Serving God in Challenging Contexts – An Interview With Rev. Dr. Albert Sundararaj Walters

What is your current connection to STM?

I am a Research Fellow at STM.

When did you start serving in STM and how long have you served?

I actually started with STM at the end of 1992 as a full-time lecturer, and served in that capacity till 2005. After a year-long sabbatical, I then served in the pastoral ministry with the Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia. Since 2006 I have been a guest lecturer at STM and was appointed a Research Fellow from February 2022.

What has your ministry journey been like?

It is a long story, but let me try to summarise. About forty years ago I started on a journey of personal spirituality, of shaping and reshaping. At the time, I was a Laboratory Technologist at Universiti Malaya (UM) with promising prospects and a reasonably good salary. While scientific research in the lab fascinated me, I was also intrigued by spiritual matters and embarked on a personal spiritual journey of searching. This journey took me to various places of worship – the Buddhist vihara, the Hindu temple, the many denominational churches, evangelistic and healing rallies, etc. Then I met this amazing Anglican priest whose views, ideas and lifestyle brought renewed freshness to my inquisitive mind, especially with regard to my faith. In 1976 I left UM to join the parish-based Anglican seminary, Kolej Theology Malaysia in Klang. The thirst and hunger to be better equipped for the church’s ministry led me from Klang to Trinity Theological College, Singapore, and then subsequently to Bishop’s College, Calcutta, and Presbyterian Seminary, Seoul, finally completing a PhD through Birmingham University, UK. Teaching at STM has been, and continues to be, a life-transforming experience because “you teach best what you want to learn most.” I have served in pastoral ministry in Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Petaling Jaya, Seremban, and in Iran. I also taught for two years in Tanzania, and three years in Bangladesh.

What led you to Iran and how long were you there?

In 2016, I was completing a three-year secondment to the Church of Bangladesh as Principal of the Anglican theological college in Dhaka. I was ready to return to the Diocese to continue serving in the parish ministry. However, Archbishop Ng Moon Hing drew attention to an opportunity to serve as Bishop in Iran. Thus, I offered myself and was appointed Vicar-General of the Diocese of Iran, with prospects of later being consecrated Bishop. My wife Rose Mary and I, however, were only able to leave for Tehran in February 2018 after all the required paperwork was completed. We were based in the capital city for about fifteen months; returning home to Malaysia in May 2019 as our residence permits and my work permit were not extended.

What was your ministry in Iran?

I was the Vicar-General in the Anglican/Episcopal Diocese of Iran, overseeing four congregations (St Paul’s, Tehran; St Luke’s, Isfahan; St Paul’s, Julfa, and St Simon the Zealot, Shiraz) with a total of 760 members.

What were some challenges you faced there?

During the 1960s and 1970s, Iranians were leading the Church, its congregations and institutions. The medical and education work of the Diocese of Iran, as well as the ministry among the blind flourished; these were well received as they sought to express practically the social values of the Gospel. With the 1979 Islamic Revolution, however, came what has been called ‘the hard awakening’. Within a few months into the Revolution, diocesan hospitals and other institutions in Isfahan and Shiraz were expropriated, and other diocesan property seized.

The Islamic Revolution in 1979 also led to very strict and crippling sanctions imposed by the USA and its allies. As a result of the sanctions and other related issues, the Iranian people faced growing economic hardship, confronted with sky-high inflation on a daily basis. The Iranian currency was badly battered, pushing prices of essential commodities beyond the reach of many, especially the poor. Food supplies and medicines underwent some of the sharpest price increases. We, together with the Iranians, faced difficult, challenging and demanding times. There was lingering uncertainty about the future.

What in Iran has made an impact on your life?

Iranians are generally very welcoming, hospitable, friendly and curious. Those outside the church community especially wanted to know why we had come to Iran. The first thing we learnt, and we were often told by the Iranians, was that they were Persian and not Arab.

One person who impacted my life in Iran was my Farsi language teacher, whom I had met by chance at the bazaar, the local market. He volunteered to teach me Farsi twice a week, and in exchange I was to teach him English. He was well-versed in French, Greek and Russian, and also a self-titled atheist and communist. I learnt a great deal from him about Persian culture and local politics.

One very enjoyable celebration was the Nowruz (Persian New Year) during which Iranians visited other family members and friends. On this occasion, families, children, babies, elderly people and couples have great fun camping in the parks, having picnics, barbeques, singing and dancing.

People from minority religious communities seem to co-exist quite happily and peacefully alongside the Muslim majority. Despite certain restrictions, Iran is a fascinating place to discover, more so with its rich culture and ancient civilization.

Is Christianity legal in Iran?

There are approximately twenty officially recognized Christian churches in Iran. However, house churches are illegal in Iran.

What is the situation in Iran today?

Since 1979, an entity known as the Islamic “morality police” has sought to enforce a dress code that requires all women—whether Muslim or not—to wear head coverings called hijabs. But a growing number of Iranian women see the requirement as a sign of oppression. Recent protests have been not just about head coverings, or even about Islam, but a cry for basic human rights.

Christians remain a small minority in Iran, and most forms of outward Christian activity are considered illegal.

The country suffers under the weight of great oppression. Some of the many serious difficulties in Iran include restrictions on religious freedom and press freedoms, limitations on basic human rights, high rates of opioid abuse, and relatively high rates of early child marriages.

What are some conditions Christians in Iran face?

Conversion is illegal for Muslims in Iran, and unrecognized religious minorities are barred from assembling. Muslim converts to Christianity face multiple arrests, a year in detention, charges of blasphemy, acting against national security, and engaging in evangelical activity with the aim of attracting others to “deviant thoughts.” Many have been forced to flee abroad to pursue their religious beliefs, but those who remain in Iran are persecuted.

Living as Christians in public is difficult and intimidating. The property of the Church and individual Christians have been confiscated. Many Christians have lost their jobs, and also face great difficulty gaining admission into university. Families of diaspora Christians are constantly intimidated.

Christianity in Iran is one of the fastest growing in the world. What are the contributing factors to this growth?

Despite the difficult conditions, the Church in Iran has truly been undergoing explosive growth. Some primary factors for this growth are the courageous witness of evangelists; God’s use of dreams and visions to reveal Himself to many Iranians seeking grace and truth; and perhaps even because of persistent persecution. But the main contributing factor for this growth may possibly be the extreme form of Shi’ite Islam imposed by the theocratic regime. The tiny underground house churches of four to five members each are led largely by lay women. Estimates are vague, but some surveys have identified around 750,000 believers.

Do you have any closing thoughts you would like to share?

Christianity has had a long history in Iran dating back to the early years of the faith. Iran, formerly Persia, is the land where the (Three) Wise Men are believed to have lived when Jesus was born. Some of the first people to recognize Jesus Christ after his birth were these Magi, the “wise men from the East” (Matthew 2:1-12).

The story of the Wise Men shows us the power of faith, the role of Jesus Christ in God’s plan of redemption and restoration, and gives us an example of what it looks like to follow God’s leading, which often takes us to places we do not expect. Now is the most important time for the people in Iran to hear and receive the Good News. Signs of the Kingdom of God are emerging in Iran in unexpected ways through dreams, visions, etc. As Jesus tells his disciples in Luke 17:6, faith the size of a mustard seed is sufficient for the powerful rule of God to be activated.

Let us pray that Christians in Iran may live their lives with integrity, courage and hope. May God enrich them with the gift of the Holy Spirit, and strengthen their sense of belonging to the Universal Church so that their sense of isolation may be relieved. We also thank God for all who support the Church and her ministry in Iran.

My wife Rose Mary and I are ever so grateful to God for the awesome opportunity to have stayed and served the Church of God and God’s people in Iran. I am grateful that, unworthy as I am, I have been able to love and serve God and God’s people as a priest in and through the Church. The summon to love is a call to life – life in all its fullness (John 10:10).

Interviewer: Annie Yee | Senior Communications & Development Officer