MY ACCOUNT
At A Glance
Protests in Iran have been violently suppressed but Iranian believers still are stepping up to love their neighbors.
- In this traumatic and uncertain moment. one secret believer, Bita*, has led 7 people to faith in Jesus.
- Thousands of secret believers across the Middle East are counting the cost and choosing to follow Christ anyway.
- You can provide critical help to these underground networks of secret believers.
Iran is in turmoil. But in the midst of it, God is using His Church in powerful ways.
Protests have swept across the country in recent months, and the government's response has been violent. Security forces have fired into crowds. Hospitals have been ordered closed. What's being reported in the news doesn't capture what's actually happening on the ground.
But in the middle of all of it, Iranian believers are stepping forward. They're ministering to the injured. They're providing for families who've lost income because of the unrest. They're showing up in the places everyone else is fleeing.
These are the secret believers – men and women who follow Christ in a country where discovery could cost them their families, their freedom, or their lives. And right now, their faith is being tested like never before.
One of our partners on the ground described what they're seeing in a single phrase: An incredibly mature church is rising up.
The Apostle Paul wrote that God's children would "shine among them like stars in the sky" as they hold firmly to the word of life – even in a warped and crooked generation (Philippians 2:15). That's what's happening in Iran right now. In one of the darkest places on earth for followers of Jesus, the Church is shining.
Pellets, Pain, and the Power of the Gospel
Bita* leads a house church and shares the Gospel in a deeply religious Iranian city.
In January, Bita and her 17-year-old daughter joined public protests in their city. As security forces moved to suppress the demonstrations, police fired small pellets into the crowds. Bita's daughter was struck in the leg.
Hospitals had been ordered to close by the authorities, so Bita had no choice but to leave the city to find medical help. After hours of driving, they reached another city, where Bita contacted two nurses and asked them to come treat her daughter's wounds.
It was a traumatic and uncertain time. Bita didn't know what would happen next. She didn't know if they were safe.
But even in the midst of fear and pain, Bita shared the Gospel with the two nurses.
Both women responded and put their faith in Jesus. During the time Bita and her daughter remained in that city, she baptized them.
After her daughter recovered, they returned home. And just recently, five more people came to Christ through Bita's ministry.
Iran’s Church in Action
Stories like Bita's are coming out of Iran right now. Not from formal outreach programs or organized campaigns, but from ordinary believers responding the way the Church is supposed to respond. Sharing the Gospel in a hospital room while their own daughter is being treated for a protest wound. That's what faith looks like under pressure. That's what it looks like to shine like stars in the sky.
Bita is one of thousands of secret believers across the Middle East who are counting the cost and choosing Christ anyway. They lead house churches, disciple new converts, and share the Gospel in places where doing so is punishable by imprisonment or death. They need discipleship. They need community. And they need to know the global Church sees them.
Thanks to the generosity of brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the world, we’re providing discipleship training, emergency assistance, Scripture resources, and underground networks of support for secret believers like Bita (and new believers like the two nurses).
The Iranian church needs our prayers:
- Pray for believers like Bita who are sharing their faith at great personal risk.
- Pray for protection for the Church as government crackdowns intensify.
- Pray for the new believers coming to faith, that they would be discipled and rooted in the Gospel.
- Pray that God would continue to use this season of suffering to draw people to Himself.
*Name has been changed.
Secret Believers When Faith Must Stay Hidden, Hope Must Not
Across the Muslim world, men and women are encountering Jesus in hidden places – through a dream, a late-night search, or a quiet conversation with a local believer. But when someone chooses to follow Christ in secret, the cost of their decision can be immediate: family rejection, social isolation, and real danger.
Learn more about how you can support secret believers and help ensure no follower of Jesus ever stands alone.
