The Fourth Sunday in Advent AD 2024

Amirhon, who is originally from Tajikistan, is a vestry member of a little Estonian country church. He moved to Estonia a few decades ago, having previously lived in his homeland. Originally a Muslim, he became a Christian during his university years. The reason was the same as that of the Apostle Paul: he hated Christians and, to better fight them, he decided to get to know this “false religion” as well as possible. And so, at one point, he realized that his life and way of thinking had to change completely.

At that time, he lived in a dormitory, which was a large, seven-story building, and according to him, everyone who lived in that dormitory soon learned that there was one Christian among them. Yes, only one, because 96 percent of the population of Tajikistan is Muslim.

Soon, he received several death threats, after which the Christian missionaries, with whom he had started caring for street children, advised him to leave his homeland. He was offered the opportunity to move to California, but he decided to go to Estonia. Perhaps because one of the missionaries he met underground was a young Estonian woman, to whom he has now been married for twenty years.

Amirhon is the chairman of the Tajik community in Estonia. However, he doesn’t see his mission as developing Tajik culture in Estonia, but rather as proclaiming Christ to his people. He says that his great role model is John the Baptist, and his testimony is exactly like that of that great prophet: his calling is not to proclaim himself, but the Messiah, who has come to take away the sin of the whole world. He jokingly says that he expects the same fate that befell John the Baptist: that one day his head will also be placed on a platter. But he is not afraid, because he knows that Christ has bought him free.