Disappointed in Islam, “Muslims in Iran are Coming to Faith in Christ in the Thousands,” –Report by Joel News International

Aimee Herd reporting : Feb 25, 2005
Joel News International

The world revival news service, Joel News Internationalis reporting on the exceptional growth of an underground Christian church in Iran. Says one Iranian pastor, “In the 1980's, we rejoiced over two or three new believers each month. In the 1990's, we were impressed when we heard about a group of new believers. Today, we are just somewhat surprised to discover an entire new underground church.”

Apparently much of the increase of Christianity is due to a widespread disappointment with Islam. In 1979, during the rule of Ayatollah Khomeini, a minority of Armenian and Assyrian Christians remained numbering around 250,000. They were allowed to practice their faith, though prohibited from using the national language, Farsi, and they were forbidden to evangelize. Nearly half of the Christians emigrated due to those restrictions. As the Islamic Revolution pressed on with its promise of answers to all of life’s questions—many in Iran became disillusioned with the religion.

Now, Joel News reports that Iranian people are “coming to faith in Christ as never before.” The report includes the story of an Iranian man who moved to Scandinavia due to economic reasons, while there he found the Lord. On his first visit back to his homeland he shared his newfound faith with his family, eventually 50 of his relatives came to faith in one month. The move of God extends to the Iranian youth as great numbers join secret churches each day, according to Shiite leader, Hassan Mohammadi of the Iranian Ministry of Education.

The power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is alive and well in Iran evidenced by many of the inspiring accounts shared in the report by Joel News International, one of which involved a Mullah. “an Iranian Bible courier was on a long bus journey. The bus was very modern, with air conditioning and a video player. The Bible courier went to the driver and gave him a video of the Jesus Film, asking him to play it. The courier was then shocked to discover a Mullah a few seats behind him. How would the Mullah react to the Jesus Film? The man could not keep his eyes off the video, and soon jumped up, shouting with a shaking voice "Please be quiet! This is a film about a holy man, the Prophet Jesus. His life deserves our full attention!" Immediately, the noisy bus fell silent, and the passengers concentrated on the video. At the end of the film, which ends with an evangelistic call, the Mullah sat in his seat, weeping.”

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