Pray for Iranian believers today!

Elam Ministries is requesting prayer on behalf of Iranian believers.

Iranian Christians Vahik Abrahamian, Farshid Fathi, Abrahim Firouzi, Masoud Delijani and Noorollah Ghabitzadeh are still detained, and the situation of Youcef Nadarkhani’s death sentence for apostasy remains unclear.

Elam says that it’s been rumoured that Vahik Abrahamian is suffering from ill health and has been denied basic necessities like a toothbrush, but beyond that little is known of the suffering going on.

Please pray for:

• More news from those in prison
• The families of those in prison

Additionally, the summer months mean Christians are on the move, usually visiting relatives, says Elam.

Christians are going to the Iran Region, and their families and friends in Iran are travelling to Christians in other countries. This is a time when the gospel is shared, and its authority begins to move through family networks. Many Diaspora churches have energetic evangelistic programs to reach their fellow countrymen.

Please pray for:

• Christians on the move to share the gospel
• Christians to be equipped with New Testaments and Christian literature
• Iranians on the move to hear the gospel

Your prayers and letters make a difference!

In March 2009, Christian roommates Maryam Rustampoor, 29, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 32, were charged by the Iranian state with being "anti-government activists." They spent 259 days in Tehran's notorious Evin prison before being released in November 2009.

Our sister mission in the United States recently posted their first interview since their release. The pair discussed their life in prison with Sam Yeghnazar of Elam Ministries.

Take a few moments to read the transcript and be encouraged. Your letters and prayers DO make a difference!

Be blessed!

Iran continues to crack down on Christians

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, authorities are cracking down on Christians.

Elam Ministries, an organization that serves the persecuted Church in Iran, reports that 235 believers in 35 cities have been arrested in the past six months. Many have spent weeks and months in prison, often serving long stretches in solitary confinement. They also endure interrogation and physical abuse.

Gary Lane of CBN News recently spoke with David Yeghnazer of Elam Ministries. Watch the interview here (length 3:00).



Want to watch more videos like this? Visit www.persecution.tv today!

Arrested Iranians out of prison, but not free

Elam Ministries is reporting that most of the Iranian Christians arrested in the wave of arrests over the Christmas season are either out of prison, or have been offered release on the condition of very high bail—$250,000 for one believer.

While they are out of prison, they are not free, says Elam. They are closely watched, and their phones are tapped. If there is any suspicion of them engaging in any Christian activity, they risk arrest and imprisonment again. There are also court trials. The Christians do not know the date, the charge or, often, the sentence. They live in intimidation and uncertainty and with their memories of prison—solitary confinement, constant questioning, insults, beatings, threats of execution and lies that others have betrayed them.

They need our prayer.

Please pray for:

• Grace for released Christians to not just get through each day but to be able to live each day to the fullest knowing they can cast all their cares on Jesus (1 Peter 5:7)
• Wisdom regarding their future
• Healing for their memories

 

Pray for those imprisoned in Iran

Sam Yeghnazar, director of Elam Ministries, recently shared a letter on how to pray specifically for those currently imprisoned in Iran.

Dear friends,

Last week I had a very strong leading to pray specifically for the prisons in Iran. Prison is a place that people dread. This is where our brothers and sisters are suffering. It is where they win victories or suffer defeat. So it would be good to start from prison. I felt that in our intercession we should gain victory over the prisons and spiritually plunder them.

How should we pray?

Pray for the Christian prisoners:

• That they put on the whole "Armour of God" and are alert and ready for any attack. 
• Are mentally prepared that the interrogators will tell them lies, accuse them and their friends of things they have NOT said or done.
• Put their trust wholly in the Lord. And in no way give room to fear—knowing that God’s promises are true and He will never leave nor forsake them. Pray they will see miracles.
• That the Lord will give them compassion towards their persecutors.
• That they will be given the right words to speak and receive words of knowledge.
• That they will be able to place into the Lord’s hands their families and loved ones, also any church members for whom they have been responsible.
• That they will witness to other prisoners.

Pray for their persecutors:

• That God will revive their consciences, so they will be convicted of wrongdoing. That they will not harm the prisoners.
• That they will be fear stricken and dread will cover them, so they will dread to harm the prisoners.
• That their reasoning with the prisoners becomes impaired and that they will realize what they are doing is wrong.
• That they will call upon the Lord to forgive them and like the jailor in Philippi ask, “What shall I do to be saved?”

Pray for other Prisoners:

• That they will hear the message of salvation clearly.
• That the Holy Spirit will convict them that they are sinners too.
• That they will repent and receive salvation.

Thank you for praying.

Sam Yeghnazar

Director

Please pray with us for our brothers and sisters in Iran!

Anti-Christian speeches in Iran led to crackdown, sources say

Pastor Youcef Nardarkhani
was handed the death sentence
on November 13, 2010,
for leaving Islam.

We shared with you in early January that Iran had arrested dozens of Christians, beginning near Christmas, accusing Protestant evangelical groups of causing a cultural invasion.

Earlier this week, Compass Direct News reported that the crackdown was the result of speeches by Iranian religious and political figures between August and October who acknowledged the existence of home fellowships and condemned them as a threat to the state.

Iranian authorities have detained more than 70 Christians in a wave of arrests that began around Christmas, according to a report last week by Elam Ministries. With the release of seven Christians last week after they spent a month in solitary confinement, at least 26 Christians remain incarcerated. Sources said that with arrests across the country continuing, the number of Christians detained since Christmas could be as high as 120.

Though authorities have released most of the Christians after interrogations, many of them are still in prison, especially house group leaders. Many released in the last month had to sign statements saying they would not attend church again.

On October 19, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that Iran’s enemies want to shake the country’s religious and societal values through the spread of Baha’ism and a network of Christian house churches. Khamenei’s speech marked the fifth public statement from an Iranian leader condemning Iranian Christians in the three-month period.

“The public statements show that the government acknowledges the presence of the church and considers it a threat,” a regional analyst who requested anonymity told Compass. “It’s striking they have been talking about it publicly in a way they haven’t previously.”

Sources told Compass that Iranian Christians belonging to house churches knew it was a matter of time before the security forces acted on the supreme leader’s condemnation and tightened their grip on house church members.

While persecution against Christians has intensified, it is believed to be part of a wider government campaign to crack down on any group the government considers threatening. The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran reported on January 16 that since the beginning of the year, the government had executed 47 people in a two-week period. Thousands have been sentenced to death since elections in 2009.

The Elam report confirmed that Iranian authorities have arrested more than 200 Christians in 24 cities since June 2010.

You can read the full story here.