2025 Bags of Hope for the Persian Believers and Their Neighbors
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Need - 6,500 bags plus Bible - $160,225
Received and pledged - $99,660 (as of 12/1/2025) Last year's blessings keep coming in. Last year, we asked if you would help us purchase food bags for our needy new believers in the Persian region. You gave a tremendous amount that allowed us to buy thousands of food bags. More than we had hoped for. (You guys are incredible.) As our members carried their bags home from their secret meetings, they grew burdened for their unsaved neighbors who were also hungry and began sharing their supplies with them. In some cases, these were neighbors who had never spoken to our people because they knew them to be Christians. But as our members began sharing their precious, scarce food, the warmth of their love quickly melted the ice of religious bigotry and hatred. Their neighbors would commonly ask, “Why are you sharing with us? You should let us starve. We would never share with you.” But God’s Word says that the Believers in the early church “turned the world upside down,” doing so through their preaching and by showing love to everyone, even their persecutors. They used their offerings to care for their preachers, their elderly, and widows, and to share with others. They had no corporation to renew or structure to remodel, so offerings and alms were used exclusively for ministry and sharing the love of Christ. Now, you are helping us turn the world upside down with your generosity. Last December, our Persian Bags of Hope fed 6,500 families. So far, a total of 2,387 ADULT unbelievers (besides the children) have converted to Christ because of your sharing, and many have been secretly baptized. New house churches were started, and existing locations were packed out with the new converts. What’s next? This December, we are preparing to deliver another 6,500 Bags of Hope to another Persian location. After reviewing the food available, we have set the price at $18.65 per bag. Besides food, each bag will contain a New Testament. Most of these people have never seen or heard of a Bible, and though they have read about Jesus in the Quran, they do not know why He came to earth and do not trust what the Quran says about Him. We typically don’t give Bibles to new Islamic converts. They see the Old Testament as being slanted towards the Jews and against their forefathers. We give them a New Testament so they can be introduced to Christ, who died for all. After they convert and begin to mature, we teach them that God selected the Jews for a purpose and that they are His chosen race. We teach them to love the Jews, and once we see evidence of that love, we give them an entire Bible. We need $121,225 to provide 6,500 food bags with New Testaments. If more is given, we will purchase an additional 6,500 complete Bibles for those who were saved last year because of your 2024 food bags. We wish we could feed them again, but the Church has grown too large for us to do so. So, we will give each of them a Bible and share the food bags with another group. There is something different about this year. Different, marvelous, and miraculous. These 6,500 new families are unbelievers who have fled Afghanistan to escape the Taliban regime. They are targeted for annihilation because they have openly professed that they have no faith. They are not atheists, but they sense tremendous hopelessness, having realized that what they have believed all their lives, whether Sunni or Shia, is false, vile, and bloody, offering no forgiveness of sin, no relationship with the Father, and no hope for eternity. They have rejected all the sects of Islam and are looking for a new faith to follow. Not one family, but all of them. They have heard of Jesus, but don’t know any more than what the Quran incorrectly teaches. They are eager to know more, and we feel they are on the verge of mass conversion as a group. Six thousand five hundred families with 6-8 people per family, who have already rejected Islam and are looking for the truth about Jesus, are likely to result in up to 52,000 conversions in the next year, beginning this Christmas season, and hundreds of thousands in the next few years as they evangelize others. They have turned apostate from Islam in masse; we hope to see them turn to Christ in the same way as we not only tell of His love but demonstrate it as he did when teaching AND feeding the 5,000+. What the Bags of Hope will contain: Each bag of hope contains 10 local foods such as rice, olive oil, cans of meat, bags of powdered milk, cheese, burgal, vegetables, etc., and a New Testament. Our youth will deliver the bags covertly to assigned houses and, along with adult members, follow up with each family that receives a Bag of Hope until they come to Christ or utterly reject Him. And since they already profess to be “looking” for an authentic faith and are curious about Jesus, that is unlikely. We need your help. Miraculously, we have already received about 69% of the need before making it public, so please hurry. It takes time to purchase this much food discreetly and distribute it logistically. We hope you will help us by giving and praying for our safety and success. Here’s how you can help. (And feel free to share this with a friend.) The cost of a Bag of Hope with a New Testament is $18.65. $ 121,225 The total need for 6,500 Bags of Hope $ + 39,000 The total need for 6,500 extra complete Bibles ($6.00 each) $ 160,225 Project Total $ - 99,660 Already pledged $ 60,565 Remaining Need I have never seen an opportunity to make such an impact, and we dare not pass it up. When I heard of this need, I felt it was one that many of you would want to both pray for and give to. I’m confident I was right. Thank you for your time and help. Merry Christmas to you all. Jon Nelms |
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