PALACE OF ESTHER - A man and boy view the archeological site of Persepolis. Persian kings, including Xerxes, used Persepolis as a ceremonial palace. Xerxes was the husband of Esther from the Old Testament. (Photo courtesy of IMB)
Iran (MNN) ― Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei warned on Wednesday that the government would not yield to protestors or back down from the results of Iran's June 12 presidential election.
However, his warning did not deter the protestors from gathering, as the opposition had promised, near Tehran's parliament buildings on the same day. When they did, they met swarms of riot police and the situation turned violent.
According to CNN and BBC, witnesses reported beatings. The police were "beating women madly" and "killing people like hell," one source told CNN.
Only time will tell whether beatings can preserve the regime's power and prevent political change. However, Iranian Christians tell the International Mission Board that their country is changing.
"Islam is losing its power," said Davoud (name changed for security). "This is the best time for Iran to turn to God."
His wife, Susan (name changed for security) explained that Iranians are generally different than Americans would expect them to be.
"Most of the new generation are educated people, so they are not fanatics," she said. "Unfortunately, the biggest problem is that the heart is empty."
Iran's population is young: about 70 percent is under the age of 35. This generation tries to fill its emptiness with drugs, sex, and partying, Susan and Davoud explained. But they have higher hopes for their people.
"Always, we (both of us) pray for special new generation in Iran," Susan said.
In the meantime, the couple is seeking refugee status in another country as the only alternative to imprisonment for their faith. They disregarded the Iranian, saying that being a Christian isn't a problem unless you're an active one.
"If you try to give people [the] Holy Bible, if you have a place, a room for Christian books, if you openly invite people to Christianity and do other things helping people to get to know Jesus Christ, you are considered an active Christian," Davoud explains. "If you have a house church, you are an active Christian. If you help people to get baptized, you are an active Christian."
Davoud had a successful career in Tehran's entertainment deals. He brokered motion picture deals and was a popular, accomplished artist. He left it all behind, however, when he became a Christian.
Susan and Davoud grew up in families where religion was an obligation to be tolerated. Susan felt like she was "always behind a barrier so you cannot touch a real God. But in Christianity, I can reach Him very easily. I'm always open to hear Him, to interact with Him."
When Susan became a Christian through the witness of a friend, Davoud thought, "Don't react. After a while, she's going to forget [her impulsive decision] and everything [will] be the same."
But he couldn't shake his depression and restlessness and a need for more meaning to life. He had a recurring daydream in which he approached a group of people sitting in a circle, and they turned and faced him.
One day, Davoud called out to the people in his dream, "What do you want from me? Who are you people?" One man emerged from the circle, looked at him, and asked, "Have you suffered more than I have?"
He discussed the dream with a Christian friend, who led him to the Lord. Now he is no longer depressed, but he knows his troubles did not magically end when he became a Christian.
"God came to save me from my spiritual problems, but you can still encounter problems in life in Iran, especially if you become a Christian," he said. Nevertheless, he and his wife know they now have a Friend who is always with them.
"When I pray to God and when I think, 'I can talk to God directly,' at that time I can understand how God loves me and how much I love Him," Susan said.
"When you read Acts, you don't find yourself lonely," Davoud explained. "So, we [Iranian Christians] are experiencing this truth -- that our Lord was tortured, He was insulted and He was [put to death] in the most brutal way. We are His followers."
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