Ten questions with: Elaine Macdonald
en staff
Elaine Macdonald is a member of The Bridge Church, Cardiff. Influenced by her experience as a UCCF staff worker in the early 1990s, she is passionate about one-to-one discipleship. She is currently a member of the Evangelical Movement of Wales management board.
1. How did you become a Christian?
By my mid-twenties, I’d arrived at a place of believing in a creator, sustainer God, but had no sense of a personal, redeemer God. My upbringing had given me a clear sense of right and wrong, and I thought that if I lived as good a life as I could, all would be well in the end. I became a high school teacher, and a colleague who had become a good friend invited me to church (there was something different about her, and how she handled life). Someone preached on Psalm 139, God’s Spirit revealed to me who He was, and who I was. I was amazed that such a God would be interested in such a one as me. He became my rescuer, and His right hand holds me fast.
Ten questions with: Israel Oluwole Olofinjana
en staff
Israel Oluwole Olofinjana is director of One People Commission, part of the Evangelical Alliance.
He is a Baptist minister and has led two multi-ethnic Baptist churches and an independent charismatic church. He is the founding director of Centre for Missionaries from the Majority World, a mission network initiative that provides cross-cultural training to reverse missionaries in Britain. He is a consultant to the executive team of Lausanne Europe, advising them on matters related to diaspora ministries in Europe.
Ten questions with: Mark Meynell
en staff
Mark Meynell has recently become a freelance writer and teacher, having pastored in local churches, taught in an East African seminary and, for the last 22 years, served with Langham Preaching (a programme of Langham Partnership).
1. How did you become a Christian?
Ten questions with David Yeghnazar
David Yeghnazar has served with Elam Ministries (elam.com) for nearly 25 years and currently serves as the Executive Director. Elam’s mission is to strengthen and expand the church in the Iran region and beyond by: training Persian-speaking leaders for fruitful, effective ministry; equipping the Persian-speaking church with Bibles and resources for evangelism and discipleship; and sending the gospel through trained evangelists, church planters and the media into the Persian-speaking world. David was born in Iran, and his family has been serving the Iranian church for three generations.
I was born into a faithful Christian family in Iran, so Jesus was always part of my life. When I was nine, my family was living in Lebanon for my dad’s work but we were preparing to relocate to the UK. On our last Sunday before leaving, during a small group prayer time at church, I was with my older brother and his friend when they asked what I wanted prayer for. My only desire was for Jesus to be in my heart. In that moment, I clearly sensed God saying, “David, you belong to me”. It was a profound, grace-filled encounter that anchored me before such a monumental life change.
Don’t take yourself too seriously. Take Jesus seriously, but not yourself.
I enjoy my prayer life and have been blessed to see faithful prayer modelled throughout my life – especially by my parents and grandparents. In the 1950s, they hosted a nightly prayer meeting in their Tehran home for four years, crying out for the salvation of Iran. I believe those fervent gatherings planted the seeds for the great turning to Christ we are seeing in these days in Iran. While I certainly haven’t “mastered” prayer and still have much room to grow, seeing God’s work in Iran continually reinforces for me the power and joy found in prayer.
I have been deeply impacted by Discipleship on the Edge by Darrell Johnson and Every Believer a Disciple by David Bjork. Our vision for the Iranian church is that every new believer receives effective discipleship to grow in faith and live fully for Christ. With many Iranians coming to faith every day amid intense persecution, discipleship is both critical and challenging. These books have sharpened my understanding of what it means to be a disciple of Christ, and the importance of equipping every believer to disciple others.
Many men and women have impacted my life, but my grandfather’s walk with the Lord has marked me significantly. He came to faith in Iran in the 1930s, and everyone he met he would simply ask: “Do you love Jesus?” As a child, I wondered when he’d move on to a more “important” question, but as I grew, I realised it was the most important one of all. Seeing that genuine love for Christ was beautiful, attractive, and made me want to know Him more.
I think it comes back to discipleship. We know we ought to both be disciples and disciple others, yet so many of us don’t really know how to actually do that. Yet the more we prioritise deep discipleship, the richer in Christ we will become and the brighter the church will shine as a witness to the world.
I’m privileged to hear daily stories from the Iranian church of Christ transforming broken lives, healing relationships, and bringing hope into hopeless situations. God is moving – that continually encourages me. As for discouragement, the last few seasons as a Manchester United supporter have been tough! More seriously, I feel most discouraged when I fail as a parent.
My children say I laugh at my own jokes. Maybe that’s bad, but I see it as a gift– at least I can keep myself entertained!
We must remember that God is writing the story. This truth anchors us at Elam: amid the persecution of the Iranian church, we hold fast to the reality that God is in charge, even when we can’t see the whole picture. Another core value is that “everyone gets to play” – every believer has a role in God’s kingdom, regardless of skillset or credentials. I believe Christian leaders should focus more on equipping the whole church to do the work of ministry, as Ephesians 4v12 commands.
It’s a hard choice, but I’d really like to ask James what it was like growing up with Jesus as his older brother.