Why be a witness if you know suffering is likely?
Maryam and Marzieh’s imprisonment for their faith is not an isolated case in Iran. Dozens of others Christians have been arrested or imprisoned over the last twelve months. Three Iranian church pastors were asked why they continue to serve the Lord if they know they are likely to face suffering. Here’s how they responded:
Mehdi: “Last year was a challenging year. Four of our churches stopped all activity because the pastor and his wife were imprisoned. It is also painful when I hear my young daughter say, ‘Daddy, I don’t want to go to prison. I want to die like other people.’ At the same time we are in an exciting adventure. You would think the same if you were here and could see how God is working in such an amazing way. There is so much fruit and God is preparing this land for a huge revival. I believe in that. But it is not easy—especially for my family.”
Nassim: “God is great. Even in prison, he will protect us and never leave us. God has protected others who have been imprisoned, and because of this, people know that God is great even in the most difficult situations. We are ready to go to prison because we want to witness to the people in prison. We overcome fear because we know that God is with us.”
Kourosh: “The Lord came to my life. He changed my damaged life to a peaceful life. He healed my daughter miraculously and gave her new life and a new heart. He changed my hate to love. I told the Lord. ‘If You can use me, I don’t care where You send me—even to prison. What is important is the glory of the Lord.’”
Please pray for continued courage, grace, favor and breakthrough for each of these church planters, and others like them.
18 finish 3-month leadership training
These 18 newly trained pastors are courageous, as well. They are entering ministry with a passion to serve the Lord in their own communities, to model Christ-like love and obedience, and to pass on all that they have learned. Praise God that He continues to raise up men and women prepared to strengthen and expand the church in Iran.
Pray that each of them will grow in fruitful service and that God will bless their evangelism and discipleship in the Iran region.
New Book launched: Fasting from words
Have you ever wished you were able to take back words that came from your mouth?
Disciplined Thinking and The Healing of the Tongue (30 Days of Fasting To Tame The Tongue) is a new devotional book, written in Persian by a member of the Elam team. The book addresses 30 diseases we all suffer from—judging, gossiping, slander, lying, exalting ourselves, deprecating ourselves, being cynical, and so on. The book’s major premise is that by learning to control our thought-life, we can control our mouth-life. Each day’s devotional addresses one of these diseases of the tongue with Bible teaching, instruction in how to discipline our thought for that issue, questions for further Biblical study, and a prayer of commitment.
Pray that this devotional book will help Christians apply these “thought-controls” in their relationships with spouse, family, friends, and others and be more Christ-like in their behaviour.
Thank you for praying.
In His Grace,
The Elam team