My story

John Kazanjian, an Armenian-American entrepreneur and lay missionary, loves people, preaching, and great coffee. He runs a student laundry and shipping business serving the University of Michigan, which pays the bills and allows him to pursue his true passion of spreading the Good News about Jesus. John serves as a Country Coordinator for Renewal Ministries to Turkey, where he works helps lead evangelistic events, and bring people into a deeper relationship with Jesus and live in the power of the Holy Spirit.

John and his wife Michelle are the parents of five beautiful daughters; they live in Ann Arbor, Michigan and are actively involved in men’s and women’s ministries at Christ the King Parish.

His webpage: www.moveum.com

"John, what are you doing in Adana, Turkey? Your people are all gone. Murdered or chased away almost 100 years ago by people who hate you. You’re crazy to think you can reach these people with the Gospel. You don’t love them and they’ll see right through you. Because if you have no love, you have nothing. You’re still a bigot!”

These were my thoughts in 1999 as my plane was landing in south-central Turkey not far from Tarsus, St Paul’s home town. It was my first missionary trip and the weight of the decision to embark on this adventure was hitting hard. Fears, doubts and questions were flooding my mind: echoes of my parents and relatives recent phone calls begging me not to go. After all, I’m a businessman - not a missionary. And even if I had aspirations of trying my hand at mission work, what would posses me to think I, an Armenian, would choose Turkey! How did I get here?

I was born in Boston and my family moved to California when I was 14 where I attended an Armenian highschool. I have one older brother and we grew up in a very “ethnic” environment. My grades in school were about average. As a boy I loved sports, not books. I consider myself more common sense - street smart than intellectual.

I did graduate from college though with average grades.

Growing up, our family had many problems. We were lower middle-class, my dad immigrated from Turkey when he was 20 and worked for many years as a tailor. He is an alcoholic and my parents divorced when I was 19.

Being a full blooded Armenian, I learned the history of the first genocide of the 20 twentieth Century. in school, at the library and from survivors. My maternal grandma was force marched from her village in central Turkey through the desert and all the way to Syria (>300 miles). My dad’s parents hid in a kind neighbor’s cellar for a year until things in their village settled down.

From my youth I had learned to hate the Turks – who’s government to this day denies that the massacre happened. I’ve never seen myself as a likely candidate for humanitarian work and certainly not in the country my father fled.

In general, traveling to a places thousands of miles away from my home and family does not naturally excite me as it might others. And, to a country that is 99.9% Moslem, which has been historically hostile to my tribe, makes it even less attractive.

So, why did I say “yes” when my friend Peter offered me a spot on a three-man team to explore the possibilities doing evangelism in Turkey? I think partly it was because I saw myself as a guide. I could use my knowledge of the culture and language to keep the others out of harms way and get them back home safely. But there was another thing, I also wanted to prove to myself that the decision I had made long ago to forgive Turks was real. Was I really a changed man? Did I truly believe that my faith was the pearl of great price? The treasure that I was willing to sell everything else I had so that I could obtain it? Here was my chance to prove it.

I was 19 when a young man led me to a personal encounter with Jesus Christ, the living God. I committed myself to being Jesus’ disciple and learning from those who I saw truly belong to him. When I offered my life to God that day I also sincerely prayed those words I had recited thousands of times before “forgive me Lord of my sins as I forgive those who have sinned against me.”

Going to Turkey would test that decision. How would I react to Turks face to face? Their prejudice, hatred or denial of the massacre. I’m so grateful I had good brothers with me. They were an immense help.

It’s important to have advisors you can trust and will lead you. John Paul II has been my hero and a mentor, but there have been many others with whom I’ve had a more personal relationship over the last 30 years. I read what they write, listen when they speak and try to imitate what I see of God in their lives.

In those first years, sharing my faith was simply offering my testimony, a very briefly telling the story of how I came to know the Lord and how that decision changed my life. My friend Ralph would teach, Randy would tell a story and I would give my testimony. Then we’d ask people if they wanted to be prayed with. I was amazed to see people line up in front of me. It made me very uncomfortable. I was just the guide, tagging along, these other guys were who they should be wanting to pray with them. Not me. I was just struggling to get through each day.

I’m just an ordinary guy. Why are they coming to me? What do I have to offer?

One of the most comforting thoughts I often meditate on is that Jesus chose ordinary guys to be his most trusted helpers. The ones who didn’t appear to be especially gifted intellectually. The ones the world wouldn’t choose as its leaders.

There’s a passage from the book of Acts has always struck me: Read Acts 4:1-12

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated, ordinary men, (pause) they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Act 4:13

Other translations use: untrained and unlearned, ignorant and common. I especially like the word ordinary because it’s kind. The Greek word used there is “idiotes.” Not too hard to guess what other word derived from it.

Are you comforted when you read how Jesus asked his disciples

“Are you so dull?” Mk 7:18 or “How long will I have to put up with you?” Mt 17:17

I am because what I see is Jesus entrusting His work to men who were like me.

What do the scriptures say about what Jesus was looking for when choosing his disciples. Mark 3:14 points to two qualifications: That, 1. They might be with him, and 2. That he may send them out to preach.

If indeed I’ve said that I want to be a Christian and I’ve decided to be his disciple, I want to look at my life to see how I measure up to His qualifications.

Do I want to be with Him and with his people? Isn’t it amazing that Jesus didn’t hide his loneliness or his dependence. He chose friends with which he would share his joy, his grief, and He asked for them in His times of need. They became “family” for him. There was a mutual giving up. He loved them.

And am I witnessing to the gospel? Am I ready to tell people the truth about who he is when the opportunity presents itself? Jesus knew what was going to happen to him and that his time was short. He had three years to prepare a few people to carry on his mission once he was gone. The success of his message would depended on them. Look who he chose?

It doesn’t seem that he was looking for potential for greatness or perfectibility. Rather I think it’s mostly a matter of overcoming fear.

One evening well into that first trip, my friend Ralph asked me how I was doing. My emotions started pouring out. Being in Turkey was a tougher challenge than I had expected. Then he said, “John, I think you were made for this place. I really think you need to come back here.” The mere thought of it was overwhelming. I said, “No way! I can’t! I don’t even know how I’m going to make it through tomorrow.” All I could think of was getting home. But I knew in my heart that what he said was true. I just lacked the courage to do it. Ralph asked me “Do you feel that coming here was the Lord’s will for you?” I had to admit it did. Then he said “We only experience true joy when we do God’s will.”

All my mentors have been sounding a clear call to evangelism.

Mat 28 Jesus gave The Great Commission – go and make disciples of all nations

1Cor 9:16 Paul says: Woe to me if I don’t preach the gospel.

JPII For the disciple of Christ, the duty to evangelize is and obligation of love.

JPII If you’re not engaged in evangelism, you’re and immature disciple.

JPII To be a true disciple of the Lord, believers must bear witness to their faith with words and lives.

Ben No believer in Christ can feel dispensed from this responsibility which comes from the fact of our sacramentally belonging to the Body of Christ. Verbum Domini.

The first step is to give the Lord permission. Tell Him “if you open the door, I’ll go.” That door began to open for me when I decided to forgive.

My childhood mentors were proficient at making money, and I’ve done fine with that. But I don’t want to go to my grave being remembered ONLY as a guy who started out fairly poor, worked hard, made a lot of money, helped his family and retired in Florida. There’s nothing wrong with that, but I want more. It might sound idealistic, but I really want to make a difference in the world. And I have enough faith to believe that the grace He’s given to me is worth giving back, even to Turkey.

I honestly know now that I have given up my anger and bitterness and resentment. I truly do love the Turkish people and pray for them regularly. This year I will visit again for the 24th time since that first trip in 1999 and God is allowing me to see a new springtime of renewal in Turkey.