Quotes below are from
Michael at Charismatica
Iran is in the news as a country developing nuclear weapons and
preparing for war against Israel and ultimately the USA. However,
regular folks in the country do not necessarily support their leaders
particularly when it comes to Christianity.
A full blown revival is going on in the country and government
officials are trying everything they can to stop it. Authorities
continue to arrest pastors and persecute Christians to no avail.
Recently the government issued a decree forbidding churches from meeting
on Fridays. Friday is the traditional ‘day off’ and the time to worship
in the Iranian culture and most of the Middle East for that matter.
This decree is only going to affect the ‘official’ churches however
since most Iranian Christians meet in illegal house churches in secret.
The Iranian revival continues to expand through dreams, visions, and
healing. Some put numbers now at 500,000. This article estimates 370,000
have converted to Christianity through the recent revival. There is no
way to get an accurate account since it is all underground......
More confirmation from
Open Doors (Brother Andrew's group)
Open Doors staff members recently reported that church growth is “explosive” in Iran; they even speak of a revival.
Iran is the fifth country
in the world on Open Doors’ World Watch List for the persecution of
believers. The president and the supreme leader of the country openly
speak against the growth of house churches, and persecution against
Christian converts is highly prevalent.
Interestingly, though,
these two government leaders are nearly alone in their disdain for
Christianity as a “Western religion,” says one Open Doors staff member.
“In the past, Christianity wasn’t popular; it was seen as a Western
religion. Now only the government sees it as a Western product, or
better: a Western political system,” says the staff member....
Pray! Pray! pray!
This is refreshing to say the least...I am astounded at what some of our brothers and sisters in Christ are facing...right now!
ReplyDeleteThanks Barry for sharing the update! Joe