Christian Believers In Iran See Growth In Midst Of Persecution

Christianity's growth in Iran has continued despite the Islamic regime's crackdown on religious freedoms. This month, three Christian converts were sentenced to a brutal and humiliating punishment of 80 lashes following their May, 2016 arrest for drinking communion wine. 

 

Yaser Mosibzadeh, Saheb Fadayee and Mohammed Reza Omidi were all convicted of blasphemy by a Sharia court after their house was raided during a private worship service. But they are far from alone. 

In 2015, at least 108 Christians were jailed for their faith. In September of this year, 25 Christians were arrested in a raid and jailed for practicing their faith in the city of Kermen. 

In the case of the 25 worshippers in Kermen, no official reason was given for their arrest. In August, authorities raided another house church and arrested 11 in the central Iranian city of Isfahan. Also in August, police outside Tehran arrested 5 Christians at a picnic for public displays of their faith.

Yet despite this persecution in Iran, the country that Open Doors USA categorizes as the 9th worst for religious freedom, the numbers of believers in Christ continues to grow. 

Informal "house churches" are now common and the Christian community has expanded beyond the ethnic Armenian and Assyrian communities within Iran. 

The Shia Muslim regime has pushed back against what some are calling the fastest growing church in the world with brutal surveillance and enforcement measures, but Jesus Christ is quietly and effectively bringing thousands more to His side every month.

Christianity is not, strictly speaking, illegal in Iran. What is illegal is conversion from Islam in the ninety-nine percent Muslim nation. 

The three Christians sentenced to jail time plus 80 lashes for taking communion were convicted of blasphemy because they were born into a Muslim society that doesn't recognize an individual's right to choose his religion and conversion to Christianity is considered apostasy under the Sharia law of Islam.

In another effort to prevent the growth of the Church, Bibles are legal in foreign languages, but it is illegal to possess or distribute Bibles or Christian literature in Farsi, Iran's official language. 

For Iranians who have newly accepted Christ, this presents an incredible obstacle, as do official raids on public worship of Christ such as weddings, baptisms and other gatherings that have been the target of police raids.

Due to international pressure, Iranian courts have begun to change the charges levied against persecuted Christians to mask their religious persecution. 

Rather than charge believers with blasphemy, it has become common place to use the charge "actions against the State" or "actions against national security". Clearly, the regime is feeling the pressure of a popular movement towards Christ.

Elam Ministries' Mark Howard was quoted as saying, "Twenty years ago, everyone thought there were 2,000-5,000 believers in Iran. But now, the conservative estimate" is 300,000 to 400,000 Muslim-background believers in Iran, with others saying that the number could be as high as one million." 

The official government statistics by the regime put the number of Christians at closer to 90,000 church goers, well under one percent of the population (79.2 million), but this figure only counts those ethnically Christian members of officially registered congregations monitored by the police.

Howard went on to explain that among the several factors that have contributed to this underground movement of faith: "There is disillusionment with the Iranian regime and with Islam. 

Life has not improved in the last few years, particularly with the sanctions. People are also disillusioned by violence carried out in the name of Islam." Howard and others have noted the incredible momentum gained by the Church within Iran that continues to add members.

According to kathlisch.ed, a Christian website based in Germany, "Iran is a totalitarian state, a surveillance state, and a police state that tries to protect the population from anything outside of the Shiite or Islamic culture." But in a world that has turned increasingly to authoritarian rule and religious oppression, Christ is prevailing. 

With conservative estimates at 300,000 and some counts as high as 1 million new believers, the incredible success of evangelism in Iran despite intense persecution is the greatest proof possible of the power of the Gospel.