9 Mar 2009, Glenndale, California, United States…Southern California Conference/ANN staff
Members of the first Farsi-speaking Seventh-day Adventist church celebrated the grand opening of their new congregation in Southern California last month.
The Persian congregation, called the Church of the Better Way, meets in the Canoga Park Community Adventist Church with members coming from the San Fernando Valley and the surrounding areas.
“It is always exciting when we see another seed planted for the kingdom of heaven,” said Larry Caviness, president for the Adventist Church in Southern California. “We want to see this work in the Persian community grow.”
The church's primary outreach to the Persian community is radio programming in Farsi, broadcasted to countries in northern Africa, the Middle East and Asia. The programming — which includes drama and music — began airing on Los Angeles-area public access channels, but is now available 15 hours a week on the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Funding for the program, entitled “A Better Tomorrow,” comes from Gospel Outreach, a Washington-based outreach organization that focuses specifically on the 10/40 Window, the portion of the eastern hemisphere between the northern 10 and 40 lines of latitude. The 10/40 Window includes the Middle East, India and China, and contains 60 percent of the world population.
Church pastor Gerald, who asked that his last name not be used for security reasons, congratulated his congregation on their efforts to connect with the Farsi community.
“… The gospel of Jesus is being preach in the whole world, including Iran,” Gerald said.
