IRAN - Courage and honour
18/09/06 - Life stories of Iranian believers and the costs some have paid for their faith...
The situation in Iran is very similar to that of the first century church: mass conversions, persecution, signs and wonders, visions and dreams and even multiple wives. Only God knows how many thousands of Iranian Muslims have come to Christ through Christian satellite TV broadcasts.
A typical story is that of Hanan. She was a devout Muslim asking God to show her the true path. She dreamt one night of a big building with lots of people speaking strange languages. She followed a beam of light coming from above and as she followed the beam outside, she understood that the building was a church and the beam of light was Jesus. After Hanan became a Christian, she changed for the better and her sisters also became Christians.
Most of the new believers are young and very passionate about their faith in Christ, although, out of fear, most remain 'secret believers' not connected to any church or house church.
However, alongside this Christian revival is an Islamic revival determined to root out and destroy ‘corrupting’ influences such as Christianity. Persecution has become state policy and is being implemented at all levels and in various forms throughout Iran.
Christians report that persecution has increased markedly and that believers are experiencing much greater hardship since the election of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in August 2005, who has pledged to restore an Islamic government in Iran.
Christians such as 31-year old Issa Motamedi Mojdehi have been charged with drug trafficking offences, but even secret police officials admit that his real offence was converting from Islam to Christianity seven years ago. Unless Issa renounces his Christian faith and returns to Islam, officials told him, he would remain in jail and possibly face execution as conversion to Christianity carries the death penalty in the Islamic Republic of Iran
Issa was released on bail after four weeks, on August 24. He was told he is “free for the moment.” but the judge then introduced new accusations – that Issa’s 8-year old daughter Martha had been trying to lead other children to the Christian faith.
Others, such as Hamid Pourmand, a former army colonel, released after two years, who was warned that attending church services could land him back in prison.
Fifty-one-year old Ali Kaboli, was released in June, but could still face the death penalty for converting to Christianity 35 years ago.
Whilst in jail, prisoners face strong psychological pressures, including threats to kill their family and other Christian believers, in order to force them to recant their Christian faith and return to Islam. Iranian dissident Akbar Ganji, imprisoned for six years, says that many prisoners of conscience are kept in solitary confinement on no legal grounds with no access to books, newspapers or telephone, legal representation or their families.
In recent months, Christians have also lost their jobs, had their shops shut down or had their livelihoods removed.
Depriving converts to Christianity of their means of employment is the government’s way of “trying to asphyxiate the church,” one Iranian source told Compass Direct. “A lot of believers lost their jobs after the intervention of the security [police].” The officials’ objective, he said, is to force Christians to leave Iran permanently.
Compass also reports that, in at least five other incidents during August, Iranian police have harassed and mistreated local converts to Christianity, some of whom have fled their hometowns to live more inconspicuously in large cities.
Other Christians, such as two young women in a southern Iranian city, were beaten by police in their homes. One was also arrested for several days and was phoned by police every day following her release, who threatened to re-arrest her and to arrest her brother and parents as well.
The few remaining Protestant leaders, who are still allowed to meet, are under relentless pressure to compromise with government investigators by providing the names of their members, particularly any who are converts from Islam.
Giving all for Jesus
Some pastors have given their lives for their faith. Last November, Ghorban Dordi Tourani, a 53-year old Muslim convert to Christianity, was arrested by the secret police and then just a few hours later, his stabbed and bleeding body was thrown in front of his home in Gonbad-e-Kavus, where he lived with his wife and four children, ages 3–23.
Wonderfully, a year before his death, Ghorban wrote this prayer “Lord Jesus, please let me glorify your holy name in every moment of my life on this earth. I am willing to give my life that belongs to you, for the sake of you and your church.”
Within days of Ghorban’s murder, representatives of Iran’s dreaded secret police, the Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS), arrested and severely tortured 10 other Christians in several cities and raided the homes of all known Christians in Ghorban’s town.
The current Iranian deputy Minister of Interior Mahmoud Saeedi was formerly the director of the MOIS. He was however removed from office in 1999 following mounting pressure as it became clear that his department oversaw the brutal murders of three Iranian church leaders in 1994 and 1995*. They included Mehdi Dibaj, who was released from prison in January 1994 following a worldwide outcry initiated by his friend and colleague Bishop Haik Hovspeian Mehr, who was himself abducted and murdered just three days after Mehdi’s release. Haik’s death was confirmed to his family by the authorities. Mehdi was similarly murdered in June that year and his body found in a west Tehran park.
Learning to forgive
Haik's widow, Takoosh, described how God helped her not only to forgive her enemies but to love them as well: At first she cried out to God, “Lord, you’re asking too much. How can I love them when they killed the love of my life?” However, she tells how God gently took her by the hand and helped her. Little by little, she came to the point where she realised one day that she could love her enemies. She began to see the Islamic extremists as lost sheep without a shepherd. She says God enabled her to love.
Takoosh also explains, “Worship is a powerful tool in overcoming hardship, but so is the reading of the Word of God, support from other believers, the empathy of people who visit or phone, and the love of brothers and sisters from around the world expressed in cards and letters.”
This is where organisations such as Open Doors who deliver Bibles and marshal prayer and co-ordinate letter-writing campaigns, can be a lifeline for suffering and persecuted Christians.
“I could have become bitter because of what happened. Instead, I chose to obey God. He taught me to trust him 100% and to completely hand my life over to him.” Takoosh concludes.
Haik’s death was not in vain as many others took inspiration from his courage. Avin became a believer in Jesus at Haik’s funeral service. She said, if someone was willing to offer his life as Haik did, she realised that Christianity had to be true. In the last couple of years, God has used Avin to bring others to Jesus and thus the church continues to grow despite opposition.
The concept of honour
However, for many Muslim Background Believers (MBBs), their greatest opposition and persecution often comes from their own families, due to the concept of ‘honour’ which involves punishing, often with death, those who reject the family's and community’s belief system and code of conduct (see footnote).
Women who leave Islam are often divorced and lose their children, and some even struggle to find acceptance within the Church as many Christians in the Islamic World fear repercussions and even betrayal by Muslim converts.
Uniting with the Persecuted Church
On 9 June, Iranian church leaders issued a joint statement which says in part: ‘We cannot express how deeply encouraged and thankful Iranian Christians are that so many are standing with us in prayer. We believe the Lord will hear the cries of His people, so we urge everyone to carry on praying and spreading the word about this prayer effort. Let’s see millions praying for Iran and let us witness together how God can transform a nation.’
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* Source: World Evangelical Alliance
Footnote:
Grasping the concept of honour
People who live in an individualistic society like the West's find it hard to grasp just how strong family ties are in the Middle East, or how strong the concept of honour is in that culture. Roland Muller writes: ‘Conversion to Christianity is seen as a rejection of paternal authority, and implies rejection of the ways of one's forbears, therefore bringing dishonour on both the family and community. It is shameful and because shame is resolved only by blood, the senior members of a community have the grave responsibility to kill the person who dishonoured them. This is done in the open. After the killing, somebody will turn himself in to the police but most judges in the Middle East will consider a murder of honour as justified. Because most people don’t like to kill somebody of their own kin, – and most people don’t like to be killed either – there will be immense pressure on a young Muslim-background believer to return to the faith of his father.
R. Muller, The Messenger, The Message & The Community. Three Critical Issues for the Cross-Cultural Church-Planter, 2006, p. 106.
Open Doors is an international charity serving persecuted Christians, working in over 60 countries worldwide with 20 development offices.
Its 51-year ministry includes:
· Raising awareness of persecuted Christians and mobilising prayer and support for them
· Befriending and caring for persecuted Christians by visiting them, writing letters to them and praying for them
· Enabling believers at risk to earn a living by providing livelihood and literacy training and self-help opportunities
· Strengthening the faith of Christians behind closed borders through printing and delivering Bibles, Christian literature and teaching/training materials
· Equipping evangelists and pastors through theological and leadership training courses and seminars and supporting Bible colleges