I was born into a Muslim family in Iran. I was introduced to Christianity when I was young, and I became a Christian in the early years of the Islamic revolution. It was the early years of the Islamic revolution as people were trying to go deeper in their Islamic faith that I experienced persecution, not only from my family but from all of society as well. It was ten years after I was a Christian that I had to leave. In 1986 l went to Germany and a year later I went to the United States. I started my career in printing and graphics. After two years of having a successful business, I decided to change the course of my life and start serving the Lord among Farsi speakers. I started praying for this for about a year and a half until the Lord opened the door for me to start studying at a Bible college in London. So, I went to England and spent about four years studying theology. When I was there, I met Carine and we got married. We came back to America together and started serving the Lord among Farsi speakers and planted a church in Mission Viejo, California. While doing ministry I was also working. After three years of serving the Lord at Calvary Chapel Mission Viejo I was ordained as a pastor and I continued serving with the church.

After a few years I started traveling to Chicago every week to visit a Persian church. I had Bible studies there for about five years. During this time, I also had the opportunity to start a production studio near Los Angeles which was one of the first establishments to produce Farsi programs. We recorded a verse-by-verse commentary of the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. We had programs answering difficult questions about the Christian faith, and we had programs for women, for children, in addition to having radio programs. Later, we started working with another Christian broadcasting station which helped us to broadcast our programs for many more years. We also have a verse-by-verse commentary of the Bible on YouTube and on our website (love-of-christ.com) which is available for Farsi speakers to use.

I have also written four books, including commentaries on the books of Genesis, Revelation and Acts, and a book about persecution of Christianity. We also had other ministries outside of America, which include planting a Farsi speaking church in Belgrade, Serbia for Iranian refugees in addition to helping them with food, clothing and Bible studies. I planted a Farsi speaking church in Nideh, Turkey and have started a ministry in Armenia to help people who need food and clothing. We are also currently helping and supporting a few orphanages in Armenia and sending them money every month. Many Christians who have online Bible studies with me go to Turkey once a year for a Christian conference where we have intensive Bible studies. Some of them also get baptized. All these ministries are available as videos on our website (Disipleship-for-Christ.com). Now I have online Bible study classes five days a week through Skype for Farsi speakers from all over the world, including Germany, Sweden, Turkey, Iran, and Canada. I also go to neighboring counties to meet with some new Christians.

My dear brothers in Christ, during the last 23 years we have never done any fundraising and all our ministry has been done through our small church at Calvary Chapel Mission Viejo.

Unfortunately, after Covid, our church, like many in America, has been affected with many people watching the church services online. As a result, our finances have been negatively impacted. We now need financial help to continue all our ministries which are desperately needed. If God has placed in your heart a desire to help us in this ministry, your assistance would be greatly appreciated. If you need any more information or details about our ministry, I am ready to meet you in-person. We have so many amazing testimonies of how God has worked through our church and our ministry during the past 23 years, and we would be happy to share it with you. And my biggest joy of all is when I hear people tell me that through our ministry they came to faith in Christ and their life was changed. My biggest reward is to know that I have been able to extend the love of Christ to many people near and far.

In Christ,

Pastor Firouz