God Can Use One

It’s no secret God can use ‘one’. A life like Somayeh’s, brutalised for her faith but unstoppable in Christ, even as she lives for Him in secret.
   

It’s no secret that… God can use ‘one’.

One man. One woman. One life lived for Him.

A life like Somayeh’s—brutalised and pierced by sorrow for her faith but unstoppable in Christ, even as she lives for Him in secret.

You probably know that countless Christians across the world are forced to live in secret. The threat of severe punishment if discovered makes it dangerous for them to serve God openly. Yet they still spread the gospel in quiet, hidden ways.

“My husband was furious when he found out I had become a Christian,” Somayeh says, briefly recalling the emotional torment she was thrust into and the stress-induced loss of the baby growing quietly inside her.

It seemed miraculous that she was later able to have two children. But since accepting Jesus, her life has become a series of unlikely occurrences. But then…
 

It’s no secret that… God works miracles.

There have been several in Somayeh’s life: like the day Jesus held her so she felt no pain as her husband lashed her with his belt. Or when a close family member betrayed her to the authorities who searched her entire home but never found the Christian books hidden in her basement. Or even as she attended a secret church every month without being caught or reported.

Each miracle strengthened her ministry. Somayeh would never stop talking about Jesus in secret.

“My husband had threatened to kill me if I preached the gospel, but I couldn’t stay silent,” she explains. In a drastic move to distance her from the church community she loved, Somayeh’s husband sold their home and moved her and the children to another town.

“I prayed, asking God, ‘Why did You bring me here? I was already struggling to attend church, and now I’m so far away I can’t go at all. Why?’”

What she heard in response must have been God—she would never have suggested starting a church on her own, in a new town.

She prayed, “You are truly God, and if You’re telling me You want to build a church here and bring people to me, then I’ll respond. I’m ready.”
 

It’s no secret that… big things start small.

“We started with just a few people meeting in secret, and shortly after, we grew into a house church with over 30 members,” Somayeh says excitedly. “On special nights like Christmas, we sometimes had as many as 50 people! When people came to faith, I knew I had to provide them with spiritual nourishment. I had to be cautious, though, to avoid any issues with my husband.”

And then, one day…

“I received a call from the intelligence service where they detailed all my information and said, ‘We will see you soon’,” Somayeh recalls, briefly awash with fear from that terrible phone call. “I was terrified, both from the intelligence and my husband who was also threatening me.”

The day she had dreaded since finding Jesus had come. It was time to flee Iran.
 

It’s no secret that… the Church in Iran is still growing.

Somayeh’s new church is Persian-speaking, and for the first time since becoming a Christian, she can worship freely, openly expressing what Jesus has already done in secret. Because even when she appeared shackled, silenced, tortured, and terrorised, she was free.

Today, Somayeh serves secret believers in Iran through an online ministry, sharing the gospel and supporting those living in the shadows and under threat. She attends leadership training sessions with Open Doors’ local partners who equip her to guide other Iranians into freedom through Christ.

“I’ve learned so much from these trainings, deepening my understanding of God’s Word,” she says happily. “They also provide solutions we might not have discovered otherwise. I’m also able to share these insights with those God has entrusted to me, especially those who, for security reasons, can’t attend such trainings.”

“Even in the darkest circumstances and in the most difficult places, God is working,” says Somayeh confidently. “He is still the Lord of miracles, and He always brings His light into people’s hearts.”

It’s no secret that… God can use you.

Thank you for standing with our persecuted family and partnering with them to spread the life-giving news of Jesus.