Haik Hovsepian Mehr

Who was Haik Hovsepian Mehr?

Haik Hovsepian, was an Iranian bishop and Christian martyr. He was the Bishop of the Jama'at-e Rabbani church until his death. The life of Bishop Haik, who preferred the humble title of Brother Haik except when dealing with government authorities, began in 1945 in Tehran, Iran as the firstborn of an Armenian middle-class family. Haik later became the eldest of four brothers: Edward, Roubik and George. Just as Iranian born individuals consider themselves Muslim, Armenian born individuals consider themselves Christian. Nonetheless Haik professed Christ as his personal savior when he was 15. In 1966, upon completion of his mandatory military service, Haik married Takoosh Ginagosian. In 1967, he pastored his first church in Majidieh, a suburb of the capital Tehran. Not long afterwards, he served in the military and was stationed in Gorgan, a city in Mazanderan, a northern province of Iran near the Caspian Sea, where he established a house group. Tragedy struck one evening in 1969. Haik, his wife Takoosh, and their six-month old child were traveling from Tehran to Gorgan with an American missionary family when the car rear-ended a tractor-trailer without reflective lights. The adult passengers survived, but the four children aboard were killed. Both Haik and Takoosh suffered broken legs and were not expected to walk again. Despite physical and emotional pain, they recovered use of their legs and within a few months they returned to Gorgan where they faithfully served for fourteen years amid much hardship and persecution.