From our project partner, we received this story about the couple Ahmad and Farzaneh. The couple wanted everyone to hear the Good News of Jesus that had so transformed their own lives. They knew that the best way to start a conversation about Jesus in Iran was to give others the New Testament.
But Ahmad and Farzaneh also knew that the New Testament in Persian is forbidden and difficult to get hold of. So they had contacted the Danish European Mission's project partner, Elam, and asked for the books. Now all they could do was pray. When a box with the New Testament arrived, they were very happy. They began distributing the New Testament to everyone they knew. The hunger to receive God's Word was incredible. After just one week, the box was empty.
God's Word transforms a marriage
Ahmad and Farzaneh hadn't always loved God's word so deeply. When Farzaneh first received the New Testament, she couldn't understand why anyone would take such a risk to share a book with another person. "I didn't understand why until I got to know Jesus," she recalls. "Afterward, it felt impossible to keep such a wonderful message to myself. I gave the New Testament to everyone I came into contact with and told them it had changed my life." One of the people she shared the Good News with was her husband, Ahmad, who was addicted to opium. When Ahmad became a Christian, their home, once permeated with the smell of drugs, became permeated with prayer and worship. He explained: "God's love had reached me through His Word. I knew I had to share the Good News."
"God's love had reached me through His Word. I knew I had to share the Good News" - Ahmad
Brave evangelists
Thanks to the valuable New Testament box that Ahmad and Farzaneh received, many were converted. Before long, they had planted five house churches in their town. Now the need for the whole Bible was growing. "We had the New Testament," said Farzaneh, "but when we gathered for worship, people wanted the whole Bible."
But in Iran, it's even harder to get the whole Bible, so Farzaneh and Ahmad started praying. Again, God heard their prayer. As they began to receive and distribute more Bibles, they took greater risks. Late one night, Farzaneh was asked if she would take a three-hour bus ride to drop off a Bible at an agreed upon location.
"It was midnight. I went to town and left the Bible at the agreed lamppost. I walked away and watched from a distance. I was worried and wondered if I had put it in the right place. So I waited. I was so relieved when I got a text message that they had picked it up." For almost two years, they fearlessly handed out thousands of Bibles and New Testaments. But eventually the authorities caught up with them.
The prize: Ahmad in jail
Early one morning there was a knock on the door. The authorities had forced their way into the apartment and told Farzaneh, "We want Ahmad". About 15 men burst into the apartment and pushed Farzaneh aside. They turned everything upside down and asked: "Where do you hide the New Testament?" Farzaneh remembers: "When they took Ahmad away, I said goodbye for what I thought was the last time." Ahmad was thrown into a cell with three others who were all imprisoned for serious crimes. When they asked Ahmad what he was imprisoned for, he said: "The Gospel". They replied: "The gospel? Is that a crime?"
The warden strongly warned Ahmad not to talk about Jesus with his three cellmates. He opened the door to the cell and told Ahmad: "If I ever hear you talking about your faith to anyone else, I will throw you in solitary confinement and not even the Supreme Court judge will be able to find you." Ahmad's response was to pray.
Faithful even in the midst of persecution
"I prayed for the prison, for my three cellmates and the other inmates. I prayed again and again for the warden," says Ahmad. God heard Ahmad's prayers and so did the others. When he was told he would be released on bail pending sentencing, he was called in to speak to the warden who had threatened him on the first day.
He welcomed Ahmad to his office and said: "Ahmad, you are a good man". Ahmad asked: "Why do you call me good?" The CEO replied: "From the very first day you were here, when I had threatened you, I heard you praying for me when I came to check your cell at night".
After being released on bail, Farzaneh and Ahmad still faced the threat of a long prison sentence. Not long after, they left Iran for a neighboring country. Even though they had to leave their homeland, they kept their infectious joy for Jesus.
Facts and figures
- In 2021, donors ensured that 29,908 copies of the New Testament could be printed and smuggled into Iran and neighboring countries where Iranians live.
