Dr. Jacob Pursley
Biography
Dr. Jacob Pursley, a native of Arkansas, USA, has lived and ministered in the Middle East since 2002. He served first in Turkey from 2002 to 2017, where he planted Beytel Church in Istanbul and its Kurdish-speaking sister church on Mount Ararat, and founded NUT Eğitim Merkezi — a training school for missionaries to the Muslim world, named in honor of the three Christians martyred on April 18, 2007. Over those years he also ministered in Palestine, Syria, Pakistan, and Georgia, and has lectured in South Korea, Switzerland, and the United States.
Since 2017 he has lived in Yerevan with his family, where he serves as pastor, elder, and church-planter at the International Bible Church of Armenia. His ministry is focused on mobilizing, equipping, and sending missionaries to the Muslim world, with particular emphasis on Iran, Turkey, and the wider region. He has facilitated reconciliation meetings between Armenian and Turkish Christians since 2008.
Ministries Founded & Led
- International Bible Church of Armenia (IBCA) — Pastor, Elder, Church-Planter.
- Armenian Theological Academy — Founder and Dean. The Academy graduated its first two-year class, equipping Armenian believers for ministry and leadership.
- Agarak Ministry Center (Syunik Province, border of Iran) — church plant, theological library, Hope Language Center, and base for outreach to Iranians crossing into Armenia.
- Artsakh Refugee Ministry — ongoing relief and discipleship for the hundreds of families forcibly exiled from Nagorno-Karabakh beginning September 2023, based in Meghri and Agarak.
- IBC NGO — the Individual Believers Club, a non-governmental organization that hosts the annual Republic of Armenia Prayer Breakfast (most recently held November 14–15, 2025, with the participation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan).
- Operation Announcing Freedom — a comprehensive plan for evangelism, Bible distribution, and church planting among Iranians, including annual Nowruz outreach to thousands of Persians visiting Armenia.
- Mission to Muslim Georgia — scouting, church planting, and missionary deployment to the Muslim regions of neighboring Georgia.
Scholarship & Publications
Dr. Pursley is the author of several books and academic articles on the Armenian Genocide, Reformed Presuppositional Apologetics, Muslim culture, Islam, and Folk Islam. His dissertation developed a model of discipleship for Believers from a Muslim Background (BMBs) using a Reformed Presuppositional Apologetic approach, building on the legacy of Samuel Zwemer and Samuel P. Schlorff. His work has appeared in Evangelical Missions Quarterly and been featured in WORLD Magazine coverage of Armenia.
Media & Public Ministry
Dr. Pursley has been interviewed on The Daily Wire (with Michael Knowles and the Morning Wire), Breitbart News (with Mike Slater on Politics by Faith), SiriusXM Patriot, and the Christian Broadcasting Network, speaking on the spiritual situation in Iran and Armenia and on the church’s role in the Muslim world. He also serves as the U.S. Liaison (warden) for American citizens in Syunik Province.
Areas of Ministry at IBCA
- Pastoral leadership & preaching
- Eldership & church governance
- Missions strategy & church-planting in Armenia and among her neighbors
- Discipleship of believers from a Muslim background
- Armenian–Turkish reconciliation ministry
- Theological education through the Armenian Theological Academy