That same year, another ambitious effort sought to reach Iran for Christ. Mohabat TV began as the first 24/7 Christian satellite channel broadcasting to Iranians in Farsi.

“At first, we thought it was going to be a lot of struggles, and people are not going to be receptive. But we were shocked,” Heart4Iran’s Edwin Abnous says.

“Not too long after the launch, a lot of calls and contacts started coming in; we processed about 700 contacts a day.”

Heart4Iran: a history

(Photo courtesy Ram Singh/Unsplash)

In the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, two intersecting trends presented a unique Gospel opportunity in Iran. First, Abnous says, “A couple of leaders went inside the country and experienced the revival that was happening there.”

Second, the growing prevalence of satellite television enabled ministries to bypass government restrictions that hindered traditional evangelistic methods.

“They (Heart4Iran founders) thought, ‘Okay, this is the time to start a satellite channel to preach the Gospel and provide discipleship in Iran,’” Abnous says.

Mohabat TV officially launched on March 1, 2006, as the first continuous Farsi-language Christian broadcast accessible inside Iran. The satellite channel also reached Farsi-speaking audiences in Afghanistan and Tajikistan, as well as the Persian-speaking diaspora.

Soon after the launch, audience response revealed a need for structured pastoral care. Mohabat TV creators developed a follow-up system that incorporated trauma care, round-the-clock accessibility, and privacy.

“God started writing a beautiful story for Iranians, and we’re glad that God has allowed us to be part of this,” Abnous says.

(Photo courtesy Heart4Iran)

The ministry later added a training series for house churches. In 2018, the partnership approach that catalyzed Mohabat TV’s launch matured into a formal platform called Heart4Iran. The network eventually grew to include more than 100 partner ministries, with each contributing to evangelism, discipleship, Scripture distribution, and media production.

Months before COVID-19 lockdowns began, Mohabat TV launched a digital church. The fellowship became a lifeline for countless Persian-speaking believers who needed a safe, consistent connection and discipleship during the pandemic. Expanded satellite reach and digital capacity allowed Heart4Iran to respond rapidly to regional crises, including the 2021 Afghanistan crisis.

Openness and opportunity

The Body of Christ in Iran has also grown rapidly over the past two decades.

“During the Shah’s time, we just had 500 Muslim background believers. In 2020, a survey came out, and [it found that] 1.5% of the Iranian population is now Christian,” Abnous says.

“This is about 1 million Muslim background [believers]; that’s a huge increase!”

For the past 20 years, through Heart4Iran, God has used His Word to bring light into dark places. As Bibles are placed into waiting hands, pray that each one finds the right person at the right time. Pray for hearts to be open.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Heart4Iran)

Today, many Iranians are disillusioned and searching. You can help them find Jesus through Heart4Iran. “Iranians are very much open to the Gospel,” Abnous says.

“Islam is bankrupt in Iran, and people are looking for alternative answers. The beautiful answer that they can find and they’re receptive to is the Christian faith.”

Pray for the Heart4Iran team as it expands family discipleship programs, strengthens leadership formation, and develops greater regional production capacity.

“Iranians are moving from [an] organized Islamic government and theocratic situation to a nation that is looking for new opportunities or new alternatives,” Abnous says.

“This door, I’m not sure how long it would be open, and we want to make sure we take advantage.”

Header image courtesy of Heart4Iran. 

Surprisingly, the Iranian regime appears restrained and ready to offer relief to its people. However, Edwin Abnous of Heart4Iran says real change is unlikely.

“They may promise some reform, but the core problem is not going to go away, and that is crushing sanctions, deep-rooted corruptions, and then the security-first approach that they have for the budget,” he explains.

Tehran shopkeepers took to the streets on December 28 when the rial collapsed to its lowest rate in months. While widespread, current protests lack revolutionary power.

“This wave, on its own, isn’t likely to topple the regime, not yet,” Abnous says.

“History tells that bringing down an authoritarian system like Iran usually [requires] three things to align at the same time.”

First, protests must shake the economy, he explains. Second, demonstrations need “some kind of unifying leadership to coordinate all this scattered anger into a focused movement,” Abnous says.

Third, there must be “Real cracks into the security system: units refusing orders, and at least hesitation when they’re told to fire on crowds.”

Iranians are desperate for hope. Ask the Lord to put His words in the mouths of Heart4Iran operators, who point callers to the Prince of Peace. Learn more about Heart4Iran’s ministry here.

“Our call center is ready, literally, 24/7,” Abnous says.

“Anytime an Iranian calls in, we’re ready to pick up the phone. We call ourselves a ministry that never sleeps.”

Header image is an AI-generated photo created by ChatGPT depicting protests and prayer in Iran. 

Protests began in Iran’s capital last week and quickly spread to other cities when the Iranian currency hit record lows.

“The big thing I am watching right now is whether this stays a contained economic unrest or [if] this will be snowballing into something much broader,” Heart4Iran’s Edwin Abnous says.

“When the merchants and students and everyday families join and march, that is when you need to pay attention.”

Though smaller in scale, current demonstrations pose the biggest threat to Iran’s regime since the 2022 Mahsa Amini protests. “They’re (the regime is) trying to contain the protests without pouring gasoline on the fire,” Abnous says.

“If they come down brutally on what starts as an economic frustration, it can quickly morph into something much deeper, which they don’t want to happen.”

Representative AI photo generated by ChatGPT depicting protests and prayer in Iran.

Rising spiritual hunger

Heart4Iran shares the hope of Jesus with people desperate for change. More about that here.

With over 100 active partners, Heart4Iran helps new believers and growing churches, addresses current issues, and develops leaders who cultivate the spiritual growth of the Church among Persian speakers.

“In times of unrest like this, the felt spiritual need skyrockets. People are shaken; they’re looking for something bigger than political solutions. They’re looking for real calm, lasting hope,” Abnous says.

“This is where we are ready to share the Good News of the Gospel and help them with their traumas.”

Keep Iran’s Christians in your prayers. Ask the Lord to protect believers and give them wisdom.

Iran’s regime “wants to deflect blame from its own economic failures,” Abnous explains, and believers make a convenient scapegoat.

“Religious minorities, particularly Christian converts from Islam and those involved in house churches, are routinely portrayed as a national security threat because of perceived ties to Western Christianity.”

Header image depicts U.S. President Donald Trump speaking to a reporter. Photo courtesy of WhiteHouse.gov.

One believer who received a 15-year sentence stands accused of “threatening national security” and “propaganda against the regime through promoting Christianity.” Charges against the other five believers remain unknown.

Heart4Iran’s Mike Ansari says one thing is clear: “This collective sentencing could be a method to send a strong message and warning to others who may consider converting to Christianity.”

Iran’s new president-elect is a member of the minority community, which seems like it would offer a measure of protection to ethnic minorities. However, these harsh sentences were all handed out to minority Christians in the days leading up to Iran’s July 5 run-off election.

“For a few days, minorities became citizens” in the public eye, Ansari says, “and now we realize that those minorities are irrelevant.

“The location of this persecution is a place where you have a lot of minorities residing. There is no coincidence [in] this persecution’s timing so close to the election.”

Believers have a legal option to appeal these sentences, but “appealing the sentence usually requires extensive legal representation, which can be very challenging due to the constraints imposed on Christians in the country,” Ansari says.

(Photo courtesy Heart4Iran)

“During the appeal process, the legal system most likely is not going to be able to maintain impartiality and fairness,” he continues.

“Given Iran’s political and religious biases, the appeal courts might also be influenced by the same pressure or forces that led initially to the arrest and sentencing of these individuals. This makes the process of appealing both difficult for the individual and their families, something we have seen in the past.”

We cannot change Iran’s judicial system, but we know the Lord who holds Iran in His hands. “There is power in prayer. That’s why we ask the international community to stand next to these individuals and pray for them,” Ansari says.

“Pray for comfort and peace. These are very, very difficult, stressful times. Pray for strength and endurance, protection and deliverance.”

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“The international community needs to bring attention to these cases, and that’s crucial. External pressure and awareness have always played a huge favorable role in helping the persecuted,” Ansari says.

Header image is a representative photo courtesy of Ehsan Habashi/Unsplash.

Heart4Iran’s Mike Ansari says, “These days, Iranian women – whether they’re Christian or non-Christian – are being subjected to harassment and violence under Iranian rule.”

Quadcopters equipped with cameras photograph women and girls and transmit their location to “hijab enforcers,” who then confront them directly.
(Photo courtesy of Edgar Delgado/Pexels)

Free women aren’t the only ones beset by Iranian authorities. Christian prisoners like 60-year-old Mina Khajavi are suffering oppression, too.

Inside Iran’s notorious Evin Prison, “she is currently serving a six-year sentence under the charge of acting against the national security by promoting Zionist Christianity in a house church,” Ansari says.

Mina severely broke her ankle in a car accident shortly before starting her prison sentence in January. “According to some sources close to her and her family, she is still in severe pain and unable to receive the care that she needs,” Ansari says.

“The only care she receives is occasional pain relief.”

According to International Christian Concern, Evin Prison houses 60 percent of the believers detained in Iran. Prisoners in Evin report dismal conditions and more than 70 different types of torture.

Pray the Lord will heal Mina’s ankle and relieve her pain. Ask God to strengthen women believers across Iran and help them endure the crackdowns.

“The systematic violation of religious freedom and human rights across Iran is quite alarming,” Ansari says.

“It gives us cause as Christians to come together and lift up Iran in our prayers.”

Header image courtesy of Heart4Iran.

A new report from Norway-based Iran Human Rights (IHR) and France’s Together Against the Death Penalty (ECPM) says executions surged for the second year in a row in Iran as authorities targeted protestors involved in the ‘Women. Life. Freedom.’ movement.

Official sources noted 125 executions in 2023, but the report lists at least 834 executions – a 43 percent increase since 2022 and the second-highest number of state-sanctioned killings since records began. At least 22 of those who died last year were women, the report says, the highest number since 2013.

Yet those surrendered to Christ do not fear death. “The vast underground church movement inside Iran is primarily led by women. They have left Islam and become Christian,” Mike* with Heart4Iran says.

Heart4Iran recently gathered these young Iranian Christ-followers and their male counterparts for a leadership development discussion.

“God has given these younger believers such amazing tools to contribute to Iranian society,” Mike says.

“These are people who are saying, ‘I matter; I can change the destiny of my nation, and I am brave enough to stand in the gap.’”

Many young believers tell Heart4Iran that their unique giftings don’t have a place in the local church.

“When a young Muslim becomes a Christian, their zeal for Christ translates to an innate desire to serve the Lord. Most often, [young people say,] ‘The only way I can be an effective Christian leader is to be a pastor or serve within the church building,’” Mike says.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“That model is not a holistic model for the growth of a Christian movement within the context of a society and a nation. God is raising Christian believers leading from the context of the marketplace,” he continues.

“Defining a leader goes beyond the church context. The survival of the Church and Christian movement in Iran depends on Christian leaders within the marketplace.”

Heart4Iran is helping young leaders finetune and develop their skills and passions, enabling them to serve God through vocation. The first way you can help is also the easiest and most important.

“Please pray for the younger, emerging leaders to understand that to be an effective, efficient leader does not mean that you have to serve in the church only,” Mike requests.

“Pray [Heart4Iran can] train enough leaders organically so they would stay inside their own countries and have an impact through their skills and love for the Lord.”

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header image depicts a snapshot from the emerging leaders’ conference hosted by Heart4Iran. Faces blurred for security purposes. (Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

Today, “more younger people are using Chat GPT as a primary search engine than Google,” says Mike* with Heart4Iran Ministries.

Thanks to Mohabat GPT, whenever a Muslim in Iran searches for answers about Christianity, they’ll find a carefully curated set of biblical content. Creators modified the code interacting with external sources in Chat GPT to point to Mohabat GPT servers instead.

Mohabat GPT is “a platform that has been gifted to us generously by one of our ministry partners, Al-Hayat Ministries,” Mike says.

“We anticipate that in reaching the younger audience, especially Millennials and Gen Z’s, [we will] see more success than our conventional multimedia approach.”

Heart4Iran leaders hope this is the first of many ways AI can advance Gospel outreach in Iran.

For example, “bringing the Gospel to Iran usually carries along with it a risk of putting faces and names on TV that may have families in Iran that could get into trouble,” Mike says.

However, using an AI-generated avatar to deliver the information instead of a person “creates a great opportunity for us to bring the latest news, updates, and encouragement to a region that otherwise would be difficult to reach.”

Pray for wisdom as Heart4Iran leverages Mohabat GPT and develops other AI tools to introduce Iranians to Christ.

“These tools can provide a set of unique challenges and can be quite dark at times,” Mike says.

“Please pray that we could be intentional and diligent in the biblical approach through the help of the Holy Spirit to bring the Gospel of light to people.”

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header image depicts a recent Heart4Iran leadership conference. Faces blurred for security purposes. Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran.

Pray for the safety of all affected by the Middle East conflict. Seek insight for Iran’s leadership.
(Photo, caption courtesy of Heart4Iran)

The U.S. struck three bases belonging to Iranian-backed militia in Iraq on Wednesday. The Iraqi government deemed this move a “reckless escalation” that violated Iraq’s sovereignty.

The strikes follow countless attacks on U.S. military personnel since the Israel-Hamas war began in October and an Iranian missile airstrike in Kurdistan on January 16.

Edwin* with Heart4Iran says, “Iran is basically attempting to showcase its military strength and signal to [the] United States, to Israel, and even to Arab allies, its readiness to confront external threats.”

Iran launched consecutive missile attacks in neighboring Iraq, Pakistan, and nearby Syria last week, signaling “Iran’s ability to spread its influence beyond its borders and impact regional security,” Edwin says.

“That is why they have such a bold action this time, and they’re not using proxies.”

The messages didn’t stop there. “Iran attacked Pakistan to pressure the regional countries to reconsider their alliances with the United States.

“Iran’s goal is to discourage any assistance to the United States that could be used against Iran or its allies in the region.”

Heart4Iran furthers the Great Commission in Iran through media and technology. More about that here. Pray their messages will encourage and reassure believers in Iran.

“Please pray for stability in the region and peace for the Church of God as she’s carrying out the Kingdom’s mission,” Edwin says.

“Any unrest directly affects people’s [lives], especially in the Iranian population. It is even harder on religious and ethnic minorities because of the discrimination they are experiencing inside the country.”

*Name withheld for security purposes.

Header and story images courtesy of Heart4Iran.

At first, “the Iranian government [was] blaming America, CIA, Mossad, and Israel, but people within the country say it’s the regime who did this,” says Heart4Iran’s Nazanin Baghestani.

“A few days earlier [before the explosions,] Ayatollah Khamenei said that he is speaking from God, and he says the blood of the martyrs is feeding the regime to stay put (in power).”

The explosions impacted anniversary gatherings at the tomb of military commander Qasem Soleimani, who was assassinated by the U.S. on January 3, 2020.

Iranian General Qaseem Soleimani
(Wikimedia Commons)

Initially, a senior adviser to Iran’s President blamed Israel and the U.S. for the double blast, while the U.S. suspected the Islamic State. Iran’s explosions came a day after an Israeli strike killed a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon.

Iranians say the two events are connected. “This is all about revenge; you know, taking revenge,” Baghestani says.

“The regime always uses innocent people; it’s nothing new. They always use innocent, local people to blame things on an outsider.”

The January 3 explosions threaten to escalate tensions in the Middle East, a region already on edge due to the Israel-Hamas war.

Calls to Heart4Iran’s 24-7 ministry line reflect nationwide anxiety. “They cannot afford to buy basic [items] because of inflation [or] having no job, all the turmoil that’s going on inside [Iran.] They’re already stressed with financial situations, and on top of that, thinking about the war scares them,” Baghestani says.

“They always want prayer for peace. That’s mostly what our calls are. When they ask for prayer, we say, ‘Do you know the source of peace?’ We always preach the Gospel; we always tell them the Good News,” she continues.

“Praise God, so many believe in Christ because there is no other hope.”

Only Jesus offers hope that can override today’s calamity. Pray that Iranian callers will surrender their hearts to Christ and find peace that surpasses understanding.

Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Engin Akyurt/Pexels.

Soon after Mahsa Amini died in 2022, the Iranian government allowed police to use AI-assisted tools to crack down on protestors. This reportedly led to more than 20,000 arrests and the killing of 500+ young protesters.

Heart4Iran’s Laurelle Gallant says, “Iran has been pursuing a goal of becoming a top 10 AI nation [by 2032.] The country has made significant progress in AI research and applications such as license plate recognition [and] face recognition.”

Today, AI-powered surveillance helps police identify and oppress women who flaunt the hijab laws. Authorities use the same types of tools to target Christians.

“The development of AI in Iran could pose challenges and opportunities for our work,” Gallant says.

“On one hand, [AI] could make it harder for us to operate safely and effectively in a hostile environment. On the other hand, it could create new avenues for us to communicate and connect with Iranians who are curious and hungry for the Gospel.”

Gallant describes four ways you can help Iranian Christians through Heart4Iran.

First, “Listeners and readers who are concerned about the situation in Iran and the fate of Iranian Christians should respond by praying for them fervently and regularly,” she says.

“Number two, they [can] support Heart4Iran’s work financially to provide Bibles and other resources to deepen the walk of believers in Iran and set the tone for future generations.”

(Graphic courtesy of Heart4Iran)

Research paves the way for a third way to help. Believers can “educate themselves and others about the reality and the needs of Iranian Christians and advocate for their rights and freedoms” by visiting Heart4Iran’s website, Gallant says.

Finally, “you should share the love and hope of Jesus Christ with Iranians and Muslims you may encounter in your community or online. It’s a shame and honor culture, so evangelizing will be different than evangelizing to Westerners,” she continues.

“[At Heart4Iran,] we offer and host a Muslim next-door training at churches. We can come to your church for a day or half a day and give training to help you understand the cultural differences and help cause your evangelism to Muslims to be more effective.”

Contact Heart4Iran here to learn more.

Header and story images courtesy of Heart4Iran.