It's as if the many Iranians who convert to the Christian faith are fearless. It seems their joy in believing in Jesus far outweighs the pain they experience from the persecution they may face.
One of the new converts is Hessam. He tells his story here: I grew up in a very Muslim family. As a child, I wanted to know God and did my best to be obedient - but God always felt distant. Over time, I gave up my religion and lost hope.
When I joined the Iranian military, I met a man called Mehdi. He was different from the other soldiers. When I asked him what made him so different, he started telling me about Jesus. We talked all night. He gave me a book with a handwritten message on the inside cover "The Gift of Freedom". It was a Bible.
The next day, Mehdi was posted to another city.Night after night I read the Bible. But now that Mehdi was gone, no one could explain to me what I was reading.
But over time, my fear disappeared and I started sharing the gospel with others - Hessian
Some time later, one of the other soldiers invited me to visit his home. I noticed a picture of a man hanging on the wall. I asked who it was. The soldier replied "He means everything to me". "Does this picture mean everything to you?", I asked.
"It's Jesus," the soldier replied. My heart stirred. I told him how I had read the Bible and thought it was beautiful.
He took me to meet a shop owner nearby who was a Christian. The shopkeeper said I could come and talk to him as often as I wanted. So I went to the store every day. I asked him to explain to me about the God he knew. One day I told him that the Jesus he was talking about - I wanted to worship him.
He asked me: "Do you really believe that you are a sinner?". I said: "Yes, I am in deep sin". And then I surrendered my life to Jesus. At first I was very afraid because I knew that what I had done was forbidden. But over time, my fear disappeared and I started to share the gospel with others," Hessam tells Danish European Mission partner Elam.
Hessam then began planting churches and distributing hundreds of copies of the New Testament in Iran before he was arrested and imprisoned for his ministry. Today, he still serves as an evangelist in a neighboring country to Iran.
You can ensure that even more people in Iran can read the New Testament about what Jesus did for them on the cross and experience God's love.
It costs DKK 40 to ensure that a copy of the New Testament is smuggled into Iran or neighboring countries where Iranians also live.
You can stand with the persecuted but brave Christians and hand them New Testaments - to give to people who long to read about God's love.
