A VOM-distributed micro-SD card loaded with a digital Bible was recently received by a Kurdish fighter in the mountains of Kurdistan.
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Prison Fixed HIS theology When 36-year-old Reza placed his faith in Christ 12 years ago, after comparing the Jesus of the Bible with the Jesus he had read about in the Quran, he began to live out his new faith with abandon. He worked with other Christians to get God’s Word into the hands of Muslims throughout Iran, which decades earlier had adopted Shiite Islam as its official state religion. And he and a friend even duplicated and distributed thousands of CDs and DVDs containing the gospel message. Reza wanted to lead people to Jesus and help build God’s kingdom, but his motives became increasingly confused. He grew more concerned with the number of people he was reaching than the people themselves. Then, one day, he was arrested and imprisoned for his evangelism. “When I look at that now, I am grateful to the Lord for going through that because it really built my Christian character,” Reza said. “I knew there were so many things in my Christian theology that needed to be fixed. I think God used that point to fix that.” Misplaced Hope One summer day in 2011, Reza and a Christian friend rode a motorcycle through a
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Knowing that a return to Iran would come at great risk, Soro and Ali faithfully followed the Spirit’s call to share the gospel with those who might otherwise never hear it in one of the world’s most restricted countries. Soro drew the curtains against the sun in preparation for the evening gathering. The believers arrived a few at a time, knocking quietly on the door before entering the room and slipping off their shoes. Some of the women removed their head scarves before taking a seat on the intricately patterned blue rug, and at the appointed hour Soro locked the door and placed rolled-up towels at the threshold to block sound. The door would remain locked for the next hour and a half, no matter who knocked. At the click of the deadbolt, those with Bibles brought them out in the open. The group prayed, read Scripture, listened to teaching, celebrated Communion and sang worship songs with muted voices. All the while, other group members stood watch near the windows. As the meeting concluded, the group members left as they came, staggering their departures to avoid drawing attention. After their last guest left, Soro locked the door and she and
Read MoreEconomic conditions in Iran have led to extremely high inflation and increased unemployment. Many who have lost jobs and financial stability are living on the streets, and front-line workers have observed children foraging for food in trash bins in order to relieve their hunger. As a result, pastors and workers in the Iranian house church network have begun ministering to those on the streets.
Read MoreA Persian house church leader had two boxes of Farsi New Testaments in the trunk of his car. When he saw that he was approaching a police checkpoint, he pulled over and left the boxes of Bibles on the side of the road. Later that night, the police chief saw the boxes on the roadside and thought they might contain contraband, so he put them in his truck and took them home.
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Tune in this week for the second half of our conversation with Pastor Tat Stewart, who lived and ministered in Tehran as the Islamic Revolution swept through Iran. Listen to how he was encouraged by his final conversation on Iranian soil before he and his family were expelled from the country. You’ll also hear how God showed him he could have a more far-reaching ministry to Iranians outside the country than he could ever have living inside the Islamic Republic. “I could not stay away from what God was doing with Iranians,” he says. Tat also shares how hungry the Iranian people were for the gospel—even teenagers craved deep teaching and were willing to invest long stretches of time in Bible study and prayer. Tat continues to minister to Iranian Christians through Talim Ministries, including publishing and mentoring Iranian pastors. If you missed the first half of our conversation with Tat, which included how God called him to Iran as well as his experiences on the day the US Embassy was taken over in 1979, listen here. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast.
Read More“Let’s drive by the American Embassy and see what’s going on…” It was November 4, 1979 when Tat Stewart said those words to his wife as they drove home from church in Tehran, Iran. Iranian students had overrun the US Embassy that day. They would go on to hold 52 embassy staff members and others hostage for 444 days. Stewart, his wife and their children moved to Tehran earlier that year, just months after Ayatollah Khomeini arrived back in Iran and the Islamic Revolution took control of the country. Tat went to serve as the pastor of a church for expatriate Christians. But his experiences in Iran began many years earlier, when his parents moved there to serve as medical missionaries. Listen as Tat shares how he continued to minister as the Islamic revolution went on all around him, how he became a contact person for American citizens needing help amidst the chaos and how God protected and provided through that dangerous season—and ultimately led them to leave Iran. Tat Stewart continues to serve and train Iranian church leaders today through Talim Ministries. Find more conversations with Iranian Christians in the VOM Radio archives, or search for VOM Radio on your favorite podcast app.
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