The Azerbaijanis have a rich history. People from the lands of the Azerbaijanis were present at the day of Pentecost in Act 2:9, though they were named the Parthians, Medes, and Elamites then. These returning new believers formed the foundation of the historic first churches in what is modern day Azerbaijan.

Since the 7th century, however, the early church was progressively swept away in successive invasions, both Arabic and Turkish. The years following the settling of these lands by the different Turkish groups were years when the Persian Empire encompassed much of the Azerbaijani population. The sharing of the these lands by the different races in Persia, meant that several Azerbaijanis rose to positions of great power and authority in Persia, and even to this day this remains true. The supreme leader of Iran, Ali Khameini, is actually an Azerbaijani from Mashad.

As the strength of the Persian empire waned in the early 19th Century, the Russian Tsar fought with Persia, and took a part of what was the North Western extent of the empire as their own. It is this piece of land that is now modern day Azerbaijan. It was under the rule of the Tsar till the end of the first world war when it enjoyed a brief period of independence as a republic, before the Soviet army took back the land and control of what is now modern day Azerbaijan. By the early 90s however tensions in the Soviet Union meant that Azerbaijanis in the North once again gained their independence and this is what is known as Azerbaijan today.

The majority of Azerbaijanis, however, still remain in Persia, in what is modern day Iran and sharing the Gospel with them is still a great need. The Azerbaijanis, wherever they are found, share a common language, history, and culture, and even though in recent centuries many different influences and powers have created differing mentalities and worldviews in the various countries where the Azerbaijanis are found. This factor is one of the things that makes them such a strategic people in themselves and as a gateway people to the many other Muslim people in the countries where we find the Azerbaijanis.

Currently only about 10,000, or 0.02%, of the nearly forty million Azerbaijanis as known believers, they remain one of the largest unreached people groups in the world and reaching out to them remains a high priority, not only for their sake, but for the sake of the nations around them.

NAM was created to see Azerbaijanis reached with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to enable them as a gateway people to reach many others in the region. To learn more about NAM click here.