#16: Nomads With Camels, Burkina Faso

#16 of my most viewed photos on Flickr.

#49: Rearing Horse & Cart

#49 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. Rearing Horse & Cart in Pakistan.

#51: Athens Street Life: John and Kitten

#51 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. I met John in Athens. He said he was homeless and cared for several cats who roamed among the monuments.

#60: Sentry

#60 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. In Muzaffarabad, a Pakistani guard watches over the rubble of the Neelum Hotel, once a 12-story building, reduced to a pile of rubble. Several people lost their lives here. Though all the bodies had been recovered, the stench of rotting flesh lingered, emitting from human limbs left behind in the debris. I will never forget the smell. I shot this during my trip to cover the devastating 7.6 magnitude earthquake that hit Pakistan in 2005. Muzaffarabad is in Kashmir state.

#62: Ruined Village in Afghanistan

#62 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. In this 2008 shot, an Afghan villager stands in front of the ruins of his home, bombed by the Taliban. A neighbor boy jumped into the picture.

#69: A Slice of Afghan Life

#69 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. A slice of life in Kabul, Afghanistan, from my 2008 trip.

#75: Ukrainian Farm

#75 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. I was in this gorgeous country setting in the Ukraine in 2006.

#76: Government Worker, Balakot, Pakistan, After Earthquake

#76 of my most viewed photos on Flickr. I was there days after the massive 7.6 magnitude Kashmir Earthquake that claimed 79,000 lives in 2005. In the photo, this man is showing me his credentials. He had been an important person with significant responsibilities. Now he was displaced and was wandering through rubble (which you can see behind him) without knowing where to go. It was the plight of tens of thousands in that very grim time.

#86: Young Cricket Players in Pakistan

#86 of my most viewed photos on Flickr.

Photo of the Day: The Erechtheion, Athens

The Erechtheion (or Erechtheum), built c. 420 B.C., sports the porch of the Caryatids (or porch of the Maidens), architectural supports used as pillars and fashioned as women. The main temple was dedicated to the worship of the two principal gods of Attica, Athena and Poseidon-Erechtheus, in two separate areas. This is located across from the Parthenon.

Photo of the Day: Cow Pie Walls, Tajik Village

Cow pies dry on mud walls in a village in Tajikistan.

PE Connections with Dr. Del Tarr

Dr. Del Tarr, Assemblies of God missionary, author and educator, visits with me at Assemblies of God General Council in Phoenix, Arizona.

My interview with James Hudson Taylor IV, great-great grandson of missionary Hudson Taylor

My co-host was Dr. James O. Davis, co-founder of the Billion Soul Network. What a privilege it was to meet James Hudson Taylor IV. His ancestor is one of the most important names in missions, and he is carrying on the work today.

Headed to Costa Rica

On my way to Costa Rica for a week of ministry.

Last GC09 Service

Missions.

First Morning in El Salvador

With an ambitious agenda, we were delayed more than an hour in the nation's capital, San Salvador, during the morning commute.


And here was the reason for the delay.

Les Connell & Gideons in Nigeria

My friend Les Connell from Oregon is a very active Gideon, a ministry that distributes Bibles. Last November Les was in Nigeria for 2 weeks.



Les says: "The first photo here is of a Nigerian student who after I addressed an assembly of 1800, came to me and asked how she could find Jesus. I had the honor of leading her to Him. She leaned her little head on my chest as another Gideon snapped this photo."

The Beginning of Reaching One

I took this in Niger in 2005. We may not reach everyone with the gospel. In any given mission field, at home or abroad, we may perhaps reach only one person in a group of several. There is a time when that one person first turns to consider the claims of Christ, while the others continue as if they had not heard. This is the beginning of reaching that one person for eternity.

My Most Unusual Interviews

This is one of them. I actually interviewed Buddhist priests in Cambodia. You can see the 3 spires of the wat (temple) in the background between me and the first priest.

Christians in Iran Face Severe Persecution

Sam Yeghnazar’s father was instrumental in planting the Church in Iran’s early days with the Assemblies of God. I have been with Sam overseas. His very important report follows:

November 21-23, 2008: Three Days of Prayer and Fasting for Iran

In response to a year of persecution and the imminent passing of a law making the death sentence mandatory for all Muslim men who turn to Christ and life imprisonment for Muslim women who turn to Christ, Iranian church leaders are calling for prayer and fasting from November 21 – 23, 2008.

They know they have no influence in the courts of men – but they want to take their case to the courts of heaven.

And like Esther of old, the queen of Iran who told Mordecai to ask all the people of God to pray and fast for three days, so Iranian Christian leaders are asking the world-wide church to also set aside these three days for prayer and fasting.

If you are a prayer leader in your church, please contact other intercessors to be involved in these three days, and please approach your pastor to see if special prayers for Iran can be made at your church service on Sunday November 23.

2008: YEAR OF INTIMIDATION FOR CHRISTIANS IN IRAN

The growing church in Iran is under attack. Since April there have been at least fifty three arrests of people whose only crime is their faith in Jesus Christ. The arrests are not localized, but have happened in all of Iran’s major cities…Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Kerman, and elsewhere. Sometimes people have been released the same day, others spent months in prison, some still remain behind bars. Many of them have had to pay exorbitant fees for bail and face frightening court cases. Some have suffered physically while in detention and it is believed that one elderly couple died as a result of being beaten up. These are only the arrests that get reported: it is likely there have been many more.


All of this has been happening against the ominous background of legislation going through the Iranian parliament that will make the death sentence mandatory for any man who leaves Islam and chooses another faith. Women will face life imprisonment for the same ‘crime’. Click here to read more about this legislation.

Despite the persecution, the church in Iran continues to grow rapidly. The Word of God is reaching many in the country and many believers are determined to courageously share Christ with their countrymen. Christian leaders in Iran believe that the church will continue to grow very rapidly in the next five to ten years, such is the openness of Iranians to the Gospel.

We urge Christians world-wide to pray and fast on behalf of the church in Iran.
Pray for all those who have been arrested and intimidated. Pray that the Lord will be their Rock, Deliverer and Shield. (Psalm 18:2)
Pray that despite the persecution, Christians will be “encouraged to speak the Word of God more courageously and fearlessly.” (Phil 1:14)
Pray against the law of apostasy. Pray that the severe mandatory punishments regarding apostasy in Iran’s new penal code will not enter the statute book. Pray that many millions of Muslims will see the evil of this law and will hunger for spiritual truth and salvation.
Click here for more details about persecution in Iran in 2008.

Thanks you for praying for Iran.

Sam Yeghnazar
Prayforiran.org/Elam Ministries