Iran (MNN) — Few would call Iran a safe place to pursue Christianity. Iran’s militant Islamic government actively hunts for religious minorities and severely persecutes them.
Despite the risk, people inside Iran connect daily with Heart4Iran’s call center operators.
Nazanin*, an Iranian Christian, oversees the call center ministry. “When somebody calls for the first time, they are desperate; they need prayer,” she says.
“Every caller, we get their information, register it in our database, and we keep them in our daily prayers. We have a chain of prayer within my team.”
Along with prayer, operators follow up with each caller. “We call them back and say, ‘Okay, have you received an answer to prayer? How can we help you?’” Nazanin says.
“If they are Christians, we strengthen them. It takes time for them if they are Muslims and know Jesus as only a prophet.”
The journey to Jesus comes with tremendous risk. “They’re Muslims; they believe, ‘okay, I’m calling a Christian channel. So what?’ They don’t understand the danger,” Nazanin says.
“First of all, we teach them to be very careful. We warn them, ‘you might get a call and threat from authorities.’ Second thing, we tell them, ‘Don’t fear, trust Jesus; He’s the one who will protect you. Third thing, we tell them to go online, connect with us on VPN (Virtual Private Network),” she continues.
“We discourage them from calling us and try to call them because our system is anonymous. When we call them, it’s much safer.”
Eventually, Muslim callers learn who Jesus is. “99 percent give their heart to Jesus when they experience the Lord,” Nazanin says.
“They cannot walk away. They see that we care, that Jesus cares, and He answers prayer.”
*Pseudonym
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Emir Bozkurt/Pexels.
