The Voice of the Martyrs, March 24, 2023 (excerpts)
Owning, printing, importing or distributing Bibles in Iran is illegal. Since they are so difficult to obtain, Bibles are treasured by Iranian believers, and few have their own copy of God’s Word.
Despite the prohibitions and scarcity, Christians in Iran are working on placing copies of God’s Word into people’s hands. When they receive a shipment of Bibles, our Iranian brothers and sisters hand-deliver the Bibles to strangers. They knock on the doors of people they don’t know and give Bibles to anyone who will accept the gift, sometimes placing the Bibles in mailboxes.
Front-line workers have shared numerous stories of Iranian Muslims who read the Bible for the first time after unexpectedly receiving one in their mailbox and later became followers of Christ.
The Islamic Revolution of 1979, led by Ayatollah Khomeini, created the world’s only Shiite Islamic theocracy and profoundly changed every aspect of life in Iran. Today, many of those who committed their lives to Islam and Islamic rule are filled with despair.
This disillusionment has opened new doors for the gospel, which is sweeping across the nation via Christian media and bold evangelists in Iran’s growing house church movements.
However, the government continues its attempts to thwart this move of God. Christian leaders and pastors are often arrested, tortured and imprisoned, and their families are harassed. Some, left with no other options, choose to flee the country.