TBN Nejat Television Takes Powerful Message of Hope to Millions Across Iran, Middle East, Europe, and Beyond
LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Reza Safa clearly recalls the day: March 16, 2003. For over a decade the Iranian-American pastor had prayed earnestly that the Christian gospel message that had so dramatically transformed his life would penetrate the darkness keeping untold millions in his native Iran bound in chains of religious bondage and fear.
Born and raised in a devout Shi'ite Muslim family in Iran, Safa first heard the gospel message while living in Sweden, and turned his life over to Jesus Christ after asking God to show him the truth. Safa, author of the best-selling book Inside Islam, eventually became a pastor, and in 1990 moved with his young family to Tulsa, Oklahoma to start a church.
"It was there that God impressed upon me that a great spiritual revival was coming to Iran, and that I would play an integral part in it," recalled Safa. Gripped by that word from the Lord, Safa spent the next thirteen years fasting and praying for that revival to come forth in his native land.
In 2003 those years of intercession began to bear fruit as Safa was prompted to purchase some used television equipment and begin producing simple Christian programming in his native Farsi tongue.
On March 16, 2003, the first of that programming hit the airwaves over a secular Farsi-language network broadcasting into Iran. "I remember that day well," recalled Safa. "It was a Sunday morning and I was sitting at my desk at the church I was serving in Tulsa, getting ready for the service to begin, when the phone rang, which was a little unusual on a Sunday morning."
The call was from an individual in Iran who had seen Safa's program, Day of Salvation, on the Farsi network, and wanted to become a Christian. "Before long another call came in from someone else wanting to get saved," said Safa. "And then the phone rang again, and all day call after call was coming from Iran with people wanting to make Jesus their Savior and Lord."
In the weeks ahead Safa added four additional phone lines at his church to handle the volume of calls, realizing that "we were beginning to see the first pangs of revival in Iran and the Middle East in a radical Islamic nation that had never seen a revival in its history."
It wasn't long before Safa realized that God was leading him to start a full-time Farsi-language Christian network that would reach out to the millions of Muslims throughout Iran, the Middle East, and beyond with the hope of the gospel. Safa enthusiastically approached scores of pastors, churches, and Christian leaders, sharing the vision God had given him to see the love of Jesus Christ permeate Iran and the Middle East with a 24-hour Christian network in the Farsi tongue. Sadly, few shared his enthusiasm enough to offer support, and three years later, while Safa continued his television outreach to Iran, the vision for a full-time network was still little more than a dream.
That all changed, however, when a Tulsa Christian media professional, Ben Ferrell, arranged for Safa to travel to California and share his vision with Dr. Paul Crouch, founder of the Trinity Broadcasting Network. "Sitting in TBN's California headquarters waiting to speak with Dr. Crouch, I was so anxious to share with him about the tremendous revival that was taking place in Iran, and to convince him to partner with us in this network to reach the Middle East," recalled Safa.
As it happened, God had already spoken clearly to Dr. Crouch about reaching the Middle East with Christian television, and he would need no convincing. "As I was sitting in the TBN offices," recounted Safa, "Dr. Crouch suddenly walked into the room, sat on the edge of his chair, and the first words out of his mouth were: 'Reza Safa, when can we start the TBN Nejat Television Network?'"
In March 2006, with the support, studios, and production expertise of the Trinity Broadcasting Family of Networks, TBN Nejat Television went on the air, and in the nearly nine years since has been broadcasting life-changing Christian programming in the Farsi language 24 hours a day across Iran, Afghanistan and the Middle East, Africa, Europe, and even into the United States.
Hundreds of millions of Muslims who have never heard the gospel message now have access to the truth 24 hours every day through TBN Nejat TV, via satellite as well as online through computers and TBN's special app for iPhones, iPads, smart phones, and other mobile devices. "And millions have come to faith in Christ in the nine years since Nejat came on the air," emphasized Safa.
He added that each week hundreds of calls pour into Nejat's call center from Muslims in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kurdistan, and many other unreached areas around the world. "Some call to give their lives to Christ," he explained, "others to receive prayer for needs in their lives and families, and many call to testify of God's transforming power in their lives."
Those individuals include:
– Mohammad, who called and told a Nejat prayer partner that he and his family of seven came to faith in Christ through TBN Nejat TV, and he now wanted a prayer of blessing over all of them.
– Ali, who was a drug addict for 12 years, before watching TBN Nejat TV and giving his life to Christ. At the end of a program hosted by Reza Safa, Ali touched the TV set and the Lord instantly delivered him from his drug addiction.
– Fatemeh, who accepted the Lord through TBN Nejat TV, and immediately began telling family members about her newfound faith. So far twenty of them have come to Christ through the programming on Nejat TV.
TBN Vice President Matthew Crouch said that with the brutal persecution of Christians intensifying in Iraq and other Islamic Middle Eastern countries, TBN Nejat TV has become more crucial both as a resource for the underground church in Iran and elsewhere, and as an outreach to unreached individuals.
"Because of the crackdown on pastors, churches, and believers by Islamic governments and by ISIS terrorists, churches have become all but non-existent in many radical Muslim areas," he said. "TBN Nejat Television is the only source of discipleship and encouragement thousands of Christians in Iran and the Middle East receive. And in many cases it is the only witness of Jesus' love that many people will have. That's why TBN is committed to partnering with Reza Safa to ensure that Nejat TV continues to shine the light of Christ's love and mercy to the millions who view it everyday."
Click Here to view a powerful documentary that shows the impact of TBN Nejat Television in Iran and the Middle East. And Click Here to experience TBN Nejat TBN live, and to discover how you can support this outreach that is taking hope and healing to millions in the Middle East and around the world.
Media Contact
Colby May, E-Mail: [email protected]; Tel: 972-313-9500
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SOURCE Trinity Broadcasting Network
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