How Elam Began
Elam was founded in 1988 by senior Iranian church leaders with a vision of serving the growing church in the Iran Region. From the beginning, Elam's passion was to train and equip Iranian Christians for the ministry. In 1990 six emerging leaders arrived in England from Iran to begin their fulltime ministry training. They lived in a small, rented 2 bedroom apartment and used the kitchen as the classroom.
Soon after, an elderly Scottish lady sent a cheque to Elam's leadership for £50, noting the money was for the 'Iranian Bible Training Building Project'. No request had been shared with anyone, and so Elam's leadership believed the Lord was directing them to the next step. In 1992 Elam purchased a disused and semi-derelict Salvation Army retirement home as its base.
Since then, it has been many years of experiencing His faithfulness, as He has provided for the ministry to expand and make an increasing impact for the Iran Region and beyond. Please explore the rest of the website to learn about the various aspects of the ministry today.
Team and Leadership
Over the years Elam has developed a very strong team of over 25 full-time people who lead and oversee our key programs.
Elam Ministries was founded and is led by Sam Yeghnazar, a senior Iranian church leader. Sam was born in Tehran, Iran in 1944 into a devoted Christian family. He came to know the Lord at a young age. In 1956, his father started Christian meetings in the family home that took place every night for four years. Through these gatherings, a number of the present and recently martyred Iranian church leaders came to know the Lord and one of the largest church movements in Iran was born.
At the age of 11, Sam had a dramatic encounter with the Lord, and as a teenager he helped pioneer a church in Isfahan, Iran. As a young church leader, his love for the Word grew and he travelled to India to complete his theological training. Sam then returned to his country and joined the Bible Society of Iran in 1968. His passion to spread the Word of God took him to every town in Iran. With volunteers he had recruited and trained, he helped increase Scripture distribution very significantly.
As a result, in 1974 he became the United Bible Societies Distribution Consultant for Asia and the Pacific. He was based in the Philippines for two years. During this period, he also established the Bible Society in Nepal. He was then relocated to Lebanon with his family in 1977. Despite Lebanon being in the middle of a turbulent civil war, Sam directed the work of the Bible Societies in North Africa and the Middle East for six years. He established new offices and co-ordinated the large-scale distribution of literature to those untouched by the Gospel all over the region.
In 1983 the United Bible Societies relocated Sam to England as a consultant for Europe and the Middle East. Sensing the openness of Iranians to the Gospel, Sam left the UBS in 1986 to dedicate his life to ministry among Iranians. He then established Elam Ministries in 1988 with the vision of reaching Iran and the Persian speaking world for Christ.