Danger of Middle East Conflagration | 309 | Report 30

Sky News recently reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to rally support in his cabinet for an attack on Iran. The country’s defence minister Ehud Barak and the foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman are said to be among those backing a pre-emptive strike to neutralise Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Western intelligence officials estimate that Iran is still at least two to three years away from obtaining a nuclear bomb. Israel has long made it clear that it will not allow Iran to obtain a nuclear capability that could threaten the Jewish State. Israel’s former defence minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer told Haraatez newspaper that he feared a “horror scenario” if Israel attacked Iran. Washington is also strongly opposed to Israel taking unilateral action. Any strike on Iran could trigger retaliation from Iran and across the region. Syria, a close ally of Tehran, could also launch attacks, along with the Iranian-backed Hizbollah militia in Lebanon.

Source: Sky News; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: Matthew 24:5-7

PRAY: That God will control this volatile situation and that He will neutralise Iran’s threat in ways that will bring glory to His name.

Iranians Face Death for Sake of Christ | 307 | Report 26

No country in the Middle East has seen more Christians imprisoned in 2011 than Iran. Most of the Christians in prison are new converts to the faith who are considered apostates from Islam. They are now paying the ultimate price to follow Christ, but say the reward far outweighs the cost.

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani was a church leader in Rasht, Iran who has lost his appeal to the Supreme Court and awaits the death penalty for “apostasy” at any moment. Youcef is finding solace in the Lord. In a letter written to the international Christian community, he consoled believers around the world: “What we are bearing today, is a difficult but not unbearable situation, because He has not tested us more than our faith can endure.”

Iranian church leaders are using persecution to their advantage. “We have been implementing a new church planting strategy that persecution does not slow down.” an Iranian pastor said. “In fact, the church is thriving under persecution.”

Source: Worthy Christian News: Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

PRAISE: God that Iranian Christians are strong in Christ facing torture and death. Pray for their release and that they may reveal Christ to their captors.

Iran: Persecution Leads to Blessings | 307 | Report 9

An increase in the arrest of Iranians converting from Islam reveals an abundant harvest resulting from evangelism by clandestine house churches in the Islamic state, according to Iranian Christian leaders. ”Religion is regarded as part of your national identity,” said Elam Ministries’ Issa Dibaj. “If you turn away from your religion … it’s as if you have betrayed your country.” In short, conversion away from Islam is tantamount to treason against the Islamic state.

“Persecution has escalated to an unprecedented level,” said Abe Ghaffari, executive director of Iranian Christians International. The increase in persecution is believed to be directly proportional to the number of Iranian Muslims converting to Christianity. “Before the revolution, the clerics were promising that once Iran became an Islamic state, it would be utopia, it would be brotherhood, and everything would be fine,” said Dibaj, but Iranians “have seen nothing but war and fighting and international isolation and hatred: (now) they are thirsting for change.”

Government persecution is making Christianity even more attractive, said Elam’s David Yeghnazar. “When government officials go on television telling people not to read the Bible, that generates more interest in the Scriptures,” he said.

Source:Prayer Alert; Worthy News

BIBLE STUDY: Isaiah 65:16

PRAISE: God that the Iranian Church is being blessed as a result of persecution. Pray that Christians may be strengthened and many Iranians find Christ.

Easter Sees Iranian Baptisms | 306 | Report 26

The church in an Iranian city had been wiped out in the early 1900s, and there had been no Christian witness until just a few years ago when a Persian speaking church was planted there. This past Easter Sunday forty-one people were baptised there in a thriving church led by Elam graduates.
During a powerful service, twenty-six Iranians, fourteen Afghans, and one Iraqi shared their testimonies and glorified Christ. Families were baptised together. In one case a grandmother with her daughter and son in law and their two teenage boys were baptized, and in another, an Afghan lady with her five children who are in their twenties.

Source: Elam Ministries

BIBLE STUDY: Acts 8:26-40

PRAISE: God that the people of Iran are hungry for a personal relationship with the real God.

Conversions Unnerving Ayatollahs | 306 | Report 20

Iranian Christian news agency, Mohabat News, says that the population of Iran is gravitating toward the Christian faith, but “this has been a source of ever-increasing pressure on Christian families and those who have recently become Christians,” said their story.
According to reports obtained by Mohabat News from a local newspaper published in the Southern Khoarasan Province, Ayatollah Sobhani, a cleric leader in the province, has stated that, ”these Christian evangelists have converted 600 people to Christianity in the city of Neyshabour.” The news agency said that Sobhani has made these claims following another recent claim made by Ayatollah Vahid Khorasani, a high ranking Shiite
cleric, who said that he had the statistics of how many young people had become Christian in the city of Qum. He severely criticised the security and government forces in neglecting this issue and demanded that this matter be dealt with in a strongest possible manner.
“Despite the ongoing suppression of believers and measures that have made life more and more difficult for the Christian community, people still willingly embrace the Christian faith as their personal belief,” said the story. “What is clear about the young generation inside Iran is that they have reached a degree of mental maturity that propels them to research and discover various beliefs and, despite their religious heritage, the freedom to have the belief of their choice.”

Source: ASSIST News Service

BIBLE STUDY: John 1:14-18

PRAISE: God that so many Iranians are choosing Jesus. Pray they may be strong in their faith.

Urgent Prayer for Iranian Christians | 305 | Report 19

At the time of writing it is impossible to know where upheaval in North Africa and the Middle East will lead to. In some cases it may provide ordinary people with the democratic rites they have been starved of for years. In other cases it may give hardline Islamists the opportunity to seize power and impose Sharia Law on all citizens. What many commentators believe is that the Iranian regime will try to seize the moment to widen its power and influence on the Arab nations.
In late February Iranian naval vessels sailed the Suez Canal en route to Syria, the first time in three decades that Tehran has been allowed to send military ships through this strategic waterway. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu viewed the move ‘with gravity.’ After days of violent street protests in Teheran, opposition websites have been shut down and Opposition leaders Mir Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karoubi have been placed under house arrest.
Many Christians continue to be imprisoned for their faith as they grow bolder in proclaiming Christ, and the house churches grow exponentially in number. With around one million professing Christians, what happens in Iran may be decisive for the whole of the Middle East, and could eventually facilitate the spread of the Gospel in the whole region.

Source: Prayer Alert; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 118:8-9

PRAISE: God that He is sovereign over all the events and pray that this may indeed be a time when Islamist dogma implodes and the Lordship of Jesus is proclaimed throughout the whole region.

Iran: Now is The Time for Christians | 305 | Report 7 & 8

The day after Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad publicly congratulated Christians on the occasion of Christmas, an unprecedented roundup of followers of Christ began. Many Christians were rounded up and imprisoned in the days following Christmas. Their homes were ransacked and vandalized, computers destroyed, possessions seized and Christian art desecrated. The government is vowing more arrests. Family members are threatened with violence and rape. Individuals are coerced to sign admissions that they have been deceived and return to Islam.
But despite the threats, most followers of Christ are finding cause for rejoicing in the midst of their suffering. One imprisoned female Christian, though facing health challenges, says she has had the opportunity to lead three people to the Lord, including a criminal on death row, making her trial worthwhile.
Another woman was arrested and interrogated for several hours. When she returned home, she was rejoicing that, because she had been arrested, she was able to lead someone else to salvation in Jesus. No churches have been allowed to be built in Iran for decades. But this has caused house churches to proliferate, with hundreds in some cities.
There are an estimated 1 million Christians among Iran’s 77 million people. And despite the looming threat, Shi’ite Muslims are turning to Christ in unprecedented numbers. One government official called this “a disaster.” One individual on the conference call asked why the persecution has escalated now. A Christian in Iran replied that it’s because Christianity has been ”discovered to be far more widespread than thought.”
Iranian Christians believe the time is now to do everything they can for Christ. Young men and women are passionate to bring people to Him. They are even enthused about sharing the Gospel in their prisons. They are hopeful for a greater impact than ever. “This year we will print more Scriptures than ever before,” one Iranian Christian said.  Television and the Internet are having great impact, with many coming to salvation in Christ through those avenues.
This is a crucial harvest hour, Iranian Christians assert. The reaction of the authorities is due to the success of the church. The more persecution there is, the stronger the Christian determination. They sense “the goal of the government is to frighten [Christians] so that when they are released they will flee Iran,” thus purging the nation of Christianity. But Iranian Christians don’t intend to flee.
They ask for prayer, for resources to print Scriptures, and for church leaders to send messages to the authorities in support of the Iranian Church.

Source: Revival Media; Pentecostal Evangel

BIBLE STUDY: Acts 2:46-47

DAY 7 – PRAISE: God for the perseverance of Iranian Christians and many new converts despite suffering.

Day 8 – PRAY: That God will be a very real presence with them in their trials and that He will hear their cry.

Iran Seeking to De-Stabilise the World | 304 | Report 6

Why does Iran’s President Ahmedinajab seem intent on creating chaos around the world? It’s because Shia Muslims believe that an Islamic saviour known as the Mahdi will return at the end of time. As New York Times best-selling author Joel Rosenberg explained, “Shia Muslims believe this Islamic messiah will come at the End of Days to
destroy Judeo-Christian civilization as we know it, force infidels to convert or be executed, and will set up a one-world Islamic government known as the “caliphate”. Ahmadinejad believes Allah has chosen him to prepare the world for the coming of the Mahdi.

Source: CBN News; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: Psalm 73:8-9

PRAY: That Iranian Christianity will continue to grow, and a more moderate government will be brought in.

Iran: Nuclear Plant Almost Ready

Source: Worthy News; Revival Media

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Chronicles 20:20-30

PRAY: That somehow the present volatility will be defused. An unexpected breakthrough for Iran and Turkey needs to take place in the heavenlies.

North Korea Tops Persecution List | 12th May 2010

“There is no other country in the world where Christians are being persecuted in such a horrible and systematic manner as North Korea,” says Carl Moeller, President of Open Doors USA. The notoriously restrictive regime bans all religions other than a personality cult centred on the current leader, Kim Jong-Il, and his father, Kim Il-Sung. Following North Korea on the World Watch List is Iran.
Iran moved up to 2nd on the list because of the increased number of arrests of Christians. At least 85 Christians were arrested in Iran during the year, the watchdog reported. Among those arrested were two young women who converted from Islam to Christianity. The case of Maryam Rustampoor and Marzieh Amirzadeh, who were released two months ago, attracted international attention. Overall, eight of the top ten countries on the list have Islam as their dominant religion.
However, despite the intense persecution, the number of Christians in North Korea is strong and actually growing in number. While Maryam and Marzieh, in Iran, were pressured to renounce their faith in Jesus Christ but they refused, resulting in them suffering from various forms of psychological torture and health deterioration. It is examples of sacrifice such as these that gives strength to those call on the Name of the Lord in these nations.

Source: Carl Moeller, Open Doors

BIBLE STUDY: 2 Timothy 3:12-17

PRAISE: God for the witness of faithful Christians who suffer for their Saviour. Pray that His hand may reach out with power to these nations.

http://revivalmedia.org/2010/05/11/north-korea-tops-persecution-list-12th-may-2010/

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