With Iranians making up a large proportion of the adults being baptized in Vienna, the Hananias ministry — led by an Iranian convert — helps new converts find a spiritual home within the Church.
It was on a cold Austrian winter evening, shortly after fleeing Iran with her family, that Anna Maria Jalalifar set out in search of a church. Not yet speaking German, she drew a cross on her hand and showed it to a passerby, who pointed her in the right direction. The year was 1993. Her husband was in an Austrian detention center, and she feared they would all be sent back to their home country.
An aunt who had converted to Christianity had urged her to seek help from someone she barely knew: Jesus Christ. When she reached the church, the inner gate was already locked, but as she stood with her daughters between the entrance and the gate, she could make out the altar, the light from the sanctuary, and a few religious paintings. She felt a peace she had never known before.
Her husband’s release the very next day was the sign she had been waiting for. From that moment on, her life changed
