New Year, New Christians

Just as in the West, non-Christians like to go to church over Christmas. So in one town in the Iran region this year, nearly 200 people came together and were led in Christian worship by the Elam pastor and his team. Such was the spirit of joy that at the end of the meeting, some of the congregation just started their own traditional dance. During the celebration one man went up to the front. He was seeking God and a team member led him to Christ. In other churches Iranians have come to faith over this Christmas season. It’s a new year, and there are many new Iranian Christians starting to grow in their faith. They will all need discipling as they are prepared for baptism. When the storms of spiritual opposition erupt, they will need a wise Christian counsellor to explain what is going on. All this work of evangelism and discipleship deserves to be supported in prayer.

Pray for:

• All those who have recently come to faith
• That they soon be established in the church
• For those who disciple and pastor

One year on, the dark shadow of those arrests

The dark shadow of arbitrary arrests and imprisonment still hangs over the church in Iran. There are at least 12 Iranian Christians in prison solely for their faith in Jesus Christ. Some like Mojtaba Kashavaz or Shahla Rahmati have been sentenced to three years in goal on the charge of ‘sacrilege’ or supporting evangelicals. Others, like Farshid Fathi-Malayeri, arrested on December 26th December 2010, are still awaiting their trial. There are another twenty-two or more Iranian Christians who have been released after paying an exorbitant bail and awaiting trial. Many others have left Iran with just their clothes on their backs to escape the persecution.

This Christmas will be particularly painful for all these believers as they reflect on what has happened. All of them would love to be living as normal witnessing Christians in the land of their birth. None of them sought confrontation with their government. They are truly suffering for their stand for Christ. And it is that suffering, in the mystery of God’s providence, which weaves it way round the story of the church’s growth this year.

Pray for:

• All those Christians still in prison.
• All those Christians released on bail awaiting their court case.
• All those Christians forced to leave the land they love.

Prison and beating: the reward for giving out Scriptures

One reason why the church in Iran is growing is because evangelists take great risks to give out New Testaments; usually the pocket sized one published by Elam Ministries. By last summer one brother had passed on thousands of copies, but one afternoon his activities were spotted and he experienced the reward of being beaten for the name of Christ. He also spent over a month in jail facing abusive interrogation. In his first two days of detention this brother was depressed and in great pain. But on the third day the Lord ministered to his spirit and he sensed in his heart that every Scripture he had passed on had had a purpose. The Master was pleased with his work.

Pray for:

• All the brave Christians who give out God’s Word
• God to comfort those who have suffered for their ministry
• More New Testaments to flood into Iran

Prison and arrests continue, but interest in Christ still on increase

Christians are still being held in prison solely for their faith, and others are being arrested. According to Mohabat News the latest believer to be arrested is Fariborz Arazm. The forty four year old father of two was taken from his home in Robat Karim in the early hours of October 17th, and his home searched. There is no further news. There is also little news of other Christians still known to be in prison, such as Noorollah Qabitizade held in Ahvaz for about ten months, and Farshid Fathi-Malayeri, held in Evin prison since December 26th 2011.

Despite the ongoing pressure on Christians, the interest ordinary Iranians have in Christ continues unabated. Contacts with Christians who share their faith all have the same theme – Iranians want to hear about Christ, and they love to receive a New Testament. One evangelist who had given out thousands of New Testaments reports that not one had been returned. Even those who look as if they would never want the Christian Scriptures warmly receive them. This evangelist passed such a man and first thought it would be best just to somehow leave a New Testament for him to find. A meeting could have been too confrontational. But he felt led to say something, and when he did and presented the New Testament, the man who had appeared so hostile, said he had always wanted to read about Jesus

Pray for:

• Those still in prison.

• Their families.

• For continued distribution of New Testaments.

Baptisms, waters of joy

Again nearly twenty Iranians have passed through the waters of baptism in the region. Many of their lives had already been marked by difficulty, and now, from this world’s point of view, they have just added another one. As baptized Christians from a Muslim background, they are now very officially apostates. That means living in their own country and their own communities got a whole lot harder the moment they emerged from the water. But for them, and for the hundreds, probably thousands, of others, these are waters of joy. And their testimony last week-end, as is so often the testimony of Iranians determined to be baptized is that Jesus Christ has met them in their difficulties. He has not waved all the hardship of their life away with a magic wand, but He has come alongside them and upholds them. Hence the joy. They have met God. Anyone who doubts this, try and get to an Iranian church meeting, and hear some of their stories.

Pray for:

• All those recently baptised.
• For Jesus’ joy to always be with them.
• For thousands more to hear the Gospel and be baptized.

Silence from the prisons, prayer at the conferences

Vahik Abrahamian; Farshid Fathi; Abrahim Firouzi; Masoud Delijani; and Noorollah Ghabitzadeh are still detained, and the situation of Yousef Naderkhani who was sentenced to death for apostasy is unclear. It has been rumoured that Vahik Abrahamian is suffering from ill health and has been denied basic necessities like a tooth brush, but generally there is silence from the prisons. A silence that further increases the stress on the family and supporters of the imprisoned. This is the suffering side of the Iranian church. The growing side in the summer months is clearly seen in the many conferences held all over the world where Iranian Christians gather for worship, teaching – and prayer for those in prison.

Pray for:

• More news from those in prison
• Their families
• The conferences to be anointed with a spirit of intercession

Yousef Naderkhani, nothing is certain

Arrested in September 2009, Yousef Naderkhani was sentenced to death for being an apostate to Islam on November 13th, 2010. His appeal against his sentence was then rejected on June 27th, 2011. As news of this spread on the internet, Mohabat News then reported that the death sentence had been suspended. But Yousef Naderkhani had also been told to ‘repent’ from his apostasy. There are no reports of what will happen if he does not oblige, which is unlikely. So nothing is certain for Yousef Naderkhani, his wife Fatemeh Pasandideh, and their two children. A severe sentence has also been meted out to Yousef Naderkhani’s lawyer Mohammad Ali Dadkhah: nine years in prison and a ten year ban on practising law for ‘actions and propaganda against the Islamic Regime’. Mr Dadkhah has lodged an appeal against the sentence.

At least seven other Christians remain in prison solely for their faith in the doctrines of the church of Jesus Christ. They are: Vahik Abrahamian; Farshid Fathi; Abrahim Firouzi; Masoud Delijani; and Noorollah Ghabitzadeh.

Pray for:

• Clear annulment of death sentence for Yousef Naderkhani
• Acquittal and release of all Christians held in prison
• Hostility of government towards Christians to end

A year ago nothing; now a church

At least seven Christians are still in prison with no news about their case. As they suffer, the church continues to grow. Recently about ten or so Iranians were baptised in a town where a year ago there was no church. Now there is a small and thriving fellowship.

As with so much church growth in recent years, it began with fairly young believers sensing a call to a place and being ready to be sent. Some might have said they were too young in the faith; that they needed more training; more experience. But the answer is – look at what happened. It is a sincere heart and the authority of the Gospel that has the last word. Sure, there are steep learning curves, but that curve is going somewhere.

Pray for:

• Grace for those in prison
• Courage for church planters
• Protection of new believers

One faithful witness: a new church, new ministers

At a recent prayer event a lady who had been a believer for many years heard the leader calling people to join with others from their own cities to intercede. She was only expecting one or two to join her, people she would probably know from the past. To her surprise this was not the case. There were about eight in the group – nearly all new believers. This was proof to her that the church, even in her city, was growing.

The growth is happening often through the witness of one faithful believer. His senior years approaching, a Christian Iranian man decided to return to the land of his birth to live in the lady’s city. He was welcomed back by his family, and with them he shared the Gospel. Slowly his immediate family came to faith in Christ, and then others – aunties, uncles believed. So a new church was born from the witness of one man.

Pray for:

• Christians to be a faithful witness to their own families

• Pastoring of these new churches

• Protection

Church leadership: Only for the brave

At least seven men are still being held in prison for their faith in Jesus Christ, but as they sit in prison, the church – because it is the church – is growing. People are coming to faith. And this means, whatever titles are given, someone has to step in as a leader. With the increasing hostility experienced by the church in recent months, leadership is only for the brave. There have been seasons when persecution has been sporadic. That is not today’s season. So anyone stepping forward to try and organise a prayer meeting risks arbitrary arrest, imprisonment, and then possibly losing their home as it is signed away as bail. The brothers and sisters, who are set apart by the Holy Spirit for this task, deserve our fervent prayers, as do those who try and help them.

Pray for

• Speedy release of seven in prison
• Courage for new leaders
• Wisdom for those helping leaders