Lana Silk with Transform Iran says the US-Iran ceasefire has been extremely helpful to the Iranian regime. “It’s given them an opportunity to catch their breath, to regroup, restrategize and strengthen themselves, really, for whatever rounds are coming next,” she notes. 

In the meantime, the people of Iran continue to be harassed and helpless under increasing economic and government pressures. Silk heard about a recent message delivered by a key Islamic leader in Iran:

(Stock photo courtesy of Javad Esmaeili via Unsplash)

“He was talking about donations for missiles and how there needs to be public participation in financing military costs because of this incredible ‘holy war’ that Iran is on,” she says. 

Pressures also come from international forces.

“We’ve had reports of Iraqi forces circling in Iran,” says Silk. “Sort of these caravans driving around in towns and cities on their motorcycles, shouting, ‘Haydar, haydar’ — or ‘War until victory,’ basically — and really just creating an atmosphere of fear and tension and the sort of Islamic objectives really pushed in people’s faces.” 

But Iraqi Muslim people aren’t the only ones traveling across Iran with a mission. 

“We have church members still traveling place to place, sharing the gospel,” says Silk. “We’ve had stories of salvations, people taking great risk, because they know that this bread of life that they carry is so much more important than regular bread that people are desperately seeking.”

Pray for God to speed and protect these believers as they bring the gospel of hope. 

“They’re desperate to share it with people and make sure that as many people as possible are brought into the kingdom of light while they still have time,” says Silk. “Pray for the church to continue courageously and be protected. Pray for the hope and the future that God has for our country.”

Learn more about Transform Iran’s mission and ministry to the people of Iran here. 

Header photo of Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Seyed Amir Mohammad via Unsplash)

The decision came last week, and Open Doors USA President/CEO David Curry says it’s not clear why this designation took so long.

“What is clear is that across the board, our government seems to be hesitating on calling out Christian persecution, wherever it’s happening across the globe,” says Curry.

“[The U.S. has] some geopolitical connections with these governments, in many, many cases, but yet we’re not encouraging them to crack down, try to protect Christians where persecution is happening.”

Boko Haram, whose name means ‘Western education is sin’, has been attacking churches and believers in northern Nigeria since 2009. The U.S. State Department designated three of Boko Haram’s top leaders as terrorists in June 2012, but stopped short of applying the label to the entire group.

“We would love to see more responsiveness on this point, and really calling it what it is when it happens, wherever it happens,” says Curry.

According to an official statement issued last Wednesday, the terror designations forbid a provision of “material resources” to Boko Haram and splinter group Ansaru.

“Without these kinds of designations, I don’t think people take them seriously,” Curry explains.

“They sort of sense that maybe they’re random; but these aren’t random attacks. These are planned attacks; these are targeted attacks in the northern part of Nigeria to eliminate, to squeeze out, Christianity in those regions.”

He hopes the designation means more than just words on paper.

“We hope that there’ll be dollars available, that there’ll be anti-terrorist training continuing for some of their police forces and military forces that will help to protect Christians there,” Curry states.

But the actions of Nigerian Christians speak volumes.

“Christians are praying there; they’re holding together in unity,” says Curry. “They are saying, ‘We have to find a spiritual solution, because a practical, physical solution seems to be so slow here on the ground’.”

Will you join them?

“Pray for those families that have been directly affected by loss of life,” Curry suggests.

“There are people, entire congregations, who’ve lost their church, their pastors have been killed. We want the freedom for people to go to church without fear of being hurt, without fear of the church being bombed.

“These are simple things that we don’t even think twice about here in the States, but would be very important things to pray for. Not just in Nigeria, but around the world.”

Find more ways to pray here.

The decision came last week, and Open Doors USA President/CEO David Curry says it's not clear why this designation took so long.

"What is clear is that across the board, our government seems to be hesitating on calling out Christian persecution, wherever it's happening across the globe," says Curry.

"[The U.S. has] some geopolitical connections with these governments, in many, many cases, but yet we're not encouraging them to crack down, try to protect Christians where persecution is happening."

Boko Haram, whose name means "Western education is sin," has been attacking churches and believers in northern Nigeria since 2009. The U.S. State Department designated three of Boko Haram's top leaders as terrorists in June 2012, but stopped short of applying the label to the entire group.

"We would love to see more responsiveness on this point, and really calling it what it is when it happens, wherever it happens," says Curry.

According to an official statement issued last Wednesday, the terror designations forbid a provision of "material resources" to Boko Haram and splinter group Ansaru.

"Without these kinds of designations, I don't think people take them seriously," Curry explains.

"They sort of sense that maybe they're random; but these aren't random attacks. These are planned attacks; these are targeted attacks in the northern part of Nigeria to eliminate, to squeeze out, Christianity in those regions."

Curry hopes the designation means more than just words on paper.

"We hope that there'll be dollars available, that there'll be anti-terrorist training continuing for some of their police forces and military forces that will help to protect Christians there," Curry states.

But the actions of Nigerian Christians speak volumes.

"Christians are praying there; they're holding together in unity," says Curry. "They are saying, 'We have to find a spiritual solution, because a practical, physical solution seems to be so slow here on the ground'."

Will you join them?

"Pray for those families that have been directly affected by loss of life," Curry suggests.

"There are people, entire congregations, who've lost their church, their pastors have been killed. We want the freedom for people to go to church without fear of being hurt, without fear of the church being bombed.

"These are simple things that we don't even think twice about here in the States, but would be very important things to pray for–not just in Nigeria, but around the world."

Find more ways to pray here.