Convert churches in several countries in the Muslim world dream of experiencing what the convert church is experiencing in Iran. When traveling in the region, you can regularly hear statements from local Christians along these lines.
The number of Iranians who have converted from Islam to the Christian faith is estimated at 800,000 - despite the risk of persecution for their choice. A driving force is widespread frustration with the country's leadership, leading many Iranians to seek alternatives to the Islam promoted by the regime.
For many years, every 1-2 years, brave and risky protests have taken to the streets of Iran, most recently under the slogan: Women, Life, Freedom. Women take to the streets in Iran without veils, even though they risk long prison sentences.
According to the poll Iranian attitudes towards religion from the Dutch institute Gamaan, from 2020, for example, 72 % of Iranians oppose the requirement for women to wear hijab in public, while only 15 % believe the hijab should be worn in public. For years, the Danish European Mission has heard anecdotal evidence that is consistent with the findings of the survey.
Read also: Turks who become Christians can face strong opposition from their families
Khomeini and Erdogan are the greatest evangelists
You hear some Iranians say that the father of the Iranian revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, is the greatest evangelist in Iran. If he had not imposed a repressive Islamist regime in 1979, the population would not have sought alternatives to Islam to the same extent as if the relatively free regime of the Shah had remained in power.
“We are not yet where Iran is, but we are on our way.”
- Priest from Turkey
In Turkey, you can also hear some say that President Erdogan is the country's greatest evangelist. For many years, the number of Christian converts remained constant at 4,500, but in the last five years or so, the number has started to rise to an estimated 10,000. I have seen with my own eyes young people coming into churches from the street. There was a sincerity in their eyes as they asked many questions to the Christians. Several wanted prayer. A pastor said to me during my last visit to Turkey: We are not yet where Iran is, but we are on our way.
Thank you so much for praying for Turkey! There are now over 80 million people living in Turkey and only a fraction have accepted God's love in Jesus. Please also pray that the new believers will be grounded in the Bible. That they will not simply believe that becoming a Christian means being able to live a so-called free life, as they have seen in Western movies from the so-called Christian West. That Jesus is not just a rejection of Islam, but that they have a personal encounter with Him and are led into a life of surrender to Him and His word.
