During the recent Persian New Year (Norouz) outreach in a country near Iran, an Iranian family was given New Testaments by a team of street evangelists.  The family excitedly declared that they had been searching for the Scriptures inside Iran for a long time without success.  And following a deep conversation, the whole family gave their lives to Christ right there on the street. They have returned home to Iran, taking the Gospel with them.
Every year, in this country near Iran, Iranian believers seize the incredible opportunity to share Christ with the countless Iranian tourists that visit over New Year (Norouz, in March). The evangelism teams across various cities had hundreds of interactions with Iranians, and report that it as one of the most encouraging years so far. Many Iranians heard the Gospel, and many gave their lives to Christ.
“During the outreach this year, we had less hassle from the local authorities, and the people were more open to the Gospel than ever,” beamed the leader of the Norouz evangelism efforts in a popular tourist destination for Iranians. “The work was very difficult and exhausting but the strength of the Lord was covering us. We really saw the power of your prayers. Thank you for praying for us.”
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Pray for

• New believers to be discipled and connected to a house church in Iran
• The Lord to work in their hearts of those who heard the Gospel and took a New Testament
• The church to grow because of this recent outreach

Dear friends,

For all you who have been faithfully praying and waiting for the release of Farshid Fathi, you can now rejoice and sing praise to the Lord!

Farshid, who was arrested on December 26th, 2010 for exercising his Christian faith in Iran, was sentenced to a 6 years prison sentence. The sentence was extended another year earlier in 2015, yet by the grace of God and the faithful prayers of brothers and sisters around the world, Farshid Fathi was finally released on December 21, 2015.

After almost 5 full years, this American pastor is finally able to be reunited with his wife and 2 children.

We are deeply grateful for your faithful prayers for Farshid while he has been in prison. We would like to request that you continue praying for Farshid today and in the coming weeks. Please pray especially for protection, his family, and his readjustment to life outside prison.

It’s about time for some good news about the Muslim World. 

So as a thank you for your faithful prayers and partnership with Elam through A4TW, I want to share seven concrete reasons why you can rejoice and take heart this Christmas. 

1. Every single day Iranian Muslims are coming to faith in Christ. 
As a result, it has been a record year of baptisms.

2. More than 1,000 Iranians have been taught at Elam conferences this year. 
They are reaching their families, friends and communities.

3. Iranian Christians are reaching thousands of other Muslims.
They’re impacting Afghans, Syrians, Turks, Kurds and others in the region and in Europe.

4. More than 250,000 Iranians can read the New Testament for the first time.
We expect much fruit from this over the next few years.

5. More than 100,000 have watched our TV programs and visited our websites to learn more about the Bible. 
The Gospel is reaching cities, towns and villages all over Iran.

6. Courageous Christians are ready to suffer for the sake of the Gospel.
Their obedience is opening doors for many to hear about Jesus.

7. Jesus is doing what he said he would do.
He is building His church. 

With all this in mind, I believe 2016 can be the greatest year of harvest in the history of Iran’s church. 

We deeply appreciate your support that helps us impact the Iran region with the Gospel. For those who would like to prayerfully consider a year-end gift to strengthen us as we go into 2016, I’ve shared three of our current needs below.

We are very grateful to announce that Iranian Christian prisoner Farshid Fathi has been told by prison officials that he will be released on December 10, 2015. He had previously expected to remain in prison until December 2017.
 
Farshid received the official notification on 4 July 2015.
 
This is positive news, which has greatly encouraged Farshid and his family. We join them in praising God for this development, and for those who have made it possible.
 
Please continue to pray for Farshid during his final months in Rajai Shahr prison, Iran.

Over five hundred people, mainly Chrisitan leaders, came to London for the dedication service of Elam's new translation of the Bible  in Persian Monday night. Over a hundred had flown in specially for the meeting from about forty different countries. The meeting was a magnificent proclamation of the global church's commitment to the Bible.

For those of you who are aware of, and or support the Elam ministry through Aim 4 The World.

Dear Friends,

Our dear brother Farshid Fathi is 35 today.

He is spending another birthday behind bars in Iran, because of his faith in Jesus.

After nearly four years in prison, his situation has worsened. Two weeks ago he was suddenly moved to a new prison, Rajai Shahr.  It is even more brutal than Evin prison where he was before. I am deeply concerned for his safety. He is imprisoned with hardened criminals and drug addicts and a guard is constantly present in the ward to stop assaults between inmates.