Josef Mässrur (born Ghäsim Khan) (also sometimes spelled Josef MessrurIn Tibet and Chinese Turkestan: Being the Record of Three Years' Exploration By Henry Hugh Peter Deasy pg. 284) was a Christian Persian missionary to Chinese Turkestan with the

Mission Union of Sweden The Mission Covenant Church of Sweden ( sv, Svenska Missionskyrkan), founded in 1878, was a Swedish evangelical free church. It was the second-largest Protestant denomination in Sweden, after the national church, the Church of Sweden. In 2011, ...

. Mässrur was born in Tehran, Persia, of Persian parents. He studied medicine and French from a French doctor in Tehran. Afterwards, he set up an independent practice. While he was practising as a doctor a Lutheran Swedish missionary gave him a

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

, and he soon made the decision to give his life to Jesus. He was baptised and took the name Josef. In 1894 he joined the

, and went to

Xinjiang Xinjiang, SASM/GNC: ''Xinjang''; zh, c=, p=Xīnjiāng; formerly romanized as Sinkiang (, ), officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China (PRC), located in the northwest ...

with Anna Nystrom to operate within the Covenant Church Östturkestanmission. On 5 May 1895, after arriving in

Kashgar Kashgar ( ug, قەشقەر, Qeshqer) or Kashi ( zh, c=喀什) is an oasis city in the Tarim Basin region of Southern Xinjiang. It is one of the westernmost cities of China, near the border with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Pakistan ...

, he married

Anna Nyström Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

, whom he had met in Persia. They worked in

Yarkand Yarkant County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also Shache County,, United States National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous ...

, where they founded the Mission League's mission station, and later built a hospital. Mässrur also trained to be a dentist. In 1900 the Mässrurs travelled to Anna's homeland of Sweden. In 1901 they returned to Persia, an area where the Swedish Mission Covenant really had no mission. They were not officially missionaries of the Swedish Missionary Society, but Anna had a small contribution until 1908, when it was withdrawn. They never returned to Chinese Turkestan, but worked in Rasht and

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

till his death. Mässrur died on March 31, 1913. Anna Nystrom Mässrur returned to Stockholm, Sweden on 15 December 1913 but was so ill from the effects of a previous cholera epidemic that she was hospitalized upon her arrival. She died later that month.

Bibliography

*J. Lundahl (editor), På obanade stigar: Tjugofem år i Ost-Turkestan. Stockholm, Svenska Missionsförbundet Förlag, 1917 *Nyström, Lennart, Anna och Mischa Josef - en missionshistoria

References

1. ^ In Tibet and Chinese Turkestan: Being the Record of Three Years' Exploration By Henry Hugh Peter Deasy sid. 284 Year of birth missing 1913 deaths People from Tehran Iranian Protestant missionaries Protestant missionaries in China Christian missionaries in Central Asia Converts to Protestantism from Shia Islam Iranian former Shia Muslims {{Christianity-bio-stub