Pictured above: Iranians who encounter God's love and choose to believe in Jesus often become very devoted believers (Photo: aastock/Shutterstock.com).
More and more Iranians are choosing to believe in Jesus these days - even though the price can be high. It's as if meeting Jesus is life-changing - and the joy of knowing him far outweighs the pain and resistance that converts sometimes face.
Let me tell you about Shima. She belongs to the Kurdish minority in Iran who are in conflict with the clerical regime. She says: "When I was a child, the Iranian government was at war with my people. The ayatollahs hated us. We hated the ayatollahs. When I was four years old, the government killed six of my relatives. We were very close. Our family mourned. The cemetery became the playground of my childhood."
"Almost every weekend our mother would take us to the cemetery - instead of the playground - and there we would cry for hours for our dead relatives. So I grew up with a bitter hatred for the government. But because of what they had done to our family, I never rebelled or did anything illegal. I was afraid of being sent to prison or killed. I didn't want to bring more sorrow to our family."
"But the government kept harassing us. One day when I was 16 years old, they took me to a prison. There I was interrogated by four men and accused of all sorts of things that I hadn't done. And even though I denied everything, they forced me to sign that I was guilty. Eventually I was allowed to leave. But I left with one goal: to travel and be trained so I could fight and kill my oppressors."
"I made plans to go to the mountains of Iraq so I could join the Kurdish Peshmerga militia and be ready to kill the ayatollahs. But by that time, my mother had left Iran. She asked me to meet her in a neighboring country to Iran before I went to the mountains of Iraq. Then I left Iran to visit my mother; maybe for the last time."
"When I was sitting on a bench in this neighboring country, an Iranian came over and gave me a copy of the New Testament in Persian and invited me to church. I don't know why, but I went. It was the first time I was inside a church. The pastor talked about God's love - and even said that God is love. It touched my heart. I had never heard anything like that before. Afterwards, I went to a park and started reading the New Testament."
"I came to the Gospel of John chapter 11, where Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. I said to myself: "I'm dead too". And I prayed to Jesus: "Jesus, please give me life again. Is it possible for you to do that?" Immediately, I felt a change. He gave me a hope that I had never felt before. My life was changed forever. I never went to the mountains of Iraq. I have been serving God ever since," says Shima.
Shima's new faith put to the test
Shima's new faith was tested when she met a Christian woman who was the granddaughter of an Ayatollah. Would she still feel the hatred and bitterness of the Iranian clerical regime - or would she be able to forgive those responsible for killing her relatives?
Shima says: "Some years later, while serving in a church with my husband in a neighboring country to Iran, I met a girl named Masoumeh. Like me, she had gotten the New Testament on the street. She had read it all and four days later she came to church and gave her life to Jesus."
"Just two weeks later, I saw that Masoumeh had brought ten people with him to the church. I was shocked. I asked her who they were. "I don't know", she said, "I just talked to them on the street about Jesus and invited them to church. And then they came." I asked: "Who taught you to do that? Did anyone tell you to invite others to church?" She said: "No. I just read the New Testament and it changed my life. I want to give this book to everyone so their lives can be changed too." Every week she brought people to church. I was amazed and decided I wanted to teach her myself. We became close friends".
"One day she told me about her family. Her grandfather was a powerful ayatollah in Iran. Immediately I thought: Am I friends with the granddaughter of an ayatollah? The one who murdered my family and stole all the joy and happiness from my childhood? I could not believe it. Masoumeh asked me: "Please pray for my family. I want them to get to know Jesus." I began to notice a change in my heart. It wasn't filled with hate and bitterness. I realized that I could love this family."
Shima ends her story like this: "I was able to pray for this Ayatollah. When Masoumeh asked me to talk to her father, I realized that I was eager to talk to him. And he was eager to learn about Jesus. Jesus had changed my heart. Before, I only wanted to bring death and suffering to these people, but now I could share with them the hope and joy of eternal life. Our Lord Jesus Christ is wonderful. He has the power to transform our hearts. I want to encourage you - if there is something in your heart that you think is impossible to change - put your trust in Him. He can do it."
Shima is just one of hundreds of thousands of Iranians who have experienced a life-changing encounter with Jesus.
The media does not tell these stories, but instead focuses mainly on Iran's nuclear program and the world's various reactions to it.
It is therefore touching, joyful and encouraging to read about what God is doing in Iran at this time. God wants all people to be saved, He has a plan for the Middle East, and He is doing something new in this part of the world.
You can ensure that even more copies of the New Testament in Persian are printed and smuggled into Iran. It only costs $40 to ensure that an Iranian can get their hands on the New Testament.
Many people in Iran long to hear about Jesus. Thank you for giving them hope and encouragement today.
