with a national church,that he dreams of becoming a priest in.
" The Danish Church is tolerant but also very
mono-ethnic. The church is tailored to Danish culture and
mentality, and it has been unprepared for the arrival of
other Christians and Muslims with other truths. How to
embrace and integrate them into the Danish church, is a
large, unanswered questions, "says Massoud
Fouroozandeh.
He is the daily leader of the free church, Church of
Love in Odense. Services are conducted in Farsi, English
and Danish, and are being simultaneously interpreted. The
churchgoers are mostly Afghans and Iranians. Since 1997,
when the Church of Love was founded, Massoud Fouroozandeh
has baptized about 500 people in the churches in Odense,
Aarhus and Copenhagen. Most of them are Muslims who have
become Christians.
After some time some Christian organizations in Iran helped Massoud Fouroozandehs mother to flee to Denmark, and here she became a member of a group of Christian Iranians.It was the middle of everything, Massoud Fouroozandeh´s mother gave him a Bible in Farsi.
"I thought, 'Now I will find all the weaknesses and attack the Christians." But when I started reading, I felt that my Islamic roots had become loose, and I met a God who was conciliatory in contrast to Allah, who was very judgmental, "says Massoud Fouroozandeh.
The shift from Islam was not without consequences. Massoud Fouroozandehs father denounced him, as did his sister, a teacher at a Koranic school in Iran.
"Islam is a very all embracing and conquering religion, it not only concerns your faith, but every step you take from morning till evening. What you are to eat, not eat, drink, what clothes you will wear and how much fun you may have. That is why I think Islam has a hard time integrating into a democracy. Islam and democracy are like oil and water, "says Massoud Fouroozandeh.
"When you compare Jesus and Muhammad, the two founders, the difference is huge. Muhammad kills to survive. Jesus gives himself for you to survive. This is the crucial difference that makes the two religions so different "says Massoud Fouroozandeh.
Some years ago he got a call from his sister, who for years had cut off contact with him because she saw him as unclean and on the 24th December a few years ago the phone rang again. On the line was Massoud Fouroozandeh´s father. For the first time in years he wanted to wish his Christian son Merry Christmas.
"It's the best gift I have ever received. We are being reconciled, and it's great."
