Has God’s Word ever helped you through a situation or season in your own life? Take a moment and reflect on the impact God’s Word has had on you personally.
Our Director of International Ministries recently posed the following question to me in a moment of encouragement.
“Jason, do you think the Gospel has anything to offer to the situation in Iran?”
Since protests started in September of 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the country’s strict dress code for women, hundreds of Iranians have been killed and thousands have been injured. More have gone missing.
For Christians inside the country, things have been especially tense. They are living on high alert.
But widespread unrest and discontentment with the Iranian regime has led to what some might call an awakening in the country. A nation of people is questioning their faith in Islam, with many turning away in search of something else.
At our recent conference for Iranian pastors, we sat down with a woman named Miriam, who shared with us candidly about the realities facing both Iranians and Iranian Christians right now.
“Because of the situation that’s existed since the early days of the Islamic system in Iran, beginning about 44 years ago, people have gotten increasingly tired of Islam.
There is a big gap. There is an emptiness in people’s minds and their hearts, which leads them to seek the face of the true God.”
What holds the answers to such a volatile social, political, and spiritual environment? Millions of Iranian people are wondering and searching.
Again, take a moment to seriously consider this. Does the Gospel have anything to offer to the situation in Iran? Would it answer the questions that millions of Iranian people are asking?
Does it have anything to offer the oppressed in Iran? The marginalized? The hopeless? The disillusioned? The lost? What about salvation?
The answer is “yes!”
Miriam went on to share how the message of Jesus offered her and her family exactly what they needed, leading to radical transformation.
“I was at the lowest and most terrible condition of my life. I was so desperate.
After some time, my friends started to invite me to their house church.
In one meeting, I remember that there was a lesson about the cross. When I heard about the message of the cross, I started to weep. I came to know that this was a loving God, the kind of God who would give his life for me.
And at that very moment, my heart was touched. I asked friends to say the prayer of repentance.
The moment I heard the message of the cross, God touched my heart and I decided to believe in Jesus. He opened my eyes and ears to receive the message of God’s hope.
My friends gave me a New Testament as a gift. I came home and I started to read it immediately. With every sentence, I was crying and so excited.
I wanted to read more.
I went to my mom and told her that I wanted to share the part about the cross with her.
But my mom was very, very Muslim and rejected the message – she did not want to listen and she got angry. She said, “I don’t want anything to do with you.”
I prayed for her life to be saved. God has done miraculous things in my life and it continues up until now. It took only two months until my mom was interested to know about the Lord more.
And shortly after that, the rest of my family came to know the Lord. Now they are here, at this conference.”
Let’s go! Seeing people give their lives to Jesus and be discipled is the bottom line and the core of World Compassion’s mission!
It’s not just about the Bibles. It’s about Souls!
Yes, your giving puts a Bible in someone’s hands, but more importantly, your giving opens the door for people to give their lives to Jesus as a result!
In the next 60 days alone, we are aiming to empower an army of evangelists in Iran to reach over 27,000 people inside their country with the Gospel.
This is a part of our larger goal to reach a total of 120,000 people over the next 12 months.
You and I both know that Jesus is who the Iranian people are really searching for. We know it is God’s Word that holds the answers to every question or problem facing the Iranian people these days.
Might this change how you prioritize the opportunity that’s in front of us right now?
Miriam shared with us, “I believe that this is the best time in the entire history of this nation to share the message of the Gospel. Because of the situation, because of the hunger, because of the thirst, people are eager for the Word of God. It is a very good time to give the people who are tired of old religion a copy of the Bible in their hands.”
I would ask you what I was asked: “Do you think the Gospel has anything to offer to the situation in Iran?”
If your answer is yes, then would you join us in mobilizing local Christians to reach their nation for Jesus and with God’s Word?
We need to raise $243,000 (£216,000) in the next 60 days. This means we will help Iranian churches reach 27,000+ Iranians before the end of summer!
We have teams – networks of churches and Bible distributors – at the ready throughout Iran, prepared and eager to get the Word of God into the hands of the people.
We have the Bibles ready to go! But we need your help getting them into Iran. I was recently in our warehouse in the Middle East and was encouraged by the number of Bibles I saw, knowing that each one represents a person who will be introduced to Jesus!
The time to move Bibles is now! The borders are easier to cross this time of year, and we need to get as many across as we can.
All of this is a part of our bigger goal to raise nearly $1.1 million (£960,000+) over the next 12 months to reach 120,000 people with the Gospel message in Iran.
As you read this letter, we are off to a great start to reach our $243,000 (£216,000) goal! A generous partner has already committed $100,000. Now we need your help to raise the remaining $143,000 in the next 60 days!
Can you help us get there? I believe we can even exceed our 60 day goal and move closer to the total of $1.1 million needed for the whole project.
There is an openness to the Gospel in Iran right now. As Miriam said, “…this is the best time in the entire history of this nation to share the message of the Gospel.” Let’s seize the opportunity.
Every $9 (£8) you give reaches someone with the life-changing power of the Gospel. Could you reach 10 people for $90 (£80)? 100 people for $900 (£800)? 1,000 people for $9,000 (£8,000), or even more?
God has us on the earth for this time, this moment in history. He has entrusted us with this opportunity. Let’s make the most of it!
