But those who hopein the Lord will renew their strength.

They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

~ Isaiah 40:31(NIV -1984) ~

Those who are wisewill shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness,

like the stars forever and ever.

~ Daniel 12:3 (NIV -1984) ~

Praise

Thanks be to God for his infinite wisdom, love and mercy. Also, thanks to the elders at Bayview Glen Church who came alongside the Mohabat Church to support it financially (in allowing us to use the facilities) and with spiritual support (by teaching us, leading/guiding us) in order for us to follow our Lord’s footsteps and be the salt and light. We are asking God to richly bless you as you have blessed and encouraged us in our most holy faith.

Prayer

Praise the Lord, God answered many of our prayers and petitions offered to him on behalf of people in our congregation. We once again saw miracles happen as a result of fervent prayer and corporately offered sacrificial praise and thanksgiving to our Heavenly father through our Lord Jesus Christ, His son.  There are several scheduled time throughout the week that we meet for prayer. They include: Wednesday night, Thursday night (by phone calls), Friday nights. There are many other times when our members will gather or simply stop for prayer on their own when it is needed.

Services & Studies

It has been three years since we have become autonomous. We praise God for increasing our regular number of members attending consistently and working toward being transformed into His character. We also have three levels of bible studies that are offered each week. The Advanced class happens on Friday nights at 6pm and is lead by Pastor Sam. He also leads an Intermediate class on Sundays at 1:00pm after the services. On Sundays, before the service, a beginner class is offered at 10:00am and is lead for Fatimeh.

Confessions & Baptism

During the past year (June 2011 to June 2012), 37 people confessed their faith in Christ and came forward at the end of  sermons by Pastor Sam to receive Christ and be prayed for. Also during the same year, 23 believers got baptized. Their testimonies were inspiring and a blessing to everyone.

Evangelistic Outreach Events

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

~ Matthew 28:18-20 ~

Mohabat Church is committed to lost people through different events  to complete the Great Commission of Jesus Christ.

We have had big evangelistic outreach events over the past year. There was a Christmas Celebration – Joint Service where one person gave their heart to the Lord. Before the New Year’s Persian Bazar, for 4 days, more that 3000 Jesus tracts and 47 Bibles were distributed to Person people. As a result of this one person gave her heart to the Lord. At the Persian Bazar we were also able to do one-to-one  evangelistic outreach. At the Persian New Year celebration that we hosted there were 220 people in attendance and 5 of them made professions of faith. Our Easter celebration had 150 people and 3 professions of faith. Every week there are two Persian magazines (Shahrema and Salam Toronto) let us put key scriptures from the Old and New Testaments and well as information about Alpha and ESL classes.

The Lord is blessing our Cell Phone Churches (Home Group Churches) that are conducted in many cities in Iran. These churches are flourishing despite the severe persecution and hardship they are facing under the Islamic regime. The cost of converting and following Jesus for believers there could equal their lives, but still, under these tremendous conditions the churches are growing. They are also able to hear the sermons preached here at Mohabat Church each week through the website (www.mohabat.org).

Young Adult Leadership Development

And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be

qualified to teach others.

~ 2 Timothy 2:2 ~

Our Young Adult Leadership Development will focus on training, equipping and mentoring people to become active in a variety of role that are crucial to the growth of Mohabat Church. We are expecting that many next year will have their own ministries and could be collaborating with ministries of Bayview Glen Church.

Finances

Since our independence 3 years ago Mohabat Church’s budget has been decreasing but we trust our Lord Jesus Christ; He is more generous than anybody on this earth. That be to our Lord that we were able to get a transmitter device for our non-Farsi speaking members that attend services. Pray for us as there are many was to increase our finances.

 

 

AMAZING MINISTRY REPORT AMONG IRANIAN MUSLIMS

Mohabat Alliance Church (Mohabat Means Agape) is a Toronto, Ontario based church that is focused on evangelizing to the Iranian community on a local, national and international level. The Church also focuses on teaching and training new and mature Iranian believers in Christ on how to become Disciples of Christ. The services are scheduled on each Sunday in the hub located within Bayview Glen Alliance Church. We also have prayer and Bible-study groups throughout the week.

The roots of Mohabat Alliance Church began with Rev. Sam Nasser and his family. Coming from a Muslim background, Rev. Nasser accepted Christ shortly after he migrated to Canada in 1990 from Iran. Soon after, his wife and four children also accepted the Lord. In 2000, God called Rev. Sam Nasser to begin an Iranian focused ministry that would seek to evangelize to the Iranian community and bring souls to Christ. [To read more about Rev. Nasser and his testimony, please go to:http://www.mohabat.ca/about-us/minister/]; and ever since then, Rev. Nasser has been serving the Lord full time and has seen the Lord’s hand at work.
In 2003, while Rev. Nasser and his family were seeking Gods guidance for a proper location to begin the Iranian ministry, God led them to Bayview Glen Alliance Church. With the assistance of Bayview Glen Alliance Church, the Iranian ministry grew to become a vital church in the Toronto Iranian community and around the world. Many lost souls have been saved and been baptized since the ministry has begun. There has been over 900 Farsi individuals who have accepted Christ from a Muslim background and approximately 750 baptisms.
As evident through statistics, the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) continues to be a popular place for Iranian immigrants to settle (there are ~250,000 Iranians in the GTA), the opportunity for Mohabat Alliance Church to evangelize to the Iranian community is endless!

But the Church, as part of their vision, has also been able to reach out to the Iranians internationally. For example, an underground sister church in Iran (known as the Bayview Glen “Cell” Group Church) began in 2005 when a small group of Iranians heard a sermon from Rev. Nasser via a cell phone [for additional information on this story, please read:Long Distance Church; Please visit :http://www.mohabat.ca/about-us/mission/amazing-event/long-distance-church/]. Seeing how God worked mysteriously with the people of Iran through a cell phone, a group of leaders from Mohabat Alliance Church did not waste any time and in the same year had the opportunity to travel to Turkey and Dubai to train these individuals in becoming church leaders in Iran (please read “My First Missionary Trip Report” for more details)

The Mohabat Alliance Church has come a long way, and to further reach out to the lost souls Rev. Nasser has written two books entitled Jesus According to Islam and Nobel Collections from the Gospel of Jesus (in Farsi and in English); The church has also established two websites: www.mohabat.ca (in English) and www.mohabat.org (in Farsi). The site includes a lot of resources, as such some being Sermons (in Farsi) from the Sunday services. We also frequently receive e-mails and phone calls from people all around the world who have heard the sermons and are impacted and changed by what they have heard (for example believers in Iran, Afghanistan, Turkey, Germany, Kazakhstan and … etc. have contacted us).

Mohabat Alliance Church is excited about what God is doing in the Iranian community within GTA and around the world, and through prayer we wait for what God has stored for us as we accept the challenges that come our way. Nonetheless, we are in need of your help. We humbly ask you to pray for the ministry and support us financially with whatever you feel is right.

Mohabat Alliance Church is in need of prayers as we battle the forces of the adversary. All the individuals in our congregation are new believers in Christ and non-believers (all from Muslim backgrounds) interested in learning more about Christ and the relationship they can have with Him. However, as the congregation grows, so does the need for new leaders and servants to our leadership team.

Our second need is financial support! We have both short term and long term needs (outlined below), and visions to grow and reach out. However, as mentioned above, we have become an autonomous church and receive no additional funding except from our congregation. The donations that we do receive are not substantial enough to meet all our necessary needs; since most of our congregation is made up of immigrants (about 75%), and from experience first had, it is often difficult for new immigrants to donate to the church. With that being said, we truly thank Bayview Glen Alliance Church for all the continuous support, both spiritually and financially, over these years.

Short Term:
• Purchasing curriculum and resources to establish a children’s ministry.
• Purchasing curriculum and resources to establish a young adult’s ministry
• To sustain our church website which is vital in outreaching to the international community
• To continue to employ individuals to work in the church (e.g. pastor and church secretary) and also new individuals to work within the church (worship leader and youth pastor).
• Purchasing adult Bible class resources
• Purchasing evangelistic resources for the Iranian community (includes printing flyers, purchasing books, CDs and Farsi Bibles).
• Supporting and contributing financially to the Canadian Missionary Alliance Organization and Global Outreach
• To meet our financial monthly obligations (including rental, facilities, etc) to Bayview Glen Alliance church

Long Term:
• Purchasing a site for Mohabat Alliance church
• Establishing sister churches around the Greater Toronto Area (GTA)
• Establishing a sister church in Istanbul, Turkey (a popular travel site for Iranian travellers) for 3 reasons:
1. To have access to the leaders of Bayview Glen Underground Church in Iran, in order to train them during an all expenses covered (travel, accommodations, food, etc) program twice a year.
2. To outreach to Iranians who have travelled to Turkey for visiting and/or merchandise purposes.
3. To have access to Iranian believers of Istanbul and Ankara and organize an conference for them once a year
• Establishing an Iranian Christian Community Centre

We ask you to prayerfully consider giving a one-time, monthly or yearly donation to our church, for which you will receive tax receipts. You can donate by writing a cheque payable to ‘Mohabat Church’ or through donating online at www.mohabat.ca or www.mohabat.org. On the home page of Mohabat.org and/or Mohabat.ca you will see two links that will take you to Paypal or Canada Helps. By donating, you will be answering God’s call to reach all nations (Matt. 28:19) and also fulfilling Proverbs 11:25 which says, “A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes others will be refreshed” (NIV).

Mohabat Alliance Church primary vision is to reach the Lost, the Last and the Least of all the Farsi speaking Muslim people both in the G.T.A. (Great Toronto Area) and around the world Act 1:8. Your prayers and donations will ensure that Mohabat Alliance Church remains a hub for Iranian Christians in the GTA and around the world.

Thank you for your prayers and considering our financial request. Your insight will be very valuable in discerning future Outreach Ministry. If you have any questions or need further information, please feel free to contact Mohabat Alliance Church.

With appreciation,

Rev. Sam Nasser
Senior Pastor of Mohabat Alliance Church

Address:

Mahabat Alliance Church

300 Steeles Avenue East, Thornhill, Ontario  L3T 1A7

Tel: 1 (905) 881-5252 ext.225         

Fax: 1 (905) 881 9443                                           

www.mohabat.ca              www.mohabat.org  

E-mail:samn@bayviewglen.org