請特別為伊朗禱告
Special Prayer for Iran
親愛的全球基督徒朋友們：
熱烈問候大家。遠在35年前伊朗就成為了一個伊斯蘭共和國。從那時起，在這個我出生、成長、並度過了生命中35年的國家裡，很多事情都發生了改變。以下是其中一些改變：
1. 聖經公會被關閉，聖經極度缺乏，無法滿足人們的大量需求。感謝神，在一些機構的努力下——如在英國的由我大哥撒母耳•耶拿加牧師（Rev. Sam Yeghnazar）所帶領的埃蘭事工（Elam Ministries），成千上萬的波斯語聖經和新約被印刷出來，並送到伊朗和有大量伊朗人的其它國家。
2. 沒有修建新的教會建築。好幾個教會被關閉，而且幾乎所有用波斯語帶領敬拜服侍的教會要麼被關閉，要麼被迫把敬拜的語言換成亞美尼亞語或亞述語這樣的少數民族語言。
3. 穆斯林背景的伊朗基督徒沒有任何的宗教權利。一些人因此殉教，如侯賽因-蘇德曼德牧師（Ps. Hossein Soodmand）和梅赫迪-迪巴賈牧師（Ps. Mehdi Dibaj）。一些人被關進監獄，如法希德-法提牧師（Ps. Farshid Fathi）。他的生命值得效仿。他被判了6年的監禁，且在德黑蘭臭名昭著的埃文監獄已經被關了3年多。在伊朗還有其他的基督徒囚徒。
4. 很多基督徒一直正在面對逼迫和歧視。
5. 好幾位領袖和他們的家人被迫要離開這個國家或面臨長期的監獄刑期。
這是為什麼？答案很簡單。當伊朗成為伊斯蘭共和國的時候，穆斯林背景的基督徒還不到一千人。如今（這一數字）已達到成千上萬，還有人相信多達一百萬。這是在沒有（來自）國外的傳福音事工，以及遭受迫害但依然得勝的信徒們勇敢的見證下發生的。在伊朗有成千上萬的家庭教會，而且對許多來自社會各個階層的人來說，耶穌基督成為了他們的救主和主。基督徒的媒體，包括書本和小冊子、互聯網、從其它國家向伊朗發送的廣播和電視，對基督教的增長起了很大的作用。但是最成功的事工，則是來自成千上萬伊朗信徒們日復一日的信心見證。
主耶穌基督在全球的教會可以做些什麼呢？有些方法已經在實行中，有些已經取得一些成效。不過我相信最有效的方法是禱告。我們應該禱告些什麼？
我們應該禱告主來保護祂在伊朗的教會。我們應該禱告主讓那些因為信仰而在伊朗監獄內外受苦的人們剛強。我們應該用任何我們可以做到的方法來幫助他們。我們應該讓他們知道他們沒有被忘記。
我們也需要禱告有更多的人歸向我們的君王和救主——耶穌基督救贖的知識。其中一件事情需要我們禱告，不止息地禱告，就是禱告，就算沒有數百萬，也要有成千上萬的伊朗人在異夢和異象中遇見主。已經有很多伊朗人透過異夢或異象開始認識主。沒有人能夠阻擋主或他的天使在異夢和異象向伊朗人顯現。所以我鼓勵你們禱告，求主造訪各個階層的伊朗人，不論他們是在大城市還是小城市，住在宮殿還是在棚屋，在大學還是在清真寺，在家裡還是在公共場所。讓我們禱告求主造訪孩童和老人、青年人和中年人。讓我們禱告主會造訪宗教群體和世俗群體，受過教育和沒有受過教育的人群，富裕和貧窮的人群。
在我的教會有對夫婦準備好了要受水洗。他們數月前來到我們教會——洛杉磯伊朗人教會。他們帶著淚水和痛苦到來，因為他們十歲的兒子在數月前因癌症離世。他們在伊朗曾是（伊斯蘭）宗教人士。但他們的兒子夢到了耶穌並跟他的父母分享。在他離世之後，他的媽媽夢到了耶穌牽著她兒子的手。她當時還不知道那個人是誰，他告訴她他的名字是“以馬內利”。她那時還不知道“以馬內利”代表什麼意思。當她發現“以馬內利”是耶穌的其中一個名字，代表“神與我們同在”的時候，她和她的丈夫毫不猶豫地想認識耶穌並跟隨他。現在他們在信心中成長並期待著另一個孩子。神和神的家安慰著他們，很快他們將受水洗。所有的這些是從一個已經在天堂的十歲孩子的異夢開始，但如今他的見證依然會對其他人包括他的父母說話。
我想請你們為眾多伊朗人能在異象和異夢中見到耶穌而禱告。請把這封郵件發給你郵箱清單中所有的信徒。與教會的其他信徒分享。與全世界的牧師和其他基督徒領袖分享。主尊榮合一的禱告。這不需要成本。我們也不需要遠行。我們可以單獨禱告，也可以跟其他人在同一個地方禱告，或透過Face Time、Skype或電話來禱告。我們也可以在教會禱告。我們應該禱告什麼呢？“主啊，你親自透過異象和異夢向數百萬的伊朗人顯現，呼召他們跟隨你。”
我正在禱告當中，而且我會繼續鼓勵其他人來禱告。懷著感恩，我將等候聽見主如何透過異象和異夢遇見伊朗人的故事，尤其是在伊朗。
願主因著你為我的族群禱告，繼續祝福你和你所愛的人。
為主服侍的
路加•耶拿加牧師
HOD蒙允翻譯
Dear Christian friends around the world:
Warm greetings. More than 35 years ago Iran became an Islamic Republic. Since then many things have changed in the country where I was born, raised, and spent 35 years of my life. Some of the changes are:
1. The Bible Society was closed and there has been a great shortage and demand for the Bible. Praise God that thanks to the efforts of organizations such as Elam Ministries in England, led by my eldest brother, Rev. Sam Yeghnazar, hundreds of thousands of Farsi Bibles and New Testaments have been printed and sent to Iran and other countries with large number of Iranians.
2. No new church buildings have been built. Several churches have been closed and almost all churches who led worship services in Farsi have been either closed or forced to change the language of worship to minority languages of Armenian or Assyrian.
3. Iranians Christians from Muslim background have no religious rights whatsoever. Some have been martyred such as pastors Hossein Soodmand and Mehdi Dibaj. Some are in prison like pastor Farshid Fathi, whose lifestyle is exemplary. He was condemned to six years of imprisonment and has spent more than three years in the infamous Evin prison in Tehran. There are other Christian prisoners in Iran.
4. Many Iranians Christians have faced and are facing persecution and discrimination.
5. Several leaders and their families have been forced to leave the country or face long prison terms.
Why？ The answer is quite simple. When Iran became an Islamic Republic, there were less than one thousand Christians in Iran from Muslim background. Now there are hundreds of thousands and some believe as many as one million. This has happened with no foreign missionary in Iran and the bold witness of persecuted yet victorious believers there. There are thousands of house churches in Iran and for many people, from all walks of life, Jesus Christ has become their Savior and Lord.
Christian media, including books and booklets, the Internet, radio and television beaming to Iran from other countries, have had a great impact on growth of Christianity. But the most successful work has been done by the day to day faithful witness of thousands of believers in Iran.
What can the global church of the Lord Jesus Christ do?
Several ways have been tried and some have had some results. However, I believe the most effective way is prayer. What should we pray?
We should pray that the Lord would protect His church in Iran. We should pray that the Lord would strengthen those who are suffering for their faith inside and outside of prisons in Iran. We should help them in any way we can. We should let them know that they are not forgotten.
We also need to pray that many more come to the saving knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. One of the things that we need to pray and pray without ceasing, is for the Lord to meet hundreds of thousands if not millions of Iranians, through dreams and visions. Many Iranians have come to know the Lord initially by having a dream or a vision. Nobody can prevent the Lord or His Angels in appearing to Iranians in dreams and visions. So I am encouraging you to pray that the Lord would visit Iranians from different walks of life in large and small cities, in palaces and in shacks, in universities and mosques, in homes and in public places. Let us pray that the Lord would visit children and the old, that He would visit the youth and the middle aged. Let us pray that He would visit the religious and the secular, the educated and the uneducated, the wealthy and the poor.
There is a couple in my church who are getting ready for water baptism. They came to our church, the Iranian Church of Los Angeles, a few months ago. They came in tears and in pain as their ten year old son had passed away from cancer a few months before. They were religious people in Iran. But then their son began to have dreams of Jesus and shared it with his parents. After his passing away, his mother had a dream of Jesus holding his son's hand. She did not know who that person was yet he told her that his name was Emmanuel. She had no clue what Emmanuel meant. When she found out that Emmanuel meant "God with us" and it is one of the names of Jesus, she and her husband had no doubt that they wanted to know Jesus and follow Him. They are now growing in their faith and they are expecting another child. The Lord and the family of God are comforting them and soon enough they will be baptized in water. All of this started with the dreams of a ten year old boy who is in heaven now but his testimony still speaks to others including his parents.
May I ask you to pray that many Iranians would have dreams and visions of Jesus. Please send this email to all the believers in your email list. Share this in church with other believers. Share it with pastors and other Christian leaders around the world.
The Lord honors united prayer. There is no cost. We don't need to travel far. We can pray individually. We can pray with someone else in one place or by using face time, Skype or on the telephone. We can also pray in church. What should we pray? "Lord show Yourself through dreams and visions to millions of Iranians and call them to follow You."
I am praying and I will continue to encourage others to pray and with thanksgiving I will wait to hear stories on how the Lord met Iranians, especially in Iran, through dreams and visions.
May the Lord continue to bless you and your loved ones as you pray for my people.
Yours in the Master's service,
Pastor Luke Yeghnazar