Iran tightens the screws on church leaders

Central Assembly of God, Tehran
 (Photo courtesy Farsi Christian Network)

Iran (MNN) ― Concerns over church growth prompted Iran's Revolutionary Guard to crack down on a government-sanctioned church earlier this month. 

In a country where almost all Christian activity is illegal--especially when it occurs in Persian languages, President and CEO of Open Doors USACarl Moeller says, "Our work in the Persian-speaking world is very involved in supporting churches. The reality is that this church in Tehran--an Assembly of God church--was closed. It's one of the few legally Farsi-speaking churches in all of Iran."

Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) says that until the order is reversed, no services will be held at the Janat-Abad area church.

Islam is the official religion in Iran, and everything falls under the interpretation of Sharia law. Moeller adds, "There are religious minorities that have historically been granted permission to worship in Iran: primarily Armenians, who are ethnically Armenian but living in Iran as Iranian citizens. They've been given certain limited permissions to meet." However, over the last year or so, many Christians have reported imprisonment, physical abuse, harassment, and discrimination because of their faith.

Moeller goes on to say that the most disconcerting part of the closure is: "There are few legally-protected Farsi-speaking churches, and yet those few now are coming under extreme pressure, and this one church has been ordered to be closed."  

Last month the leadership of the AOG Central Church of Tehran asked its members to volunteer their names and national ID numbers. Compass Direct News reports that the government move was aimed at limiting attendance by converts from Islam to Christianity, as well as to better monitor its members.

It's more than keeping an eye on Christians, though, explains Moeller. "In much of the country, Christians are being labeled by the government as 'agents of foreign governments' and so forth, and simply as 'spies to the regime.'" 

It's a consistent line of thinking when the Islamic regime's desire is to eliminate Christianity from Iran. "The way in which it seems to make sense, from their perspective, is that Christians, by their definition, are 'foreign agents.' Again, [with] the pressure that they're feeling globally on scrutiny about their nuclear program and the various other pressure that the Iranian government feels it's under, the first easy target for them to go after are Christians."

Disillusionment coupled with fear and social pressure are widening the crack in the regime's façade. Moeller says that their harsh treatment of Christians only further fuels the flames of the Gospel. "Increasingly, the government has to resort to stronger and stronger tactics to control the population. We see this happen as the influence of Christians in the country grows. And as people are more and more emboldened by their Christian faith to stand up against the government, the government is going to crack down even more. "

Open Doors UK/Ireland estimates that are roughly 460,000 Christians (from an Islamic and Assyrian/Armenian background) in Iran. Pray for boldness for believers there. Check our Featured Links Section for more prayer needs around the world.

Human rights at forefront for China; challenges religious rights

Mission Network News: "China (MNN) ― The United States and China will hold a new round of talks on human rights.

This comes against the backdrop of a diplomatic crisis generated when a Chinese dissident fled to the American embassy in Beijing and eventually asked to leave China for the U.S. Despite the circumstances, the next round of human rights talks is scheduled for this summer in Washington."

Read more...

Chinese officials take 70 Christians into custody

China (MNN) ― ChinaAid, a ministry partner of the Voice of the Martyrs, got word this week that a house church which has been meeting for nearly 20 years was raided by police. More than 70 Christians were taken into custody.

The church, in far west China's region of Xinjiang, China, was meeting at the pastor's home when officials stormed in. 

Ten policemen and Domestic Security Protection agents announced that the believers were holding an "unapproved, illegal meeting" and ordered an immediate end to it, reports ChinaAid.

The police confiscated the Christians' Bibles, hymnals, notebooks, Christian education DVDs, and other materials, but they refused to provide a receipt for the confiscated items as required by law.

Police then took the believers away. After forcing each Christian there to be photographed, authorities took them to the respective local police stations of their places of employment for questioning. Some were not released for two days.

The pastor and his wife were called into the local police station again the day after the raid for further questioning. They were threatened by the police, who ordered them to stop holding meetings in their home.

Pray for this persecuted body of believers. Pray that they will boldly continue living out the Gospel. Pray also that the officials would have a change in heart.

ChinaAid encourages calls to the Chinese police station to advocate on behalf of this house church. Find phone numbers here.

Several Christian converts arrested in raid on Iranian house church

By Michael Ireland
Senior International Correspondent, ASSIST News Service

TEHRAN, IRAN (ANS) -- Thirteen Christian converts have been arrested following an attack by security authorities on a house church in Iran. Three of them are being held in custody at an unknown location, according to Mohabat News (www.mohabatnews.com ) .

Three of the arrested Kermanshah House Church Christians. (Photo courtesy Mohabat News).

The news agency says that February 21, 2012, at 7 in the evening, security authorities raided a home dedicated to be used a house church and seized all thirteen gathered there for worship. To date, no precise news is available regarding some of these detainees.

Mohabat News says that during this incident, security authorities who were wearing plain clothes transferred these Christians to an unknown location while insulting and abusing them.

The authorities also invaded and thoroughly searched the detainees' homes and confiscated some of their personal belongings.

Numerous Christian converts have already been arrested in various cities in their house church gatherings, homes or workplaces by order of judicial and security authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran, as a result of the continued anti-Christian wave in Iran during past months.

Now, in addition to Ahwaz, Shiraz, Esfahan and Tehran, this on-going wave has reached the city Kermanshah, 526 KMs west of Tehran, in the western part of Iran.

A knowledgeable source told Mohabat News that the Christian detainees may have been transferred to a building in Hafezieh Junction in Kermanshah or 22-Bahman Street which is known as the location of security and intelligence forces.

The source said that nine of these detainees (their names are not given due to security reasons) were released the next day after their photos were taken, their details and fingerprints recorded and they signed a disclaimer stating they would not attend any Christian gatherings.

Mohabat News also received word that Ms. Azadeh Sharifi was released on February 28 after enduring 8 days in custody. As yet, no detailed information has been received regarding the way she was released.

Three other detainees, Mehdi Chaghakaboudi, Mojtaba Baba-Karami and Shirin Ghanbari, however, are still being held. Some of the named Christians had also been arrested by security authorities before.

The source also stated that on February 28, Ms. Shirin Ghanbari and Mojtaba Baba-Karami were permitted to have a brief contact with their families telling them that they are in a good health. However, it seems that they were prevented by prison authorities from giving any additional information or details on their situation.

Mohahbat News further says that Masoud Delijani, a Christian convert resident of Kermanshah and a member of a house church, was sentenced to three years in prison by the Revolutionary Court of Kermanshah for the charges of having faith in Christianity, holding illegal house church gatherings, evangelizing Muslims and action against national security. He is currently being held in Deizal-Abad prison in Kermanshah to serve his sentence.

Prior to this, on January 2, 2010, the official Pentecostal church of Assyrians in Kermanshah was also closed by the order of the judicial and security authorities for spreading Christianity among Farsi-speaking Muslims and for preaching the gospel. Security authorities also arrested the pastor of the church, Wilson Isavi on February 2, 2010. He was temporarily released on bail after 54 days in Dastgerd prison in Esfahan.

Mohabat News states: “With the growth in the number of Iranian converts to Christianity in recent years, and the increased pressure by the Islamic government on Christians, especially Christian converts, the Islamic Republic is seeking to stop the growth of house churches in Iran by any means.

“The Islamic Republic considers the growth of Christianity as a religious threat against its national security and is greatly concerned about the spread of the truth of the gospel among the people.”

---

** Michael Ireland is the Senior International Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior International Reporter

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Iranian pastor's execution could come at any time

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani (Photos
courtesy of Present Truth Ministries)

Iran (MNN) ― Sources in Iran say an execution order for Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani has been signed.

According to Present Truth Ministries (closely connected with Nadarkhani), this is grim news. Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for Voice of the Martyrs USA, confirms the news.  "Apparently, that execution order has not been delivered to his family or his attorneys, but the report is that it has been signed. That means that at any time, he could be executed."

Often the government will execute people without any prior notice to attorneys or family. It's also unclear whether it has been approved by the Ayatollah who is the head of the Judiciary Sadegh Larijani.

Nadarkhani was born to a Muslim family and admits that he was introduced to the teachings of Islam, but he claims he never accepted the faith. That was the basis of his appeal to the High Court on the apostasy verdict.  

Nettleton explains, "His reply to that is: 'Well no. I wasn't a practicing Muslim.' This execution order being signed says that the court has not approved that logic. They are saying: 'Yes in fact, you were a Muslim. Because you're a Christian now, you're an apostate, and you'll be executed for that apostasy.'"

Pastor Youcef has refused to recant his faith during the three years he's been separated from his wife and two sons. His conviction and sentence has been delayed due to international pressure, according to other reports from Present Truth Ministries. 

Meanwhile, on February 17, Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) introduced a resolution denouncing Iran for its leaders' ruling of apostasy against Youcef Nadarkhani and calling for his immediate release. So far, it has the support of seven other members. Nearly 90 members of Congress previously signed a letter supporting Nadarkhani.

When asked if international pressure would be enough to intervene again, Nettleton responded, "The most important thing we can do is to pray. There are petitions you can sign. We have Pastor Youcef on PrisonerAlert.com. They can also send e-mails to Iranian authorities asking that he not be executed."

Given the application of the apostasy law, one would think it would have a severe "chilling effect" on evangelism. Quite the opposite, says Nettleton. The Arab Spring and Iran's Revolution played a big role in that. 

Ruthless government oppression of the protestors shook many Muslims' faith. To them, the government is the mullah, and the mullah is the government. That means, Nettleton goes on to say, that "when there is disappointment with the government or frustration with the government, it translates in people's minds to disappointment and frustration with Islam."

People are looking for an anchored Truth, "so there's hunger for the Gospel. There's an openness for the Gospel. And the Church is growing at a rate that is really mind-boggling."   

Ask the Lord to uphold and sustain Youcef, his wife, and their two children. Pray that this family may soon be reunited. Pray for Youcef's legal team and all those in authority connected with this case.

Pray that the Body of Christ will continue to multiply and mature despite persecution.

Christians Arrested in Shiraz, Iran

By Jeremy Reynalds
Senior Correspondent for ASSIST News Service

SHIRAZ, IRAN (ANS) -- A number of Christian converts were arrested in Shiraz after security authorities raided the residence of a Christian being used as a house church.

Shiraz is in Fars province, 934 kilometers south of the Iranian capital of Tehran.

According to the Iranian Christian News Agency Mohabat News, on Feb. 8 security authorities broke into a house where people were gathered for worship and Bible study, and arrested a number of those there.

Mohabat News said that Christians are forced to worship in small house groups, because Iran’s government is virulently Muslim and exerts heavy oversight over non-Muslims.

Mohabat News said the house was searched and service attendees were “mistreated.”

According to Mohabat News, security officers confiscated all the Bibles they found and transported those they arrested to an unknown location. Some sources have speculated that those arrested may have been transferred to the Intelligence Ministry’s Custody Center in Shiraz (known as “Pelak 100") for further interrogation.

Mohabat News said sources close to the incident told the news agency that security authorities had also searched the homes of those arrested. Evidences of their Christian faith were confiscated. Seized items included CDs, gospels, teaching booklets, Christian books, computers, faxes and satellite TV receivers.

Mohabat News said those arrested have been allowed no contact with their family. Their families are concerned about the health of their family members. Attempts to get information have failed.

Mohabat News said that during the Christmas season, many government supported news services and media, as well as Islamic websites, began to spread untrue information about Christians, especially Farsi-speaking churches. The intent was to create an atmosphere of negativity.

Mohabat News said security authorities have also tried to intimidate Christians, and since Christmas have already arrested Christians in Tehran and Ahwaz.

Mohabat News added that two Christians who were arrested during Christmas 2010 are still being held in custody with their status unknown.

---

Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter, http://www.joyjunction.org He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "Homeless in the City." Additional details on "Homeless in the City" are available athttp://www.homelessinthecity.com. Reynalds lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at jeremyreynalds@comcast.net.

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Iranian Authorities Raid House Church in Shiraz

As many as 10 Christians arrested without formal charges.

ISTANBUL, February 10 (CDN) — Iranian authorities this week arrested Christian converts from Islam while they were meeting for worship at a home in the southern city of Shiraz, according to sources.


Officials are holding the Christians at an unknown location, they said.


The sources put the number of the arrested Christians, who belong to one of Iran’s many underground house churches, at between six and 10. Authorities often detain, question and apply pressure on converts from Islam, viewing them as elements of Western propaganda set against the Iranian regime; as a result, the converts are forced to worship in secret.


The identity of only one of those arrested on Wednesday (Feb. 8), Mojtaba Hosseini, was known. Authorities arrested Hosseini in 2008 along with eight other Christian converts on charges of being Christians, according to Mohabat News.


“I guess they have been watching Hosseini since then,” an Iranian Christian who requested anonymity told Compass.


Shiraz is not a particularly “religious” part of predominantly Shiite Islamic Iran, the Christian explained, but persecution against Christians in Iran stems from the government more than from local religious sentiment. The families of the victims have requested information about their whereabouts, but authorities have refused to provide it, according to Mohabat News.


In past years authorities have arrested Christians around Christmas time, and the Compass source said that the international community and media monitoring religious rights in Iran were expecting another crack-down last December. Instead, he said, the government was more cautious and arrested small groups over a wider period of time.


In December authorities arrested a group of Christian converts in the city of Ahwaz, about 874 kilometers (542 miles) southwest of Tehran in Khuzestan Province. Of those arrested, three Christians remain in prison: Pastor Farhad Sabokroh, Naser Zamen-Defzuli and Davoud Alijani. They are held in Ahwaz’s Karoun Prison, according to Mohabat News.


Sources have expressed concern for Sabokroh’s health. Prior to his arrest, which took place at his church’s Christmas service on Dec. 23, Sabokroh underwent cataract surgery. In prison he does not have access to the medication he needs for his eyes. His wife visited him briefly on Jan. 27 and said she was concerned about his health, as he has lost a lot of weight, according to Mohabat News.


Authorities had also arrested Sabokroh’s wife at the Christmas service and released her on Jan. 1 when she submitted the deed of a house as bail, according to Mohabat News. Christians are forced to put their homes up as bail in Iran, a practice that sources say is an extortion tactic to erode them of their finances and to better control them.


Authorities have not formally charged Sabokroh, Zamen-Defzuli and Alijani.


Noorollah Qabitizade, whom authorities arrested on Dec. 24, 2010, is also held at the Karoun prison in Ahwaz. Mohabat News reported that interrogators have put psychological pressure on Qabitizade in the last year and have forced him to sign statements in an effort to make him renounce his faith.


Farshid Fathi, who was arrested on Dec. 24, 2010 in Tehran, remains in the capital’s notorious Evin prison. Sources said a court hearing had been scheduled this month but were unable to provide more information.


Iranian authorities continue to arrest and subject Christians to harsh treatment, but many of these cases remain unknown to the outside world. At the end of January, Mohabat News released information on the case of Leila Mohammadi, whom authorities had arrested in July last year.


She spent 74 days in solitary confinement at Tehran’s Evin prison. On Jan. 18 a judge sentenced her to two years of prison for “collaborating with foreign-dependent groups, broad anti-Islamic propaganda, deceiving citizens by forming house churches, insulting sacred figures and acting against national security,” according to Mohabat News.


Authorities released her on bail on Dec. 28, 2011, and her attorney has sent her case to Tehran Province’s high court.


Iran applies sharia (Islamic law), which dictates that converts from Islam to other religions are “apostates” and thus punishable by death. Although judges rarely sentence Christians to death for leaving Islam, one Christian, Yousef (also spelled Youcef) Nadarkhani, is appealing such a decision in the northeastern city of Rasht.


Nadarkhani has been in prison since October 2009. A Rasht court found him guilty of leaving Islam and handed him the death sentence in September 2010.


Behnam Irani, who belongs to the same denomination as Nadarkhani, The Church of Iran, has been in prison in Karaj since May 2011; he turned himself in after authorities issued a warrant for his arrest, according to rights group Middle East Concern.


Irani was previously arrested in April 2010 and released on bail after a few months. In January 2011 a court found him guilty of “crimes against national security” and sentenced him to one year in prison. Authorities told him he must also serve a five-year sentence handed down in 2008.


Asked if there was a change in persecution trends from previous years, the Compass source said, “Nothing has changed, the issue is the same,” explaining that the attitude of the government toward Christians remains hostile.


Authorities have prohibited musical worship and Bible distribution at the Central Church of Tehran, the largest and most visible Assemblies of God church in the country. Last December officials enforced a policy under which only invited guests could attend a Christmas service at the church, and in December 2009 the church succumbed to intense pressure by authorities to discontinue its Friday services, which had attracted the most converts to Christianity.



END

Overseas Chinese Christian Businesswoman Who Visited House Churches in China is Kidnapped, Tortured by State Security Agents

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 27, 2012 /Christian Newswire/ -- A Chinese Christian businesswoman from Canada who visited China late last year was kidnapped and tortured by Chinese state security agents after she visited two persecuted Chinese house churches during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season, ChinaAid has learned.

Photo: Jenny Chen took this photo on Christmas Day 2011 of an armored personnel carrier and other police vehicles outside Jindeng Church in Linfen, Shanxi province.

Jenny Chen, who is in her 50s, was held by state security agents and denied food and water for nearly two days.  About to go into shock, she was taken to a police hospital, from where she managed to escape and get on a flight to Los Angeles, arriving in the United States on Jan. 17.

Chen, who does business in Canada, the United States and China, had learned of the severe persecution inflicted on Shouwang Church in Beijing and the Linfen house church in Shanxi province from reports online.

Motivated by Christian concern for her fellow believers, Chen and her daughter traveled to Beijing and Shanxi.  On Christmas Day, she was an eyewitness to police action in front of the Jindeng Church established by the Linfen house church.  She saw both regular and armed police and police vehicles, including armored personnel carriers, surrounding the church to stop church members from attending a Christmas worship service. Police blocked streets leading to the church and closed nearby shops.  Chen was followed and threatened by plainclothes police officers.

In Beijing, Chen had paid a visit before Christmas to Rev. Jin Tianming, senior pastor of Shouwang Church, who has been under house arrest since April 2011, and on New Year's Day, she and her daughter attempted to attend Shouwang's outdoor worship service. (See her account here: www.chinaaid.org/2012/01/new-years-visit-to-shouwang-church.html.)  On both occasions, she was followed by Domestic Security Protection agents.

Aware that they were being followed more and more closely, Chen put her daughter on a U.S.-bound plane on Jan. 10, then returned to her hometown in the city of Tianjin.  On the evening of Jan. 14, she was forcibly taken into custody by two plain-clothed state security agents who refused to show their IDs and taken to a secret place for questioning.  She later realized that she had been kidnapped by Tianjin state security agents.  She was interrogated in a cold, windowless cell with only one chair, and was asked what organization she was affiliated with and what overseas mission she was on.  Chen said she had no organizational affiliation nor was she on any overseas mission.  She said she was simply an overseas Christian whose conscience had propelled her to return to China to visit her fellow believers.  The agents appeared not to believe her and threatened to imprison her for more than ten years for subverting state power and stealing state secrets if she did not tell them the truth.  The agents also beat her, pulling her hair and slapping her hard. 

Chen was detained for nearly two days without food and water, and almost went into shock. 

Physically exhausted, she was sent to the Tianjin Public Safety Hospital, where she was diagnosed with slight pneumonia and had to be hospitalized.  However, Chen had no money with her, and the state security agents said they had no money either.  The hospital refused to treat her, giving her the excuse of returning home to get money.  Instead, she took a cab and rushed to Beijing Capital Airport, where she caught a flight in the early morning of Jan. 16.  She arrived in Los Angles on the following day and is currently undergoing medical observation and treatment.

"It is appalling to hear what Ms. Chen had experienced at the hands of the brutal Chinese security forces for simply visiting and trying to worship with the Chinese Christians during the Christmas season," said Eddie Romero, director of ChinaAid's Los Angeles office. "The unprecedented persecution against the peaceful house churches like Shouwang and Linfen should be stopped. We urge the Chinese government's highest authorities to hold those abusers accountable for the harm done to this businesswoman, Ms. Chen."

Jenny Chen's journal New Year's Visit to Shouwang Church:www.chinaaid.org/2012/01/new-years-visit-to-shouwang-church.html

Iran's posturing spells trouble for believers in 2012

File footage Iran briefing (Cover
 photo by Associated Press)

Iran (MNN) ― The upcoming New Year hasn't even begun, and it has already been marked by globally heightened tensions with Iran.

The United States and Iran got into a spate over trade routes, sanctions, oil, and nuclear weapons as 2011 drew to a close. The Islamic Republic then launched 10-day war games in which they tested advanced missiles and torpedoes. In addition, an American federal judge this week declared that Iran, Hezbollah and al Qaeda were liable in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. 

The judgment came as the result of a $100 billion lawsuit brought by family members of victims of the attacks. With District Judge George Daniels' ruling, the 2001 attacks were caused by the support the defendants provided to al Qaeda. The findings also said Iran still supports al Qaeda by providing a safe haven for al Qaeda leadership and lesser members.

Evangelist Sammy Tippit says, "To see the specific [evidence] that they had, and hear the testimonies that they had, was just absolutely shocking as to the role that Iran played in it. It's really heart-breaking especially for the families."

Shocking, but not surprising. What's more, Tippit is sobered by another aspect of this case. "To know that there was an actual government, and not just a group of renegade Islamic fundamentalists that were doing this, but there was an actual government participating in this, this has to be heart-breaking."

Iran has been taking rogue action since efforts for revolution failed. As the government grows increasingly suspicious and hostile, Tippit notes that there is a big difference between the government and the people of Iran. "There is a huge portion of the population that does not want to go this route, and they are turned off with the way that their government is behaving--and they want freedom. I believe that's where, if anything is going to change Iran, that's what's going to change Iran is a people movement from within."

Efforts for change have created a backlash effect, though. Iran has been cracking down on dissidents, protestors, and anyone deemed dangerous to the regime. This includes Christians.

The Iranian Christian News Agency reports raids from different cities of Iran indicate that security authorities are expanding their anti-Christian projects to exercise tighter surveillance of churches. Tippit says, "The government has cracked down on believers. It has become very difficult for them. Many have been thrown in prison. What we have been told is that the television broadcasts have become very important because it's dangerous for them to meet together."

Prior to Christmas, the intelligence minister of the Islamic Republic called the house church movement a threat to Iranian youth. He warned of a new series of broad actions against the spread of house churches. The mayor of Tehran has gone on record with an objection to evangelical Christianity.

"More than likely, it's going to get worse for them," says Tippit, adding, "We just really need to pray for them, lift them up to the Lord because what has happened in the past year has gotten much more difficult for them."

Sammy Tippit Ministries has long had presence in Iran's Church. Their Gospel work caught the attention of the government resulting in a declaration of their ministry as an "Enemy of the State." However, "We developed a Web site and started doing some leadership training with Iranian believers outside of the country. We actually started a television broadcast which went for several years, and we discontinued it last year."

Due to the changes sweeping across the country, Tippit's team is retooling the broadcast to meet the current needs. 

"We're starting it up this year with a whole new emphasis because there's been just incredible numbers of people who've come to Christ. We've been trying to help disciple them. The television broadcast has become very important because there's  revival that has taken place within Iran."

It's a Gospel grassroots movement igniting at a time when Iran is tinder-dry. Tippit urges prayer. "That type of a thing can reach right into the hearts and the homes of the people. We're really excited about the broadcasts that we'll be having. It will be primetime and with a new station that is starting satellite."

Iran declares house churches a threat

(Cover photo by Lewishamdreamer /
 Story photo courtesy Mohabat News)

Iran (MNN) ― It seems that Iran's government is finally taking off the gloves.

According to a report from Iranian Christian News Agency, Mohabat News, the Minister of Intelligence of Iran announced that house churches are a threat to youth.

Along with that comes an effort to fight the growth of the house church movement in Iran. Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs says, "In the last year, we have seen a real change of tone in government reports in the speeches of leaders  there, from basically ignoring the Church and ignoring the growth of the Church, to now speaking out forcefully against the Church and against people becoming Christians."

It seems that disillusionment has been growing since the Iranian Revolution. The main body of protestors was composed of young people--a fact that has not been lost on the religious leaders in the country. That so many seem to be turning to Christ also has implications. Nettleton explains, "They see Christianity as a tool of the West to try to reach into Iran, to try to create a lack of stability, and ultimately to try to undermine the government."

As such, it is likely that a strong government reaction is in the offing. "I think where they will go is really where they are already headed. That is: arresting Christians, arresting leaders, particularly -- those who are actively evangelizing and those who are leading house church groups. Those are the people they are locking up in prison."

  

In spite of an expected crackdown, Nettleton remains optimistic. The government can't silence everyone. "When you talk about the growth of the Church in Iran, it's being fueled by the Gospel. It's being fueled by satellite television ministries, by other ministries who are providing Bibles and providing help into Iran. But in the eyes of the Iranian government, this is all a tool of Western society to try to influence the direction of Iran."

Now that the Advent Season is upon us, the message of Christmas will be hard to erase. "This is a time where Christians are celebrating. It's a time where perhaps they are sharing the Gospel and sharing the story of Christmas. So I don't think it's a surprise that the government would say, 'Beware of this 'threat.'"

Last year on December 26, according to Mohabat News, Iranian authorities raided house churches as well as private homes of Christians and arrested hundreds of Christian converts. This year, it is believed that similar attacks are coming and will be more organized. "We can pray," Nettleton urges, "that Christians will know how to answer the questions that they face from Iranian authorities. Secondly, I think we can pray for continued growth of the Church."

In the meantime, spiritual openness has created a hunger. "Voice of the Martyrs will respond by continuing to support the Church there, providing the tools that they request to spread the Gospel, and to disciple new believers and build the Church inside that country."

Pray that the Body of Christ will continue to multiply and mature despite persecution. Pray that the government will be open to change and allow full rights and protections.