Through powerful circumstances, God is using Elam College (ELAM) to reach Iranians:

• An Iranian man who abused his wife for 25 years shares with an ELAM graduate, “My heart is truly wicked, and I need help” and then happily agrees to study the Bible.
• After a high ranking officer came to Christ through an ELAM representative, his wife was furious and visited the representative to share her anger toward Christianity. Two days later, she called the representative to say she could not resist the Spirit of Jesus that she had sensed that day and wanted to accept Christ as well.
• Two ELAM evangelists felt led to give a Bible to a man on crutches in the city center. The man told the evangelists that he gave his life to Christ through watching Persian Christian Television five months earlier and had been praying for a Bible since then.
• The patriarch of a large Iranian family brought 27 family members to church, and 11 became Christians on one Sunday.
• ELAM is getting a copy of the New Testament to a Christian woman whose husband passed away, has three children to support and has been diagnosed with cancer. Despite all her woes, she says she will never deny Christ, whom she found through satellite TV.
• A drug addict for many years, Mark* watched the testimony of another addict on Kalameh TV (ELAM’s evangelistic television program) and called ELAM, where he was prayed for by a counselor. Today, Mark is free of his addiction and helped bring his wife, sister and four others to faith in Jesus, The One who freed him.
• Seeing his Christian sister forgive her abusive husband spoke volumes to Matthew* and showed him his own need for forgiveness and repentance. He is now being discipled by an ELAM graduate, serves as an evangelist and helped distribute 550 New Testaments to Iranians in three days.

These and many other testimonies of God’s grace among Iranians have been the result of the Lord using ELAM to strengthen and expand the Iranian Church through training leaders, pastors and evangelists; providing Bibles, Christian books and other resources; sending out disciples; preaching Christ through TV and the Internet; and giving relief for the poor and persecuted. Click here to read more about ELAM.

*Names have been changed for security purposes.

Written by Jason Ferenczi, OC Vice President of International Partnerships

Jason Ferenczi, OC Vice President of International Partnerships

Recently, I visited the College of Theology and Education (CTE) in Chisinau, Moldova, and I was amazed to discover a college training literally dozens of students from across the former Soviet Union. I learned that this program grew from the vision of several professors who come from the Gagauz ethnic group in southern Moldova, a Turkic-speaking group that converted to Orthodox Christianity in the 18th century. A large portion of the group are now evangelical and are burdened with a heart for mission in the Turkic world.

What I saw on my recent visit was the training of promising young leaders who were literally becoming the foundation stones of Central Asian churches. What is especially exciting to me about CTE’s program is the way in which students are being trained to think missionally about local needs. Churches are arising that scarcely resemble traditional Russian-speaking churches in Central Asia and are attractive to the local population. CTE faculty visit alumni regularly to continue training, and several alumni have organized satellite centers in three Central Asian countries. The college is also offering creative intensive extension training for pastors and lay people in various parts of Moldova in both Russian and Romanian, and CTE alumni are now among the senior leaders of the young Church in this part of the world. This is one of the most exciting stories I’ve encountered in my work with OC.

Two examples of CTE graduates who help influence, educate and change their society:
Roman has many opportunities for ministry in the school in which he is one of the only young teachers and Christians. His faith and influence directly impact the students who are the future of the society. “He has had many chances to share the Word of God in that school and be a light for the teachers [and students] there,” CTE says. “It is amazing to have [him] teaching in a school [where] he can show his Christian attitude.”

Thomas* served in a Central Asian country as a missionary with his wife, Mary*, for five years. They started a Bible school, which he says “was a real blessing because…in a country where [a majority religious group] is so powerful, we need to have powerful and well-qualified Christians to stand for our faith and preach Jesus!” Today, Thomas serves at CTE as the pastor of the students and is a pastor-teacher in a local church.

*Names have been changed for security purposes.

Written by Abraham Najjar*, OC Middle East/Europe Regional Director

I have just returned from a six day trip to Cairo, Egypt. During my visit, I taught an intensive course at OC’s Egypt partner school, the Evangelical Theological Seminary of Cairo (ETSC), on Biblical and Arabic wisdom and how to utilize both bodies of wisdom to have an impact in our churches and societies. More than 65 attentive and active students attended the 20 hours of lectures. During my time, I also met with several prominent leaders on matters related to theological education in Egypt and North Africa.

One evening toward the end of my stay, I took a walk on the streets that surround the seminary. On my left, I passed by the Italian hospital, the Greek hospital, the Ain Shams hospital and a couple of private clinics. On the other side, there were several military sites, even the main training site for watch and drug dogs. During my time in Cairo, the war on Gaza was still blazing with homes being destroyed and civilians being killed. I thought about how much the children of Palestine/Israel greatly need to live a healthy and secured life.

As I walked around the seminary, I reflected on the location of it and how this seminary has been in the ministry of bringing hope, health and security to the people of Egypt. I thought of my 65 enthusiastic students and their zeal to proclaim the Gospel of peace, reconciliation and forgiveness to their countrymen and women in Egypt and beyond. I thought about how ETSC is in the process of completing the Center for Middle East Christianity on its campus and how this center will be an effective tool and milestone by continuing to explore the richness of Christianity on Egyptian soil and by fostering healthy thinking and relationships. I thanked God for OC and its partners that are enabling this seminary (and many others) to perform its mission in the best way possible.

*Name has been changed for security purposes.

OC’s first 2009 Institute for Excellence in Christian Leadership Development took place March 3-6 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event was hosted by OC partner Bulgarian Evangelical Theological Institute (BETI). Twelve leaders from eight strategic training programs in the region attended the Institute, representing Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Poland and Serbia.

This year’s Institutes are themed “Nurturing Spiritual Formation in the Seminary” and focus on the hearts of students, not simply their head and hands, as part of a holistic approach to student growth. In addition, the Institutes will equip seminary leaders with a deeper understanding of spiritual formation, so that it can be intentionally integrated into the entire program, curriculum and culture of the seminary.

Spiritual formation was the topic most requested by seminary leaders in regard to the 2009 Institute theme, although many partner seminaries already require students to be involved in activities related to spiritual formation, such as taking courses on the topic; participating in chapel services and student prayer meetings; consulting a campus chaplain/mentor; attending a small group; serving in a local church; being responsible to a faculty member for spiritual formation; having an accountability partner; and being involved in the community.

The next Institutes for Excellence will take place in Lusaka, Zambia; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Kowloon, Hong Kong/Taipei, Taiwan; and Puebla, Mexico. Click here for the 2009 schedule.

[See Sofia Institute speaker list in sidebar]

Please join OC in prayer and praise for the Middle East and Europe:

Middle East

• Praise God for the openness of Iranians to the Gospel and for ELAM’s enormous impact in the region
• Pray for protection of those who have accepted Christ and for a bold witness
• Pray for the ELAM team and other Middle East partner schools, as they prepare new programs to expand their reach for Christ
• Pray for responsive hearts, anointed broadcasting and sensitive follow-up

Europe

• Praise God for the leadership at CTE and other European partner schools, as they continue to develop new programs in theology and the humanities to better serve the Church
• Pray for the implementation of CTE’s vision to expand ministry to Russian-speaking people beyond Moldova
• Pray for unity and cooperation among evangelicals in Europe in order to have a spiritual impact in the region
• Pray for protection of those Christians in the former Soviet Union who are under the threat of persecution for their faith