How an Israeli pastor came to serve 3 Iranian churches

Israel Naftali is a pastor and irrigation expert not far from Nazareth who somehow ended up involved with not one but three Iranian churches. He explained to ALL ISRAEL NEWS how the remarkable connection came about 11 years ago. “Actually, it was not our idea,” he began.

Naftali, father of the well-known Israeli influencer Hananya Naftali, had been in Turkey for a holiday when he decided to go to a church in the old city of Antalya. He ended up staying for three services, the last of which changed his life.

“It was an International Church,” he explained. “Called Hope in English, with Americans, Germans and Australians living permanently in Antalya.” When another meeting for locals was about to begin, he decided to go home as his Turkish language wasn’t strong. “But when I went out, the Holy Spirit spoke to me; “Return and go back and worship me with my Turkish brothers.” Okay, I went back and I stayed in the Turkish meeting. At the end of that one, he was about to leave again when something happened. 

“Suddenly, an unknown man approached me and said, 'Please come in, our meeting starts!' I said, 'Which meeting?' He said, 'Please come in, it’s an Iranian refugee meeting, here in the same building.' I thought, 'Oh no! I’m not coming in, no way, no way. I don’t understand Persian.' The man said, 'No matter! We have a Canadian brother; he speaks Persian! He can translate for you.' But I really didn’t want to come in,” Naftali recalled.

Hoping to dampen the Iranian man’s enthusiasm, he said, “I am an Israeli citizen!” thinking they would leave him in peace and let him go.

“But he was astonished and said to me, “Wow, you are an Israeli citizen, and I’m Iranian, and I just want to invite you. Please, please, please come in, please come in here, hold my hand,” and he pulled me inside, you know?” Those words ended up being almost prophetic.

“I experienced this incredible, amazing and powerful presence of the Holy Spirit, and God spoke to me: 'When there’s a lot of pressure, oil comes out.' It was extremely anointed,” Naftali said. “Persian worship is borne in hard conditions, in suffering, but people don't deny the Lord,” he explained. “It was a lot of Muslim-looking people with beards and black hair, but in their eyes was light and love. Just shining light.” Naftali asked God how He could do it with these people, and heard God say, “They are precious stones in my crown.” 

“So I didn't want it, I didn't search for it, but it was 100% God's hand… I was touched very deeply without understanding one word in Persian,” he said. “God revealed His incredible love towards the Iranian people. This revelation was the turning point in my life.”

He soon became acquainted with the pastor and other brothers and sisters in the congregation. “Usually, Iranians are highly educated and very intelligent people, and many of them speak English. So we started our relationship, they were really excited to get to know one Israeli, even an Israeli pastor.” Named Israel, very appropriately.

“The pastor shared with me that the church had been growing very, very fast and many Iranians are arriving from Iran. He asked me and my wife to help him,” Naftali shared.

However, he and his wife Ilana were initially hesitant to become more involved, as he was not only a pastor but also worked full-time running his business in Israel. “I'm volunteering as a pastor, and my work is not online work,” he explained, referring to his work in gardening and irrigation. “His request for us to come for two weeks, every three months, meant that I didn't get any income for those weeks.”

“We asked our heavenly boss and He answered very clearly: 'It's my calling for your life. Accept this calling and start serving them. I will take care of everything.'”

So they did. Regular trips to Antalya became part of their routine, along with weekly Bible studies online.

Naftali explained that Turkey was a “transition” country for Iranians, and that many in the church had crossed the border escaping from Iran, but pursued visas in Christian countries like Canada and Germany, so many moved on. 

While the first congregation eventually closed after about five and a half years when its members dispersed, two more congregations emerged in central Turkey seeking their guidance. In addition, an entire online congregation of around 200 people inside Iran looked to him for discipleship through Zoom.

They began to do prayer and worship meetings and annual conferences, inviting singer Joshua Aaron – a good friend of Naftali’s son, Hananya – to come and worship with them, translating Hebrew worship songs into Persian. People are also able to travel from Iran to attend the week-long conferences for spiritual support and ministry, and the organizers even rented the hotel swimming pool to baptize those who were ready.

Naftali said, “We baptize them and pray for Holy Spirit baptism, and they are returning back to Iran with the anointing and power of the Holy Spirit and they start preaching, and speaking about Israel.”

He and his wife teach about the subject of God’s heart and plans for Israel in the Bible and encourage the Iranian believers to pray accordingly. 

“During the 12-day war with Iran, many of them texted me and said,' We are not sleeping, we stand with you, we stand with Israel. We pray for victory for the IDF, and protection for all Israeli people.' So it is,” Naftali said.

“Today, because of all the circumstances, that internet is not working and land lines are cut off, so we have no information, but ten of our online church members inside of Iran were arrested,” he reported, adding, “After about one week of prayer from our Turkish branch and our Israeli congregation, they got released to home arrest and they are waiting for the court.”

“The accusation of all believers inside of Iran is cooperation with Zionist enemies. The regime realizes that all real believers in Yeshua should support Israel. It's biblical. And that's why they accused them of being in cooperation with Israel. Such kind of accusation causes the death penalty, and that's why we keep praying for all of them.”

While Iranian citizens have been praying earnestly for Israel, now many Israelis are praying with passion for those in Iran: for protection, for liberty, and the start of a new day of friendship with Israel.

Those wishing to support the ministry of Israel Naftali and their work with Iranian churches may donate via PayPal, marking the gift as “donation.”