Despite an Islamic government that systematically harasses and imprisons Christian converts and indoctrinates it’s youth into Islam, Christianity is growing at unprecedented rates in Iran.
Voice of the Martyr’s radio host Todd Nettleton joined Faithwire’s Dan Andros to discuss the details behind the incredible trend.
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AGAINST ALL ODDS
Against all odds, Christianity continues to see massive gains in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Islamic Clerics are warning against the spread of Christianity, house churches are routinely targeted by authorities, and conversion to Christianity is actually viewed as an action against national security in parts of the country.
But none of those threats are stopping the rapid growth of people converting to followers of Christ.
Mohabat News reports that this high rate of conversion is occurring despite the rigorous Islamic indoctrination of the youth in their families and education.
The Islamic government of Iran gives large amounts of money to the support of Islamic organizations that promote Islam among their youth within and beyond Iran’s borders.
However the Iranian youth are becoming increasingly distant from Islam, which is becoming a great concern for the Iranian government.
Just last year, after Ayatollah Makarem Shirazi expressed his concern over the popularity of Christianity in the suburbs of Mashhad, the city’s religious and political officials immediately sent a large number of Islamic teachers and preachers to the suburbs to turn the youth away from Christianity.
A wave of arrests and harassment of Christian converts came shortly after and many faced long term prison sentences and heavy bails for their temporary release.
The Iranian Islamic government also implemented a two fold plan to stop the spread of Christianity in the country and it has failed on both fronts.
The first, included allocations of millions of dollars for Islamic propaganda across the country, and the second agenda included a crackdown campaign that was focused on newly converted Christians, in order to place fear in those who are interested in the Christian religion.
They have also closed down churches, including the Central Assemblies of God (AOG) and Janat Abad church in Tehran and the AOG church in Ahwaz.
Christian converts were also banned from entering official churches and Farsi services were forced to cancel permanently across the country in all churches.
The publication of anything related to Christianity or any material referring to Christianity was also restricted and books about Christianity in the market were confiscated.
Yet, by its own government reports – no matter how hard it tries – it hasn’t been able to stop the spread of Christianity.
Editor’s note: CBN contributed to this report.