The Importance of Mission
True Injustice
...Over one billion people are not allowed to hear the Gospel. This is the greatest violation of human rights in our time - yet there is little passion to see things change...
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Never before has the world been so focused on the Islamic world. Since 9/11, the Church has been trying to comprehend Islam and is realizing its serious lack of impact on the Muslim world. While most Christians acknowledge that Islam is possibly the greatest challenge facing the Church – mission to the Muslim world is often considered too difficult. For more discussion of this topic see, 'Always a Price to Pay' by Sam Yeghnazar.
Even though difficulties are faced in sharing the Gospel in the Iran Region. Obedience and prayer and the working of the Holy Spirit brings a harvest. While constantly seeking for more, God's Spirit is working in the Iran Region which brings many testimonies of salvation.
Openness of Iranians
In the midst of all the uncertainty, Iranians today are the most open Muslim people to the Gospel in the world and are hungry for truth. More Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than at any other time in the modern era. It is widely agreed by experienced Christian leaders that if the Church is able to proclaim the Gospel in Iran, there would be Church growth on a scale not seen before in the Muslim world.
Iran: A Gateway Nation
Missiologists agree that Iran is a strategic ‘gateway’ nation that has the potential to reach the people of the entire region. Iran is a regional superpower with unparalleled influence in the Islamic world. It has strong historical, cultural and linguistic ties with its neighbours Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, the Gulf States, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. A growing church in Iran would be a catalyst for more harvest across the Islamic world. For more about the importance of the Iran Region, click here.
The Need
For the church in Iran to grow it is necessary to have many more Iranian Christian leaders enabled to reap the harvest. In simple terms, the more trained leaders we have, the greater the growth will be, and the greater the impact on the Muslim world. Therefore there is a great need to train increased numbers of Iranians for full time ministry in the Persian speaking world. To see how Elam is training those from the Iran Region, click here.