Johannes Avetaranian, missionary in Kashgar

JOHANNES AVETARANIAN

The first person to stay in Kashgar 1892 to work for the Swedish Mission was not a Swede but a Turk from Turkey: Johannes Avetaranian. Let us look at the life of this pioneer. He was born in Erzurum in Asia Minor 1861 in a Muslim family. His birth name was Muhammad Shukri. His father was a dervish. His mother, who was deaf, mute and blind, died when Muhammad Shukri was only 2 years old. At the age of 18 his father died.

Johannes supported himself as a schoolteacher and imam. He was very zealous in his spiritual search, studying the depths of Islam. At that time a Turkish soldier had returned to Turkey from imprisonment of war in Russia. In the prison the soldier had received a New Testament. Muhammad Shukri borrowed this New Testament and later on bought a copy of his own. He was reading it with growing interest. After some time he found the salvation he had been searching for. One day he openly confessed himself as a Christian. He spent a full year studying the Bible and also preaching his new-found faith. For this he was persecuted. During several years he had to flee for his life from one place to another. He came to Persia and then to Caucasus. In Tiflis he met an Armenian preacher, Abraham Amirkhanjanz, who became a great support to him. There he was baptised and took the name Johannes Avetaranian.

Read on...