Page 13 - Operation Mordecai Booklet
P. 13

C hT r i s t i a n s
he Church is growing in Iran
despite it being one of the most
dangerous places to live as a
Christian. and other religious minorities are treated
The Christian community, fairly under Islam, but the reality is that estimated to be around 800,0001, is largely Christians are being specifically targeted.
made up of converts from Islam, however there has been a Christian presence in Iran since the First Century. In fact, the Book of Acts records that Persians were among the people groups at Pentecost and there has been a church in Iran ever since.
With the death penalty in force, former Muslims who have
converted to Christianity
have to practice their faith
in secret. Underground
“house churches” are
under sophisticated
surveillance with
intelligence passed onto
the Iranian Revolutionary
Guards. Iran’s Islamic
forces attempt to pressure
the Christian community
to flee through fear
of imprisonment or
death. Their strategy of intimidation is to decrease the number of Christians living in Iran, allowing the proportion of Muslims to increase.
All ethnic Persians are considered Muslims by the Iranian regime, so any person of Persian ethnicity becoming a Christian is in danger of being killed for their faith, although they are more likely to be imprisoned for ‘crimes against national security’. Because Christianity is seen as an influence of the West, it is also viewed as a threat to the Islamic Republic.
Meanwhile, Christians from Armenian and Assyrian churches are allowed to practise their faith openly, but they still face discrimination, and it is illegal for them to share the Christian message with Muslims.
The Iranian regime, wrongly accepted as “moderate” by the West, boasts to the international community that Christians
Day to day life is a struggle for Iranian Christians. Some have lost jobs, homes or even custody of children. Others have been physically abused. Many who convert from Islam are rejected by friends and family. It is also illegal to produce Christian literature or hold church services in the
official language, Farsi. And some Christians are unjustly detained in Iran’s notorious prison system on false political charges. In December 2018, over 100 Christians were detained in a single week during a crackdown by the
regime.
An annual report
titled Violations of the Rights of Christians states that in 2018 “the Christian community,
Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated— since you your- selves are in the body also.
HEBREWS 13:3
in Iran
along with other religious minorities, continued to suffer multiple violations of their right to freedom of religion or belief. Ongoing surveillance of Christians by the authorities was often accompanied by harassment. The end of 2018 saw an unprecedented wave of raids on private house gatherings, leading to a large number of arrests.
It further states, “Many Christians received prison sentences, or had sentences upheld by the Court of Appeal. Most of the reported violations involved converts from Islam, but there were also several instances where members of the recognised Armenian and Assyrian Christian minorities were imprisoned or sentenced to jail terms due to their religious activities. Recognised church buildings remained closed to ethnic Persian Christians and, in several cases, church property remained under threat of confiscation.”
Despite these sufferings, the Church
in Iran continues to grow with increasing momentum. 13
1 World Watch List 2019, Open Doors UK





























































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