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ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net -- E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Courage And Honor In Iran
Persecution Escalates As Iranian President Speaks At UN

OPEN DOORS USA
Jerry Dykstra, Media Relations Coordinator
Phone: 616-915-4117
E-Mail: JerryD@odusa.org
Web Site: www.opendoorsusa.org

For Immediate Release

SANTA ANA, CA (ANS) -- (Last Friday the United States took Iran to task for its “harsh and oppressive treatment” of religious minorities, including Christians. In its annual “Report on International Religious Freedom” around the world, the State Department said it found a further deterioration in what it called “the extremely poor status of respect for religious freedom” in Iran. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is on a three-day visit to New York City and addressed the United Nations General Assembly today. The following article is an update on the status of persecuted Christians in Iran).

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 offenses, but even secret police officials admit that his real offense 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.

Hamid Pourmand, a former army colonel released recently after two years in jail, 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.

While 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. Police 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 realized 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 organizations such as Open Doors which deliver Bibles and facilitate prayer and coordinate 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 realized 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.

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.”

An estimated 200 million Christians worldwide suffer interrogation, arrest and even death for their faith in Christ, with another 200 to 400 million facing discrimination and alienation. Open Doors, celebrating 50 years of service to persecuted Christians, serves and strengthens the Persecuted Church in the world's most difficult areas through Bible and Christian literature distribution, leadership training and assistance, Christian community development, prayer and presence ministry and advocacy on behalf of suffering believers. To partner with Open Doors, call toll free at 888-5-BIBLE-5 (524-2535) or go to our USA Web site at www.opendoorsusa.org. To request a complimentary six-month subscription to our monthly newsletter Frontline Faith, call 888-5-BIBLE-5 or register on-line.

(To set up an interview, please contact Jerry Dykstra at 616-915-4117 or email jerryd@odusa.org).

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