Sunday, November 25, 2012

URGENT: PRAYER NEEDED FOR PERSECUTED PASTOR

IMPRISONED & PERSECUTED
PASTOR BENHAM IRANI
The Persecution of God's people has been increasing horribly in more and more islamic countries, as the day of Judgment approaches. Right now, there are over 8 million of our Coptic Christian brothers under the sandal in Egypt. In Iraq, over 1 million Chaldean Christians, who lived outside Baghdad for almost 2000 years have been displaced, hunted down and hurt by extremists....and on and on.

Now comes news of  jailed Iranian pastor Behnam Irani who is near death after been beaten by his islamic torturers in Iran. The forty year old pastor was jailed in 2011 for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ - nothing else! He has been beaten so badly, left unconcious and bleeding in his jail cell, that he has developed infections in his colon and acute ulcers which have prevented him from walking. The word from the inside (and God has His own people, even inside the lions' den) is that Pastor Behnam will die soon if he does not receive immediate medical attention and treatment. The increasing beatings by his moslem captors have worsen these conditions and urgent prayer is needed for him.

This young man, is the married father of two and was the leader of the Church of Iran in Karaj (Iran) when the local mullahs gave him a six-year sentence in Ghezel Hesar prison. He is only in year one of the sentence! His current condition has been exposed to the civilized world by Christian Solidarity Worldwide, a UK-based religious freedom organizaiton. (CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THIS AND OTHER PERSECUTION NEWS OF THE SAINTS OF CHRIST WORLDWIDE). This incident with Pastor Behnam comes quickly on the heels of the persecution and subsequent release of another Iranian Pastor Yousef, who was due to be executed by the islamic Iranian authorities for being a follower of Jesus Christ. Yousef was only recently released after worldwide outrage and pressure shamed the government there into releasing him. These same people reacted by arresting Pastor Yousef's own attorney and he is now in persecution prison for the crime of being a Christian!

While the American press, and even some in the US government were brought kicking and screaming to recognize Pastor Yousef's outrageous planned execution, there is complete silence of Christians persecuted worldwide. from American church leaders - the famous ones - as well as the US department of state. US Congressman Frank Wolf (R- Virginia) has been doing the Lord's work to bring all of this to our attention. While Pastor Behnam may not have achieved the same public voicing of the grievous wrong done him, the Body of Christ needs to pray for him now. His reward is a crown in the Kingdom of God, where his captors and those who remain silent, will not be allowed. 

Therefore, our project for this week, as men and women of God, who were saved by the same Jesus Christ for Whom our Iranian brother is suffering, is to pray for his comfort, his healing or the Divine Intervention of the Lord Himself - no matter what that may mean. Amen

No comments: