<p><img src="images/stories/mikeevans.jpg" border="0" hspace="7" align="left" />God has laid an urgent burden on my heart to work to help save the life of Yousef Nadarkhani. Because the Spirit of God opened a miraculous door for me to have a personal relationship with Ali Salehi, Iran’s Foreign Minister, I feel a special responsibility to do everything possible to spare this young man from death.</p>
<p>This young Iranian pastor has been sentenced to death by the government of Iran for apostasy against Islam and attempting to evangelize Muslims. He has been in and out of jail for the past six years. The sentence of death by hanging has been upheld by Iran’s Supreme Court; although the government officially denies this, Nadarkhani’s attorney has released the ruling that declares it.</p>
<p>The sentence was upheld on appeal late last year and could be carried out at any time. The government has offered to vacate the sentence if Nadarkhani recants his faith, but he has refused to do so. Today I’m asking you to join with me in an effort to help save his life. God has given me an open door to reach out to the leaders of Iran that no one else has.</p>
<p>To the best of my knowledge, I am the only minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the world who has a personal relationship with Iran’s Foreign Minister Ali Salehi. We met two years ago in New York City when I was staying at the hotel with the Iranian delegation to the United Nations. The Spirit of God directed me to go to him and ask for his help, and he is the man who arranged my personal meeting with Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.</p>
<p>I believe this relationship offers us a unique opportunity to speak directly to the leaders of Iran. I urge you to sign the petition to save the life of Pastor Nadarkhani today…and to forward this to everyone in your address book. Share it on Facebook. Print it out and take it to church. We need to get as many people as possible involved in this effort before it is too late.</p>
<p><a href="http://jerusalemprayerteam.org/petition-President-Ahmadinejad-Sign-Online.asp">SIGN THE PETITION TODAY</a></p>