On today’s episode, we talk with Dan and Carmen Hale who work for Elam, a ministry that is taking the love of Christ to the Muslim nation of Iran. They share amazing stores about how God is moving and Christians are flourishing even in the midst of persecution.
Website: https://www.elam.com/
Podcast: Jesus Speaks Farsi
Transcript:
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (00:00):
On today’s episode of the evangelism podcast. We talk with Dan and Carmen Hale, who work for ELAM, a ministry that is taking the love of Christ to the Muslim nation of Iran. They share amazing stories about how God is moving and Christians are flourishing. Even in the midst of persecution.
Bible Verse (00:25):
Jesus said, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Evangelism Podcast Host (00:36):
Welcome to the evangelism podcast with Dr. Daniel King, where Daniel interviews, full-time evangelists, pastors, missionaries, and normal everyday Christians to discover how they share their faith, their powerful testimonies, and amazing stories that will inspire you to reach people with the good news. And now here’s your host missionary and evangelist Daniel King.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:01):
Welcome to the evangelism podcast. I’m Daniel King. And I’m excited about telling people about Jesus today. I have two very special guests. They are Dan and Carmen Hale, and they are representatives of ELAM ministries, which is a tremendous ministry that has focus on the nation of Iran. And so God has been doing amazing things in Iran. Yes. Thank you so much for being with me.
Dan Hale (01:29):
Amen. Thank you, Daniel. Thank
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (01:31):
You. So tell me a little bit about the ministry and what Elon ministries does.
Dan Hale (01:38):
Okay. So Elon ministries to begin Daniel, our tagline is the love of Christ for Iran and beyond, but you know, our focus is Iran reaching Iranians, discipling, guiding people to be leaders. It’s an indigenous church and, and the idea of Iranians, you know, reaching their countrymen, taking them through a discipleship process and then ultimately guiding them to be disciple makers who will reach others and guide them to be disciples.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (02:09):
And so Iran is one of the largest Muslim nations in the world. When most people think of Iran, they, they think of the Muslim oppression that’s there. And so it’s a very difficult nation yes. To, to work with. What are some of the strategies that you are using to tell people about Jesus in this nation, which is often considered to be like a closed nation?
Dan Hale (02:39):
Yeah. So Daniel Iran first is a nation of about 82 million people. It’s about the size of Alaska and maybe 1%, maybe a little bit more, some people may even say 2% Christians, but it’s a Shiite Muslim nation. And so the idea of providing scriptures, so taking scriptures into the country, distributing them, obviously we won’t talk about how that’s done, but, but praise the Lord it is done.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:08):
And so your ministry is actually taking the, the Bible in their local language, which I understand is Fari
Dan Hale (03:15):
Fari. Yes.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:16):
And, and so you’re taking fare Bibles into the nation of Iran and, and distributing those to people who your ministry is in contact with.
Dan Hale (03:25):
Amen. Yes.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (03:26):
That, that’s so wonderful. And, and then you’re also training leaders from the church in Iran. So people are getting saved and then you’re training them. Talk to me a little bit about that. What, what does the training look like?
Dan Hale (03:41):
So, you know, for security, we may not talk about a lot of details of the training, but the idea of pouring into leaders, obviously zoom during the pandemic has been super beneficial. You know, the idea of pouring into people, you know, again, you know, we want to, to raise up leaders who can be mentors, but, you know, the, the primary goal is to help people to be disciples, but ultimately to be disciple makers. So duplication multiplication, Carmen, what is it you say all the time about,
Carmen Hale (04:16):
I say, when I speak in the churches that the church growth in Iran is by multiplication, not addition.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:28):
And so, so many people are getting saved that it’s actually multiplying the church of Jesus Christ there. Yes,
Carmen Hale (04:35):
Yes, yes, yes. In, in huge ways. Yes.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (04:39):
Wow. It, and that, that’s absolutely amazing. It’s so wonderful to hear that God is, is working among Muslim populations. Yes. And what, what are some of the ways that, that God is impacting Muslims? I know that Jesus died for Muslims. He died on the cross so that Muslims could be saved. He loves Muslims. Jesus loves Muslims. And I always say, I love Muslims too, because God loves Muslims. I love Muslims. I’m sure you guys love Muslims. Amen. And, and Jesus is saving Muslims. Talk, talk to me about that. What, what type of encounters are Muslims having with the living Jesus Christ you
Dan Hale (05:16):
Want,
Carmen Hale (05:17):
You know when Jesus choose to rich to people, it doesn’t matter how he does it. When I was living in Iran, it was an open country during the, before the, you know, during the SHA time.
Dan Hale (05:33):
So before the 1979
Carmen Hale (05:35):
Revolution. Right.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:36):
Wow. So you were actually living there way back
Carmen Hale (05:38):
Before
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:39):
1979.
Carmen Hale (05:40):
I, I did. Yeah, that was
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (05:40):
Before I was born. That’s amazing.
Carmen Hale (05:42):
I, I, Daniel, do you have to say that? Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. I’m so proud to be to have the privilege to live there. And, and I saw Iran at that time and Iran now who would have imagined that Iran will have the fastest growing church in the world today. Yeah.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:04):
It’s really amazing that in a persecuted nation where sometimes Christians lives are in danger. Yeah. That God is working even in those places.
Carmen Hale (06:15):
Yes. That’s throughout the Bible. There’s stories of persecution and that’s when the church tribe and that’s exactly what happened to Iran in these days.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (06:27):
So talk to me a little bit about ELAM ministries and how it got started and, and how it’s developed over the years.
Dan Hale (06:37):
Okay. I’ll start. So I pointed to Carmen because Carmen was there 30 years ago, Elon was foreman in 1990. And she was there when, when it got started. But you know, the idea of starting small, you know, at the time of the revolution, there were maybe 500 believers from a Muslim background at that time. So it’s a very small group and, and so much pressure and, and, you know, would the church wither and die, but no, the church has thrived in, is growing. And people are meeting and, and small groups and lives are being transformed.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (07:15):
That’s so wonderful to hear miss Carmen, can you give me an example of someone whose life has been transformed by Jesus share, share with us a testimony of something that God has done?
Carmen Hale (07:28):
Yes. I think of a, a young man that was put in prison for a crime that he has done. And while in prison, someone else shared Christ with him because obviously there’s a lot of Christians who have been put in prison. What are their crimes is that they have left Islam and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord and savior. So back to this young guy, when he finished his sentence, he came out and he search high and low. Where can I get this new Testament in far sea? He’s been talking, he couldn’t stop. You know, Daniel, I have to tell you that I have never seen a, a, a group of people that are so bold. And so courageous. It’s illegal to be talking about outside Islam, religion. Now,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:27):
When we say that it’s illegal, what are some of the consequences that could happen? If someone is caught talking about Jesus,
Carmen Hale (08:36):
You will be put in prison
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:38):
And, and are there lives in danger? Would
Carmen Hale (08:40):
They be, oh, yes.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:42):
Be in or tortured,
Carmen Hale (08:43):
Or even in killed. I know several people that have been killed pastors that I’ve known big leaders in churches, in Iran that were killed for their faith.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (08:54):
I really love what one of the church fathers said, Tertullian, He said that the, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Yes. And when people are so dedicated to serving God yes. That they are willing to give their lives even willing to, to shed their blood. Yes. For the sake of Christ. Yes. In that place, every drop of blood that falls into the ground has the potential to become a church plant.
Carmen Hale (09:26):
So I want to go back to the story that I wanted to, to tell you this young man who was released from prison, he was believer he was Muslim when he goes in and then come out Christian. And then he starts sharing the gospel with his family, with his relatives and friends. And then he starts high and low because people were so interested to know about this. Jesus Christ, not as a prophet, but the God, the true God. And so he ordered Bible. He, he, he found us in the website and said, ELAM, can you please send me 10 copies of the new testaments in Fari? And then he distributed it and then he could not stop talking about this.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (10:13):
And so your ministry was actually able to send Bibles in yes. To, to, and they got to him. Yes. And, and then he started sharing that with his friends.
Carmen Hale (10:23):
Yes. And I won’t go into the details, how he got it because it’s, it’s, it’s dangerous, but there’s a way of doing it. God gave wisdom to our people. And then, so this man was picked up by the police of the activities that he was doing. And he put him in prison. And while in prison, again, he’s sharing and prisoners comes to Christ. You know, it’s a, no, it’s a win-win situation. The government don’t like people to become Christians. And yet they put them in prison and then prisoners, including notorious criminals, get to know about Jesus Christ. Then he comes out
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:04):
And you have a captive audience. They have nothing to do, but
Carmen Hale (11:07):
Listen to Jesus about Jesus. I love my Lord. Jesus Christ. He’s just so, so good. And so he comes outta prison after serving several weeks of the of his sentence and he called ELAM again and said, can you send me a hundred copies of these Bibles? And it’s just, it just goes on and on and
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:29):
On. Wow. So he started with 10 Bibles. Yes. Use those and then was asking for a hundred Bibles. Right. That’s the multiplication you were talking about?
Carmen Hale (11:37):
That’s multiplication, I’m talking
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (11:38):
That’s times 10. That’s amazing. Yes. Well, do you have any other stories of people whose lives have
Carmen Hale (11:43):
Been transformed by Jesus? We have evangelism tools and also safari
Dan Hale (11:55):
You, me to, so we have a discipleship program, which we call SFAR, safari.org is the website for that. Yeah. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>, it’s available in Persian and English and Safara is the root word for safari. So safari.org without the I safari with, so it’s a one-on-one discipleship program. So I I’ll give you an example the first hundred days. So the first hundred days of a new Believer’s life to guide them through the process, mm-hmm, <affirmative> of becoming a disciple and evangelism and also ultimately a disciple maker. So one of our people was discipling someone with Iran and and so taking him through the process during the discipleship time, that person distributed 100 new testaments and he led 17 people to Christ. And so he personally, as I understand discipled two of those and the others, other people pitched in and helped to disciple them. So again, we’re seeing multiplication.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (12:53):
That’s amazing. And so the ministry is training leaders, doing church planning, passing out scriptures, media, discipleship. You also do ministry for, for women and men and, and marriage ministry. You’re reaching out to children and youth, you’re distributing books and, and resources, and even working with refugees as they, they come over to, to other nations. And, and the ministry originally is from the United Kingdom, but now you’ve spread to, to many different countries around the world. Where are some of the countries that, that you guys are, are working in,
Dan Hale (13:30):
You know, Turkey, Greece, you know, all over Europe. Yeah. Different countries in the middle east, but you know, Greece and Europe, lots of refugees there, refugees and Turkey, really a great opportunity.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (13:43):
What a tremendous blessing. Now, if someone’s listening and they have a heart for the nation of Iran, mm-hmm <affirmative> and they have a heart for reaching Muslims with the gospel, maybe they’re interested in, in supporting your ministry, what, what’s a way that they could find out more information about what you do. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> or even possibly support you in the ministry. Mm-Hmm
Dan Hale (14:09):
<Affirmative>. So the place to go is our website, Elam.com. You can always remember that, you know, at Pentecost, the different people groups were there a as the brother shared the partan, the Meads and the Elamites Iranians were there at Pentecost, Shirley.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:29):
And so that, that’s where the name of the ministry comes from. Yes. Is actually from the Bible. Yes. And so Iranians were there on the day of Pentecost. Yeah. Worshiping God. Yes. So that’s in their own language,
Dan Hale (14:40):
That’s a historical name for Iran and
Carmen Hale (14:42):
Nico signed up there.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (14:44):
Wow. And, and so elam.com and, and then you have a tremendous podcast. Tell me about the podcast that
Carmen Hale (14:51):
You have. Yes. The, the podcast is Jesus speaks Fari. Fari is the language in Iran, and I promise you, you would be so hooked to it because we have people who would, who have been in prison and they talk about their faith and their the work that they have done in prison as even as they come out. And
Dan Hale (15:15):
So Carmen far, she was the very first, he did the first part tell them right. Very quickly. About far she
Carmen Hale (15:21):
Bar, she was a leader in Iran and Christmas, 2010, they have taken about 60 plus of our leaders and members of the church and put them in jail. And some of them were released in matter of weeks and months and some, a year or two, but far, she was in prison for five years. And while he was in prison, he had ushered so many, many prisoners to Christ and he continues to serve very powerfully in the Iran region today. Amazing testimonies he share again, it’s Jesus speaks fare.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:10):
Yeah. So if you like podcast, if you like the evangelism podcast, go look for Jesus loves fare podcast. Jesus
Carmen Hale (16:17):
Speaks,
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (16:18):
Jesus Speaks Farsi Podcast, and you will enjoy the, the stories that they tell about what God is doing in that part of the world. Let’s finish up today by praying for the entire Muslim world. Mm-hmm, <affirmative> specifically the nation of Iran and let’s pray that God would move in the nation of Iran. Daniel, would you lead us in a prayer for that part of the world? Yes.
Dan Hale (16:48):
We come to you and, and father, we pray Lord that, that you will continue to do what you’re doing, that you would appear in visions and dreams, and people would have amazing God experiences Lord throughout the Muslim world. I think about Indonesia and I think of India. And I think of throughout the middle east, you know, Iran in particular Lord, that you would do something amazing Lord, that you would touch people’s hearts, continue to open their hearts Lord, and that you would have someone walk up and, and share them, you know, a gospel or you know, that you would do things to draw people in Lord. And that people would be mobilized to evangelized. Disciplers would be mobilized Lord, and we pray for more and more multiplication throughout throughout the Muslim world, Lord, that that many would hear the gospel message Lord, that they would find the gospel on the internet Lord, that they would find, you know, a worship ministry or, or, or preaching ministry, or maybe specifically toward women or men and Lord that you would use all these moments that that many would see the, the gospel light that the light of the gospel will shine bright and many will know you as Lord and savior and ultimately be disciple makers.
Dan Hale (18:07):
We give you all the glory Lord in Jesus name.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (18:10):
Amen. Amen, Lord. I pray for the nation of Iran. Lord, we pray for the entire Muslim world. And Lord, I pray that you would raise up more laborers who would work in this part of the world. Lord, I, I pray that even someone who’s listening right now that you would put it on their heart to reach out to Muslims and, and to start learning how to share the gospel with Muslims and, and Lord, we pray that you would raise up mighty men and women of God that would be trained in how to share the gospel and that they would be bold in their faith. Lord. We pray for those believers who have already come to you in the nation of Iran. Lord, I pray that you would strengthen them, encourage them, give them boldness today to share their faith with those around them.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (19:03):
Even in very difficult circumstances. And, and Lord, I lift up the ministry of ELAM to you, Lord, I pray that you would just bless the ministry and give them all the resources that they need to do what you have called them to do in Jesus name. Amen. Amen. Thank you guys so much for being on the evangelism podcast. The Lord bless you. And we will be praying for the nation of Iran and I’m praying that someday I will be able to go. I, yes, I’ve been praying for Iran for many years. Jesus name. Yes. And I’ve been asking God to send me there. And I don’t know if it’s possible right now to, to do a big meeting, but you know, I, I believe the time will come. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> where even Iran will open up to the gospel and we’ll be able to see not just in ones or twos, people getting saved, but we could see thousands of people. I’m asking God to send me there someday to preach
Dan Hale (20:01):
Brother Daniel. Not, not now, but today you’re a step closer.
Evangelism Coach Daniel King (20:06):
Amen. Amen. Well, God bless you guys. And thank you for being on the evangelist podcast. Thank you. Thanks so much for listening today. I am excited about telling people about Jesus. And I want to invite you to be a part of helping us to rescue people from hell and take them with us to heaven. There’s two things you can do to help. First of all, can you go find the evangelism podcast on apple iTunes and leave us a positive review by giving a review, you will help other people find these valuable resources about sharing our faith. And second, would you become a financial partner with king ministries? Every single dollar that people give us enables us to lead at least one person to Jesus. And so that means for only $1, you can help start a party in heaven. And so today I want to invite you to become a monthly partner. You can start out for just a dollar, but if God puts it on your heart to do more, of course you can do more. But please go to king ministries.com and become a monthly partner with us today to help us to lead more people to Jesus. Thank you so much. And God bless you
Evangelism Podcast Host (21:30):
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