“Iran has the fastest-growing Church in the world,” CEO Lana Silk says.

“This is a country that God has His eye on.”

Silk is the U.S.-based CEO of a group formerly known as 222 Ministries. Established in 1991, the group based its name on 2 Timothy 2:2, “which is a discipleship verse,” Silk says.

“We have a strong foundation of discipleship and leadership development. That is the bedrock of what we do.”

While noble, the name ‘222 Ministries’ also creates some confusion. “It’s difficult for people to understand what that is about, and it’s difficult for them to connect it to Iran,” Silk says.

“Earlier this year, God showed us a new name – Transform Iran – which we feel is a better representation of the whole picture of what we do.”

Formerly known as 222 Ministries, Transform Iran will continue what it has been doing for decades.
(Photo courtesy of Transform Iran)

Moving forward, Transform Iran will continue what it’s been doing for decades.

“We are purposefully and constantly training people, equipping people, resourcing them, and then envisioning them to do that for others,” Silk says.

Plus, supported by a partnership with unfoldingWord, Transform Iran added Bible translation to its portfolio. Learn more here.

“More than 50 percent of Iranians do not speak the national language, Farsi, in their home,” Silk says.

“Iran is made up of a beautiful tapestry of all sorts of ethnic minorities. Only four of these people groups have the Word of God in their language. [unfoldingWord] trained our team and got us onto the CCBT method, which we wholeheartedly agree with and love.”

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“The more people know what is going on in Iran and get involved, the better,” Silk says.

Header image courtesy of Transform Iran.

According to Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA), 341 protesters have now been killed in the unrest sweeping Iran, including 52 minors. At least 15,820 people had been arrested as of Sunday, and some reports indicate that over 20,000 are currently incarcerated in crowded cells.

Help us help the voiceless in Iran.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Transform Iran)

Despite the regime’s increasing crackdown, women remain on the frontlines of Iran’s protest movement.

“The current dynamics in Iran are exactly where our heart is – to help women find the courage and the audacity to stand up and say, ‘No, I want more. I want more, and I’m worth more,’” Transform Iran CEO Lana Silk says.

The coals of an anti-hijab movement smoldered for years. In September, Mahsa Amini’s death in police custody stirred those coals into a nationwide inferno. Today, unjust government responses add fuel to the fire.

“The hijab is a symbol; it’s all about silencing and hiding,” Silk says.

“These women are saying, ‘We don’t want to be hidden anymore. We have a voice, and we want to use it.’”

How to help women in Iran

Transform Iran’s Pearl of Persia ministry serves women on the lowest tiers of society. Iran holds more than five million drug addicts, victims of sexual abuse, and prostitutes.

“We disciple [these women] weekly over a year; we give them access to trauma counseling – here’s how you deal with the stuff that’s happened to you in the past; here is a biblical outlook on who you are in terms of your Maker – and then we find a way out for them,” Silk says.

“We’re building a section on our website that educates people on the background of Iran. If you want to know ‘what is life like as a woman in Iran? How are girls being educated? What’s being put into their heads?’ – all that will be available for reading.”

Find your place in the story here. “Could you partner with us in prayer?” Silk requests.

“This is a supernatural battle. We rely on prayerful support that covers, protects, gives us wisdom, and anoints the work.”

222 Ministries rebranded as Transform Iran earlier this week to better reflect its mission. More about that here.

Header and story images courtesy of Transform Iran.

As described here, Iran is planting leaders inside different faith groups to protect and advance its interests. “Iranians have opened up with great thirst and hunger towards the Scripture. The Iranian population is open for change,” says Pastor Lazarus*.

“It’s this evil regime that [is] hostile. Not only to Christianity, but they’re hostile to democracy, religious liberty; they’re hostile to freedom.”

Pastor Lazarus leads 222 Ministries, a church planting ministry in Iran. They’re partnering with unfoldingWord to translate God’s Word into minority languages. More about that here.

“There are many scholars in Iran who are disillusioned with their faith! Some are eager to participate in our effort, in translating God’s word into the ethnic languages of Iran. We believe they will meet the resurrected Christ, as they translate His word!” Pastor Lazarus says.

Context

Iran is one of the world’s most hostile environments for Christians, but it wasn’t always this way. Before the 1979 Islamic Revolution, religious minorities in Iran flourished as independent communities.

“Churches were free to operate, and we were free to evangelize. We are going out in big numbers and distributing tracts, but nobody was interested,” Pastor Lazarus says.

“Everybody was after fame and making riches for themselves, and living a comfortable life. People were not interested in the Gospel.”

(Graphic courtesy of 222 Ministries)

Religious minorities lost everything when the ayatollahs took over, but God used it for His glory.

“People started being thirsty and hungry for the truth. What they taught is their accommodative, nice religion, peaceful religion; they realize no, this (Islam) is a warring religion,” Pastor Lazarus says.

“People started opening to the Gospel; first hundreds, and then thousands started accepting Jesus Christ.”

Find your place in the story

Today, as the ayatollahs tighten their grip on power, Iranians become even more desperate for truth and freedom. “My encouragement is to pray. But be informed in your praying, and see the progress which your prayers are making,” Pastor Lazarus says.

“Uninformed prayer is shooting into the air without aim. But informed praying is praying with aiming, intention, and knowing what we’re praying for.”

Use the prompts listed alongside this report to guide your intercession. Learn more about church planting in Iran here.

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Javad Esmaeili/Unsplash.

“It’s a massive movement to Christ throughout the country and through the diaspora that’s scattered in Turkey, Armenia, and other neighboring countries in Europe,” David Reeves, CEO of unfoldingWord, says.

“There’s a large number of unreached people groups in the midst of that [movement]; languages that have no Scripture translation.”

More Iran headlines here.

Speaking hope to Iran

Iran’s official language is Farsi, but people use 80 other languages throughout the country as well. See a list of Iran’s languages here. unfoldingWord is teaming up with like-minded ministries and Iranian believers to get God’s Word into these minority languages. It’s part of a larger project called Whole Bibles for the Whole Nation, Reeves explains.

(Photo by Amir Ahmadi on Unsplash)

“When it’s done, there’ll be no language [speaker] left in Iran that wants a Bible that will not have a whole Bible in their language.”

These translations will fuel other Kingdom-building initiatives, he adds. “When you start getting into these minority language communities, they need scriptures in order to be effective in discipleship and church planting,” Reeves explains.

“Because we’re working on a model called church-centric Bible translation, we’re able to mobilize these large-scale church planting networks at scales that dwarf efforts that have been done in the past.”

Learn more about unfoldingWord’s approach here.

How to help

Making Christ known in Iran is a collaborative effort. unfoldingWord partners with 222 Ministries and Biblica to update the existing Farsi translation and begin new Bible translation work in minority languages.

“This church network has already got three languages with a team formed, ready to start Bible translation, and working on a fourth. So, it’ll easily be 10 [translations] that will start here in the next year,” Reeves says.

Become a financial partner here. Most importantly, pray. “Radical Islam has tentacles all over the place, so there’ll be a lot of spiritual opposition,” Reeves says.

“Pray for covering [and] protection over these church planting networks in the midst of all this.”

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Kiwihug via Unsplash.