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Standing in support of Israel, Jews, and believers in all the nations, in the name of Jesus (Yeshua). Sharing biblical truth, encouragement, news and prophecy.
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkey. Show all posts
Friday, September 5, 2025
700 days of war: Hamas releases new hostage video, families call for deal to free their loves ones & IDF prepares for attack. All Israel News
Friday, January 4, 2019
'The Stuff of Movies': A Battered Wife's Journey from Islam to Christian Pastor - CBN News Dale Hurd
'The Stuff of Movies': A Battered Wife's Journey
from Islam to Christian Pastor
01-03-2019
CBN News Dale Hurd
STOCKHOLM – No one would have thought a Muslim woman in Iran who was simply trying to stay alive in an abusive marriage in Iran would one day lead two churches in Sweden, bring more than a thousand former Muslims to Christ, and be invited to speak before the Queen of Sweden.
Living in Darkness in Muslim Iran
As a young woman in a Muslim culture, Annahita Parsan was powerless and insignificant. Her only hope was that she might one day find a good husband, and she did. But he died suddenly in an accident, and then she found herself trapped in a second marriage so violent, she expected to die.
She told us that during her abuse, "I didn't know anything. It was darkness. It was a really bad life."
She told us that during her abuse, "I didn't know anything. It was darkness. It was a really bad life."
And although she writes about the abuse in her book, Stranger No More, Parsan doesn't like to talk about it now.
"It's not that easy speaking about that."
Beaten with a Shovel and a Suicide Attempt
Parsan admits being beaten with a shovel by her then-husband. As a battered wife, with bruises and cuts all over her body, Parsan eventually tried to kill herself with pills, but she survived.
Her daughter Roksana remembers when her father threatened to slit her throat when she was just a small child.
"We wanted more cookies. Supernormal, and we ran up and we like said, 'More cookies! More cookies!' And he came up with a knife, put it to my throat and he said, 'Ask for cookies again.'"
About her mom, Roksana said, "She was striving to just survive for us, just survive to make a better life for us. And maybe that was something God had implanted in her so that she would have something to hold onto."
Fleeing Iran Only to Land in a Turkish Prison, Then to Faith in Christ
Annahita Parsan's journey to Christ and across two continents is the stuff of Hollywood movies, one that would include several brushes with death.
Parsan, her husband and her children fled Iran through the mountains to Turkey in 1984, where she and Roksana faced more danger, before landing in a Turkish prison. They would finally make it to Denmark where she divorced her still-abusive husband, and also heard the gospel for the first time. Then she moved to Sweden where she and her two children walked into a church and prayed, "We are Christians, from now on."
Parsan, her husband and her children fled Iran through the mountains to Turkey in 1984, where she and Roksana faced more danger, before landing in a Turkish prison. They would finally make it to Denmark where she divorced her still-abusive husband, and also heard the gospel for the first time. Then she moved to Sweden where she and her two children walked into a church and prayed, "We are Christians, from now on."
Her 'Beautiful' Ending: Becoming a Pastor in Sweden
Annahita entered the ministry and has led more than 1,500 Muslims to Christ. She leads two churches and trains other churches how to reach out to and disciple Muslim background believers. Former Muslims hungry for 'the God who loves' fill her church each Sunday. Parsan believes this was foretold in Jeremiah chapter 49, verse 39: "But in the latter days I will restore the fortunes of Elam, declares the Lord."
"It is about Elam and Elam is Persian," Parsan said, "And when I read that I know that it's about us. It's about all their life and it's amazing. God told Jeremiah at that time, and it's happening just now."
But Muslim immigration has also made Sweden a home for dangerous radicals, and Parsan told us she has received death threats and lives with the knowledge she could be killed.
Parsan said Sweden "…is a free country. But it's dangerous, too." She says she sometimes wonders if she will be killed by Islamists in Sweden.
As a young woman living what seemed like a hopeless existence in Iran, Annahita Parsan saw no plan and no purpose in her abusive marriage, only random violence. But God had a plan.
As a young woman living what seemed like a hopeless existence in Iran, Annahita Parsan saw no plan and no purpose in her abusive marriage, only random violence. But God had a plan.
"God loved me and he was in my life from the beginning," Parsan said. "Sometimes [when reflecting on her life] I think, wow, it's beautiful."
Watch interview here: From Islam to Christianity
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Thursday, January 3, 2019
Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog - What to watch in 2019: Russia building dangerous military alliance with Iran, Turkey, Libya and other enemies of Israel as U.S. withdraws from Syria.
 New post on Joel C. Rosenberg's Blog |
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Jerry Falwell Jr.: President Trump frees Pastor Brunson from Turkey, proves liberal media wrong - FOX News
A Turkish court freed Brunson Friday, after he had been held prisoner for two years following an attempted military coup in Turkey. He was charged as a conspirator in the plot, but Turkish authorities were unable to provide any satisfactory evidence to back up the charges against him.
In truth, the only thing Brunson ever conspired to do was to spread the word of God, as he had been doing in Turkey for over 20 years.
After being arrested and imprisoned under appalling conditions – where he was subjected to regular attempts to convert him to Islam – Turkish officials moved the 50-year-old pastor to house arrest in July in the face of U.S. pressure. But that wasn’t enough for President Trump and his administration.
The day after Brunson was placed under house arrest, Vice President Mike Pence issued a stern warning to the Turks on behalf of President Trump.
“To believers across America, I say, pray for Pastor Brunson.” Pence said. “While he is out of jail, he is still not free. And to President Erdogan and the Turkish government, I have a message on behalf of the President of the United States of America: Release Pastor Andrew Brunson now or be prepared to face the consequences.”
“If Turkey does not take immediate action to free this innocent man of faith and send him home to America, the United States will impose significant sanctions on Turkey until Pastor Andrew Brunson is free,” Pence added.
The Turks didn’t heed Pence’s warning. In August, President Trump imposed economic sanctions against Turkey
The Trump administration didn’t stop there. It continued to threaten further sanctions unless Brunson was released. When the Turkish court finally released Brunson, it was against the wishes of the government prosecutors. They sought to imprison him for a decade.
President Trump could have easily sacrificed Brunson to maintain good relations with Turkey, a NATO ally. That nation’s strategic location makes it crucial to containing Russian ambitions in the Middle East.
The mainstream media still take every possible opportunity to paint President Trump as egotistical and uncaring, but his positive, heartfelt actions speak far louder than their negative, heartless words.
Previous American presidents, pursuing the globalist agenda, would have quickly caved to Turkey, given the geopolitical realities of the situation. President Trump didn’t. I know this president’s heart – and I know he would never do such an expedient thing. Instead, he did the right thing.
That’s because President Trump isn’t just a strong and tough leader. He’s also a good and moral person.
Time and time again, we’ve seen this from the president. When pursuing a successful diplomatic breakthrough with North Korea, President Trump didn’t just seek nuclear disarmament and the normalization of diplomatic relations. He demanded the return of imprisoned Americans and the return of the remains of those who died in the Korean War.
On the eve of his inauguration, President Trump gave $10,000 of his own money to a supporter who had fallen on hard times, a FedEx employee named Shane Bouvet. Last year, he gave $1 million of his personal fortune to help with Hurricane Harvey relief efforts. Since taking office, President Trump has consistently given up his quarterly salary to government agencies and causes in need of funding.
With the release of Brunson, President Trump has once again displayed his moral fortitude.
This case hits home for me both as a Christian and president of Liberty University. Brunson’s daughter, whose husband serves in the military, shouldered many burdens in her fight to get her father released. She is an online student through Liberty University and we chose to give her a full scholarship to pay her remaining tuition fees.
Now that Brunson has been released, over 3,000 letters written by Liberty students have been sent to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, thanking him for his work in this case and encouraging him to keep up the administration’s fight for religious liberty around the world. My wife Becki and I wrote one of them and we were beyond thrilled to have the opportunity to do so.
The mainstream media still take every possible opportunity to paint President Trump as egotistical and uncaring, but his positive, heartfelt actions speak far louder than their negative, heartless words.
I’m often asked how an evangelical Christian can support a man like President Trump. The answer is simple. I learned long ago to judge people – especially politicians – by their actions and not their words.
Plenty of presidents have paid lip service to God, but few, if any, have demonstrated a consistent tendency to walk in Christ’s shoes and make the morally correct decision instead of the politically easy one.
I am proud to call President Trump my friend. Above all, I’m proud of what he’s doing for our country and countrymen, at home and abroad.
God bless you, Mr. President.
Jerry Falwell Jr. is the president of Liberty University.
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