What are the three most important things for us to know about Iran and what life is like for Christians there?
First, it is important to know that prayer is the number one thing that Christians in Iran ask for. Sometimes, in the West, we will flippantly say ‘I will pray’ and won’t actually pray. Christians in Iran take prayer very seriously, because they know the power of prayer… they have seen the power of prayer and know the amazing influence it can have on their lives.
Next, it is important to know that fellowship is extremely difficult to come by. Christians in Iran have dealt with it all; people pretending to be Christians to spy on them, being fired from their jobs because of their faith, being attacked by family members because of their conversion, prosecution from the government and many more unspeakable acts. Christian fellowship and community is desperately needed, but difficult to find.
Finally, Christians in Iran want to obey the command to share their faith, but it is illegal. Some believe the cost is too high, but there are others who are willing to and do risk it all to share their faith.
Christians have to be creative with how they ‘do church’ in Iran. Church can be two people walking down the street, Christians chatting with other believers online or it can be a few friends meeting together in a home. However, Christians still need to be very cautious. The government will hire people as monitors living in apartment buildings, to report whenever they believe Christians are meeting together. The government also monitors Christian internet activity.
Many people are familiar with the speech that a political leader gave a few years ago, when he said he would ‘wipe Israel off the map,’ but many people do not know that in that same speech, he also said that he intended to completely eradicate Christianity in Iran.
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“Christianity was birthed in the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and will only continue as we have this empowering from above. God is always looking for the willing vessels that will trust Him afresh for the impossible.” from: Principles for the gathering of Believers under the Headship of Jesus Christ.Since 2012, a growing group of believers in North America started to warn of coming persecution to western countries. This message was shared in a variety of ways. One of the responses to this was to compile a book taking principles from underground Churches around the world of how they thrived under pressure and persecution. The volume, Principles for the Gathering of Believers, had in a short time over 50,000 downloads in ebook format and much interest was shown. Some new house churches started through this and other existing groups were encouraged.