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The coronavirus came early to Iran, and it hit hard: Hundreds of thousands of people were infected. According to Johns Hopkins University numbers, as of July 5, Iran had more than 3,270,843 people infected with COVID-19 and more than 84,949 deaths.
Life in Iran was already hard before COVID-19, but the pandemic has dragged the country into an even deeper economic crisis. “The situation is not good at all,” reports a believer. “Inflation is so high that people cannot afford to buy meat, poultry or even fruit, and they have started to consume more beans.”
“There is an increase in illegal activities to make money,” a leader overseeing several groups reports. “Women are increasingly forced into the Islamic practice of ‘temporary marriage’ in exchange for money to support their family, a legal practice threatening some Christians who live in Islamic families too.”
The church, largely operating underground, has not been spared by the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite that fact that some Christians were released from prison when COVID-19 first began impacting Iran, but later Christians—like Pastor Victor Bet-Tamraz and his wife, Shamiram Issavi, pictured on the left—have been arrested or sentenced to years in jail, just for following Jesus.
The sense of hopelessness and fatigue present in Iran has not bypassed Christians. “I see spiritual attacks happening,” says a leader in the region. “And while some are actively reaching out to those in need, others don’t feel they have the strength to do so.”
The courage to be the Church
But, incredibly, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Iranian Christians continue to minister to hurting people. The Iranian church has had to quickly adjust to the reality of COVID-19—and, like all Christians around the world, have had to find creative ways to have fellowship. Despite the constant threat of prison, the underground church is shining brightly. They share their food and sanitary items with their community.
Those engaged in providing relief report the blessings it brings them. A pastor wrote us a handwritten note through a partner. He writes: “Many non-believing family members of Christians have changed their views towards the church during this pandemic. They were amazed to see how the church was taking care of the needy.”
“People were astonished when we gave them the food,” says another believer in an email. “They praised God with thanksgiving psalms, crying, hugging and shouting. I can boldly say that for all of them the relief package was a big blessing and God had guided us to the right people.”
Another believer reached out to her church leader over the phone, overwhelmed with happiness: “We went to [give] food today, there were people who obviously were so needy; they thanked us so much. They were so happy!
“There were two children who were very weak and sick because they hadn’t been eating well. And there were some old people; one of them was blind. And they couldn’t believe [we gave them] so much food, because they hadn’t had such an amount of food since the start of the crisis. I thanked God for this work. I will never forget the happiness of these people today. And truly, glory be to the Lord.”
The Iranian Christians also learned about themselves—and God’s love for them. “They learned that they are called to help in dark times and doing so encouraged them and made them joyful,” one believer says. Another leader adds:
“In quarantine, our hearts were drawn even nearer to the heart of the Father. The church had a spiritual awakening, despite its weakness.”
An additional blessing several church leaders reported is church growth. A pastor writes: “We thank the Lord that, in these days of quarantine, the kingdom of the Lord has increased even more than before!
“Even though we were in quarantine, God prepared the hearts of people and, as we talked to those people, they became believers.”
The relief (an example is shown below) is given to whoever needs it: Muslim, Christian or atheist. A church leader reports how a poor Christian family got a food package as well, but when they heard about the financial struggles of their neighbor, they decided to give half of the pack to their neighbor’s family. The neighbor asked them how it was possible for them to be so generous in these dark days. They told him that it wasn’t them helping him, but that it was Christ that helped this neighbor through them. The poor family wasn’t unique in being able to show Christ through this relief.
One church leader shared how the non-believing family members of believers are encouraged by the package. A 17-year-old boy said: “I almost reached the point to say the world is absolutely dark, but now I see there are still some good people with good hearts living in this world and they are Christians!”
The daughter of another church member said:
“If this is the God who thinks about and takes care of His children then I would like to know Him more!”
The believers in the country thank God for His guidance, kindness and provision. They are so thankful for everything in this wonderful moment in the Body of Christ. May glory and honour be to our Lord.
PRAY FOR IRAN
Every HK$390 can provide counseling training for a secret believer to support other Christian partners facing persecution.
Every HK$700 can provide practical and spiritual support to the Christian community center for two secret believers who fled to neighboring countries.
Every HK$775 can provide online leadership training for 10 secret church leaders so that they can do better discipleship for the church.
