God bringing momentous growth to Iranian church
By Mark Ellis, Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
IRAN (ANS - November 8, 2016)
-- More than 200 Iranians and Afghans were baptized in mid-September at
a jubilant, pool-side service near Iran. People from eight different
Persian-speaking churches gathered together to share the story of how
Jesus transformed their lives, according to a report by Elam Ministries.
The
theme for the day was “Jesus changes lives,” and this powerful truth
was underscored by many testimonies. One man had been suicidal, but
Jesus intervened and brought new hope. One was searching for the truth
and found it after he read Romans chapter three.
Another shared: “I never thought I would find freedom from my past, but Jesus has set me free.”
Growth
in the Iranian church has been spectacular, with several statisticians
noting it may be the fastest growing church in the world. “Twenty years
ago, everyone thought there were 2000-5000 believers in Iran,” says Mark
Howard, with Elam.
“The
conservative estimate today is 300,000 to 400,000. Others think there
may be up to one million Muslim background believers in Iran,” he says.
“The
word that a lot of our senior leadership team has been using recently
is momentum, the Lord is really doing something,” he reports.
“We
see incredible opportunity,” Howard says, “reaching Persian speaking
refugees in Europe, planting churches in Iran — people are so open right
now.”
Photo captions: 1) New believers baptized near Iran. 2) Mark Ellis.
About the writer: Mark Ellis is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), and also found of www.GodReports.com, a
website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
around the world. He is also co-host with ANS Founder, Dan Wooding, for
"Windows on the World," which is aired weekly on the Holy Spirit
Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv).
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