A graduate of Elam’s three-month course recently shared his testimony with an Elam team-member. God is growing his church in miraculous ways, and truly transforming lives. “I lay in a hospital bed bleeding critically,” recalls Masoud, “I had been stabbed five times in a fight I had started. Underage, I needed my parents to come and authorize the surgery I needed. But they did not come.  My life was hanging in the balance. In that moment, all I could think of was the mess my life was in: the drugs, the dealing, the fighting, my father’s adultery, my brother’s heavy addiction, the financial stress, the stealing, the shattered relationships. Hopeless, I thought I would die with it all unresolved. “But then one of the doctors took pity on me: he claimed to be my father, authorized the surgery, and saved my life. For the first time in my life I felt what it would be like to have a proper father: a deep yearning for a good father was sparked in me. Back at home, my brother’s addiction was so bad he left and ended up in a neighboring country, where a Christian took him in. My brother became a believer, went clean and -I did not know it at the time- but he started praying for me. Soon my mother, myself and my sisters followed my brother out of Iran. It was there that my sisters and I were also found by the Lord, and I was also set free from drugs and sin. “The love I failed to find in my earthly father, I found in my Heavenly Father.” Masoud sits back with a smile; “Now I love to write worship songs, and it is my privilege to help lead one of the largest Iranian churches in the region.” Pray for Masoud’s ministry Ongoing healing of past wounds Many more to discover their Heavenly Father