Reflections on how to keep on going in Christian ministry to Iranians
In the north of Iran we have beautiful mountains. I went mountain climbing when I was very young. You take a few steps and you lose your breath. Someone said, ‘You can do more, a little bit more’, and so I took a few more steps and to my surprise, I was on top of the hill. I thought I would never reach there. The next time it was a little easier and a few times more and it was a joy to climb the
mountains. How much more? A bit more – and many give up.
We are in the beginning of a mighty work of God in Iran. We have challenges before us and the answer is that we have to keep going, keep on going, stay on course, and our request is please stay with us as we keep on going. Churchill said about courage, “Courage is the most important of all virtues because without it, we can’t practice any other virtues.” And he also said, “Success is not final” and “Failure is not fatal.” It is the courage to continue that counts. So the challenge before us, at Elam, is to keep on course and continue. That requires courage. – He gives it to us. So we want to be on course. Would you stay with us? There are many challenges before us and I would like to start talking about some of them. I have put ten challenges or ten roadblocks that we have to overcome. And that’s what we teach our students because they need to be equipped and prepared for the task ahead and the first is fear.
FEAR
As soon as new students come on our courses in the Iran Region, we start talking about fear because fear is one of the strongest weapons our opponents have. And we preach 2nd Timothy 1:7 - The spirit that God has given us is not the spirit of fear or timidity. God has not given us a spirit of fear or timidity, but a spirit of power, love, and sound mind (or discipline). And so we talk about fear and we spend time counselling them sothat they can be filled with the spirit of courage and boldness. Last year we knew that our graduates were working without fear. It is a dangerous business to give out New Testaments. But our people have given out so many that last year a senior leader in Iran warned his students about our New Testament. ‘If a whole army comes against me. I will not fear,’ says David. And it’s not just a beautiful Psalm; it is reality.
FINANCE
The second road block is finance. A number of years ago at Elam, we had a financial crisis. The banks would not give us a mortgage. And the bank that had given us the mortgage – the manager moved on. The new one wanted to call back the mortgage. We were in a very difficult position. We knew that it was a challenge before us. So we talked together and said, “Well the only thing we can do is put our centre for sale.” So we put it on the altar of sacrifice. Our centre was there one year for sale, and if anyone would come to buy the place, we had to sell it. After one year God changed the situation. An Englishman had gone to Azerbaijan and had compassion on the people and said, “God, what can I do for them?” He came to our place and went to one of the offices where we were translating the scriptures into the Azerbaijani language. He remembered he had asked God what to do. And we were in a financial situation, so he guaranteed our mortgage and we passed that difficult situation. Paul in Philippians says whether you have a lot of money or no money, you can do it. The issue is perseverance.
HEALTH
I remember it was twelve years ago and suddenly, I was almost paralyzed with blood pressure. I couldn’t even walk and the Lord very graciously touched me and healed me and restored me so I could continue. Health is a very important issue. This year again I have had issue with my blood pressure. Constantly I need a fresh touch from the Lord to continue. Others, both in the home office, and on the field, have health issues. For Maryam and Marzieh who spent most of last year in prison, the worst part of their ordeal was sickness. This is what discouraged them most. It is when we are weak and sick we ask, how much more. And God’s answer is the same, a little bit more. Maryam and Marzieh remained faithful and are now free and will serve the Lord.
PERSECUTION
For me one of the most difficult things is when young men and women finish their course in the Iran Region and we have a graduation ceremony and we anoint them with oil and send them back to Iran. I literally feel the words Jesus Christ said to his disciples, ‘I send you as sheep among the wolves’ We send them as sheep among the wolves. We know that we are sending some of them to prison and some of our people have paid the ultimate price. That is a very emotional time. At the same time, we know we have to send them. Persecution is not the dictating factor of what we should do. In fact, it is in persecution that God shows his power. God who created the ocean says, That far and no farther. So in the midst of persecution, when the news is always grim and we ask, how much more, the answer is the same – a little bit more.
INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS.
This is a nasty one. That’s why when in our training, the community aspect is emphasized. We start the day with half an hour prayer individually. Then four of them make a team and pray together. If someone comes in the beginning and says, “Can I be a member of another team,” we say this makes it very clear that you have to stay in this team for three months praying with the same people! And then they work together. This problem causes a horrible atmosphere, and we ask, how much more, and God says, a little bit more, and when we persevere, there is a resolution. Last year, we had problems with one of the networks. Somehow the enemy had brought a lot of problem within. It seemed that the whole network was going to collapse. We spent some time together. They started loving one another in a most amazing way. That’s when they went back to Iran and with courage. Because there was no crack between them, they started distributing the Scriptures on a wide scale. How much more, a little bit more.
HERESY
Our folks started a house church in a flat in a city. They discovered in the flat just under them was another house church. This is so exciting. But then they discovered that they had these strange ideas and it all disintegrated. There is heresy – because people don’t have enough teaching. That’s why printing and distribution of wholesome Christian books with Biblical teaching is so important. We have to persevere here.
LEGALISM
Our people have been brought up with legalism. They need to hear about grace. After one service I had preached at a lady told me this – “Today I found out something very precious. I found out that Jesus does not condemn. We have been taught to curse and put curses on people, but I found out that Jesus doesn’t condemn.” And we want to have people who would not condemn, but would love people and serve them, and be gracious to them.
SIN
You know sin can destroy. Last year we had a meeting where we were discussing discipleship and we wanted to know what are the values we want to give to people. We talked about courage, generosity, humility, and someone said the first should be holiness. He is one of our three-month graduates and he has got a successful ministry. And we agreed with him. We need to forgive one another, and somebody fails, we have to pray for a holy life. We have 175 graduates from our courses, most are going on with the Lord, but some have struggled. We need to pray for them.
CULTURE
People are proud of their heritage and there are many valuable things in our culture: but very many deadly things in our culture, as well. The dust of religion has come and penetrated the lives of people. It is very subtle. So we need to bring the culture in the light of the Gospel, so it will be exposed. And those things that are beautiful in our culture, we would celebrate. We thank God for them, and we would carry on. And those that are not according to the values of the Bible, they will be discarded. We need to have the courage to face this obstacle.
PROCRASTINATION
And finally, procrastination. Today Iran is a land of opportunity—in spite of persecution, in spite of hardship-- in fact, because of that. These are not the days of closed doors or open doors. These are the days of revolving doors. When it opens up, you jump in and do your work and jump out. And we need to know the time. Now is the day—not tomorrow. We need to stay on course in spite of all hardships and problems and difficulties because it’s worthwhile. This is the day for Iran. We need to stay on course. At Elam I pray that we will stay on course by answering the question how much more, with, a little bit more. That is how we will overcome all these road blocks and challenges. They are real, they are dangerous, but with the Lord of Hosts on our side saying, press on, remain faithful, just a little bit more, that is what we are resolved to do.