Walid emailed me the other day and specifically asked that we pray for him and Mohammad.  This is what he said:

"Is it not yet a very little while until Lebanon shall be turned into a fruitful field." --Isaiah 29:17

Your Lebanese brother,

Pastor Walid

Brothers and Sisters,

With just a fleeting glance at the World section of any newspaper, it is hard to miss the words "Iran" with as much news coverage as it's received in the last few weeks.  From rioting over elections to proposed nuclear talks with the United States, Iran has certainly been far from "camera shy."  As if all these things weren't enough, today I read that an Iranian airplane carrying 168 passengers crashed and killed all 168 people.  From one perspective it seems as if Iran is a black hole of doom and gloom headlines and has no redeemable qualities to it at all.

However, I want to point out a different side to Iran, and quite frankly, the side in which I'm most interested.

Back in March, when I spent a few days in Turkey (one of Iran's neighboring countries) I met a few Koreans who were serving in Iran and Turkey as missionaries.  If you know anything about South Korea, one element that will certainly stand out is the rapid growth of Christianity within its borders over the last 50 years.  South Korea now sends out a large number of missionaries, most of whom are radical witnesses of the Gospel.  These that I met were no exception.  While I won't go into detail about their ministry, I will say that they are being greatly used to help the underground church in Iran.  The Korean brother told me one very encouraging statistic about the church in Iran that came as quite a shock.  I know that statistics can often be misleading, however, I think this gives us a bit of insight as to what the Lord is doing in Iran.

Last year there was a large gathering of Iranian pastors in Turkey.  The meeting was promoted through the underground house church (really the only kind in Iran) network and as many of these pastors as could make it made their way across the border and into Turkey.  During the course of the meetings that took place, a census was taken from all of these underground pastors in order to get an idea as to how many Christians there were in Iran.  The Korean told me that he would have guessed that there were probably about 1 million Christians in the entire country, a number not much bigger than the Christian population of Iraq.  However, the initial figure that was produced unveiled over 7 million Christians in the country!  To avoid an inflated number, for the sake of accuracy the census takers rounded the number down to 5 million, thinking that most likely several people were doubly represented.  My Korean brother told me that he disbelieved the number at first, but said that the more he is in Iran, the more he believes the number is accurate.  Just think, almost one tenth of this radical Shiite Muslim nation is now a believer in Jesus Christ!

With all of the negative press that Iran receives in America, please don't count this country out and think that they are past God's ability to transform.  God is mightily at work calling out His sheep to be a part of His Bride.  May we pray for the Peace in Iran with as much fervency as we pray for peace in Israel.

Brothers and Sisters,

I had a blessed phone conversation with Walid in Lebanon, yesterday.  I believe that the Lord is steadily working in and through his and his co-worker Mohammad's life.  I also firmly believe that God is going to do a special work in Lebanon.  We must continue to pray for an outpouring of the Spirit to open hearts and propel Christians into Gospel proclamation.

Walid and Mohammad are beginning to face much opposition in the city of Tyre.  Even some of the evangelicals that reside in this city are turning their backs on them.  The local evangelical school has discouraged all of its staff from attending the church plant, as supposedly, Walid and Mohammad are upsetting the entire city by their evangelistic witness.

When I first heard this, I was reminded of Acts 17:5-6, which states, "But the Jews were jealous, and taking some wicked men of the rabble, they formed a mob, set the city in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring them out to the crowd. 6 And when they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city authorities, shouting, “These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also."  Praise God for such men.

When I spoke with Walid yesterday, I got a sense that he was a bit discouraged by this recent attitude towards them.  Walid has a burning desire to see a God-honoring church planted in this city in the south and he doesn't feel like he has a lot of years left in him.  Pray that God would encourage him and Mohammad with His presence as they seek to plow up hard, stoney soil.  Though it will be a long, rocky road, pray that they would see the fruit of their labor, either in time or eternity.

Marc Glass