Joe Willey serves with SAT-7, a satellite TV ministry to the Middle East and North Africa. The team knows their programs are a lifeline for isolated believers.

SAT-7 programs are a lifeline for isolated believers. (Photo courtesy of SAT-7)

“We have to really consider and not be glib about what they are going through, and not just say, ‘Oh, it will be okay,’ although we know in Christ it will be okay,” Willey says.

Instead of glibness, SAT-7 programs strive for gospel grit. That’s one reason why Iranian expats serve across the SAT-7 team. They bring cultural and personal understanding to create biblically sound content to minister to Iran and beyond. Christians aren’t the only audience they hope their content will serve. 

“We can pray for the Christian community to be strong, to stand fast,” says Willey. “But what also is happening in Iran is that people who have been under a real burden of religion, they have been turning to atheism. Because they say, ‘If this is religion, I don’t want any part of it.’ Until they hear the Gospel, until they hear about grace, until they hear about forgiveness. And it changes everything.” 

Pray that God uses SAT-7 and other media ministries to soften hearts across Iran — perhaps for the first time — to Jesus today.

Visit SAT-7’s website to read stories of God’s work in the MENA region, and to learn how to partner with this ministry. “See what’s going on in the Middle East and North Africa, and pray,” invites Willey. 

Header photo: An Iranian woman stands at an overlook with a panoramic view of Tehran, Iran. Tehran is the capital of Iran and its largest city, with the greater metro area hosting a population of 15 million. (Photo and caption courtesy of IMB, CC 4.0)

Prisoners For Christ (PFC) recognized the ministry opportunity early. They eventually connected with Pando, a closed-access app owned and operated by God Behind Bars out of Nevada. In January 2025, PFC began uploading Christian books, sermons, Bible teachings, and Gospel videos.

(Photo courtesy of Prisoners For Christ)

Mike North, Vice President of Communications at PFC, says, “We’ve been on there almost a year, and the response has been incredible. It’s been greater than we ever imagined!”

Tablets in prison aren’t like civilian devices. Inmates cannot freely access the Internet or search random websites. Instead, usage is heavily restricted to pre-approved apps such as Pando and other monitored content platforms. That control ensures safety while allowing ministries like PFC to provide meaningful, Gospel-centered material.

And prisoners are responding. One inmate named Carl wrote: “I’m so ready to give my life to Christ and follow Him to the ends of the earth… I will follow you forever. Amen.”

To date, PFC’s 46 uploaded videos have been viewed more than 564,000 times. The channel has also recorded 702 professions of faith in Jesus Christ after inmates watch a video that clearly explains the Gospel.

“It’s really humbling and it’s an unexpected blessing to think that we are actually in the cell with these prisoners,” North says. “We are actually meeting them — literally where they are — to present the light of the Gospel.”

(Photo courtesy of Prisoners For Christ)

When asked about PFC’s future vision with the Pando app, North responds, “That we would continue to upload content that’s relevant — and not just relevant, but interesting…. We want to evangelize and disciple these brothers and sisters in Christ.”

The momentum is building nationwide. Greg von Tobel, President and Founder of PFC, predicts, “By five years, I think every inmate in America will have a tablet. So that gives the Christian ministries out there an incredible opportunity to provide their resources to inmates without having boots on the ground.”

Pando is already active on 610,000 tablets, and plans underway could add another 700,000, bringing the total to 1.1 million devices.

That’s a Gospel opportunity unlike anything prison ministries have seen before. But growth takes funding.

Von Tobel says, “If your listeners were so moved to partner with us…there’s a lot more material that we could certainly avail ourselves of putting out there for inmate consumption. So that would be a prayer request.”

You can help bring the Gospel into prison cells across the United States. Click here to give through the PFC website.

Pray for favor and open hearts as the Gospel goes into more prisons through Pando. Pray also for strength and spiritual growth for new believers inside prison walls.

Header photo courtesy of Kelly Sikkema/Unsplash.

“After the war, they realized there are many spies [who] find government secrets and send [them] to Israel,” she says. “They are blaming everyone.”

One watchdog organization reports that journalists have been especially targeted. Baghestani adds Christians and Baha’is to the list. She says the government accuses believers of being “Zionist Christians” spying for Israel. It’s a fast track to prison. 

“More than I would say 70 Christians are in prison currently, awaiting their sentences,” Baghestani says. 

Heart4Iran knows of house churches that have been raided and at least one pastor who was arrested and tortured so severely that he shared names of other believers. 

“Some have just left their homes and cars where they are, and they just fled for their lives,” says Baghestani. “It’s sad, because we have prayed with these friends, with these Christians inside the country. We have discipled them. They are like our [children], and we are responsible for them.”

People’s fear of being monitored has kept them from calling Heart4Iran’s counseling center, which has seen its daily call volume drop.

(Photo courtesy of Heart4Iran)

“Everybody — Christian or non-Christian, the youth, the old — they all live in fear. Fear of arrest, fear of even getting killed on the streets. They come and stab you, and nobody knows why. You’re dead on the street, bleeding, and there is no answer,” Baghestani says. 

“When Mahsa Amini [protests] started, all the youth [rose up]. But now the youth are quiet. Where are they? They’re scared. They’re afraid.”

She says Iranians are placing notes and stickers in public places as signs of protest rather than taking to the streets themselves.

Let these accounts lead your prayers for the Iranian church.

“The Lord is good. The Lord is faithful. The Lord can protect them in the midst of all the persecution,” Baghestani says. 

Then, share this story. Visit Heart4Iran’s website to learn more about the Church in Iran.

“When we educate one another [about] what’s going on, when we bring awareness, we will be able to pray better for our people inside the country,” Baghestani says. 

“As much as we feel we are safe and there is no persecution, at these end times, persecution is spreading. If there is persecution in Iran, it will ooze out, and it will affect Christians all over the world.” 

Header image is a stock photo from Tehran, Iran courtesy of Seyed Amir Mohammad Tabatabaee.

Non-Existent Organizations

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs USA recently recorded a podcast with Chinese pastor, Brother Enfu*. He offered some insights on this unique concern of the underground church.

Nettleton says, “Every single church leader that has been charged in the last two years has been charged with financial crimes charges. They’ve been charged with fraud. They’ve been charged with so-called illegal business practices. And what it comes down to is the government comes in and says, ‘Hey, you’re collecting donations for an organization that doesn’t exist. That’s fraud.’”

Pastors facing this charge have very little chance at a defense. They cannot admit to having parishioners since that would require a legal church. The trials have been short and there is little chance for outside help since China says the arrests are for fraud not religious persecution.

(Image courtesy of Jacob Bentzinger on Unsplash)

Nettleton says that for Brother Enfu and other church leaders this poses a serious problem. Tithing, paying a pastor, and even providing healthcare or insurance for the pastor have become increasingly difficult.

“You can’t start a checking account for something that doesn’t legally exist. And the Chinese government is certainly monitoring financial transactions. They’re watching what’s going on. He talked about the fact that people bring their offerings in cash because they don’t want it tracked through some kind of electronic transaction, and the church doesn’t have a checking account where they could deposit checks. So people bring their money, their offerings, in cash. Then in his church they divided it up among the elders of the church,” Nettleton says.

Once the elders have the money, there still must be a legitimate reason for them to have it. So many church leaders have found themselves attending to these practical concerns while they struggle to find time to prepare to preach.

Smaller Churches, No Outside Training

Additionally, the crackdown in this way has forced larger underground churches to break up into smaller units. They need more leaders, but the avenues to train and pay them are fewer and more dangerous than in the past.

One area of increased concern is with outside training from foreigners. Brother Enfu noted that the government has cracked down on outsiders sharing the Gospel.

(Image courtesy of Zhang Kaiyv on Unsplash)

Nettleton says, “Not just in front of a crowd of people, but literally even in a one-on-one conversation, for a foreigner to talk about religion is now against the law in China. And so the need for Chinese leaders to be raised up, and Chinese leaders to stay and to train the next generation of leaders, that is something that is certainly on Brother Enfu’s heart. He encouraged us to pray for that as well.”

As a result of these new and creative means of persecution, Chinese parents are preparing their children for oppression and imprisonment. Nettleton says, “He talked about literally sitting around his own dinner table and talking with his own children about, ‘What will happen when I get arrested? Yeah, that that’s a strong possibility. But more importantly, what will happen when you get arrested my children? When you go to prison? Because that’s what it looks like to follow Jesus in China.’”

Please pray that God would continue to grow the church in China despite persecution.

If you want to listen to Brother Enfu’s interview in full, click here.

*Pseudonym

Header image courtesy of Ye Jinghan via Unsplash

Kathleen Retan with Prisoners for Christ (PFC) says that a few years ago, an inmate named Darryl was receiving discipleship from multiple ministries, including PFC. He decided it was time to take responsibility for gospel ministry in his facility. 

Today, Darryl and a group of fellow believers call themselves Table Time Ministries. The name is a riff on a well-known prison reality in which s the tables in shared spaces are staked out by different people.

(Photo courtesy of Ivan Samkov via Pexels)

“Their emphasis is very much on being models within the prison, models of the way Jesus Christ would want them to act and to live,” said Retan. “This is not just to other inmates, but specifically for staff to see that too.” 

The men in Table Time meet for three hours on Saturdays, sponsored by PFC. Volunteers with PFC lead one hour, but a full two hours are for Table Time’s cell-to-cell outreach planning, Bible study, community, and more.

“When you have the inmate-initiated discipleship, you’re able to tap into a passion for other inmates as well as a shared cultural experience that volunteers can’t match either,” said Retan. “That gives me a lot of hope for what the Holy Spirit’s going to do in this work.” 

This good news is a call to action! Inmates around the world need discipleship before they can become disciplers themselves. That often means a fellow Christian must come to serve them first. 

“So many of us think of the work of the church [as if] it should be done by the pastors and the elders, the deacons, and we sit in the pews,” said Retan. “Well, the inmates can be the same way. They need to have it awakened to them that they need to be the ‘inside church’ themselves and not leave ministry up to the organizations, the volunteers alone.” 

Think God might be calling you to prison ministry? Prisoners for Christ is dedicated to taking the gospel into jails, prisons, and juvenile institutions in more than 30 countries worldwide, including the US. Contact PFC today to learn more and find resources about this work wherever you are. 

The header photo is courtesy of Donald Tong/Pexels.

The good news? Don Szolomayer with Prisoners for Christ says almost every prison they’ve served over the years has some form of a church.

“[It] may not be in a building. It may just be a handful of inmates that gather periodically. On the other side of that, it may be a full-blown, active church with a building, with structure.” 

These churches need support. Prisoners for Christ offers an International Bible Institute program that disciples inmates in their faith in Christ. (More on that here.)

Another strategy is to connect believers outside of the prison with those inside.

Representative picture of a small prison cell. (Photo by camilo jimenez on Unsplash)

“When we go to various countries…we go into their prisons and we model how to do services and things of that nature, but then we’re gone. Who’s there to carry over? So one of the things we do is we try to find local churches and that to take on that responsibility,” says Szolomayer.

He encourages pastors around the world to view prison churches as part of their own congregation. Looking ahead, Prisoners for Christ hopes to see many inmates serving as chaplains within the facilities where they are incarcerated.

“You have someone in that prison that’s there, 24/7, that can share, that can mentor, that can disciple, that can evangelize on the spot, as needed, as things occur — that’s really the church in action in a prison setting,” says Szolomayer. 

Please pray as Prisoners for Christ develops their ministry model to plant more churches and strengthen the ones that already exist. Rapport with prison officials is opening the way for church-planting.

“It’s almost like starting from scratch every time you go to plant a church in a prison, because the variables are just all over the place,” says Szolomayer. 

Header photo: Representative stock photo from Iran courtesy of Mashid Saberpour via Unsplash.

Greg Von Tobel with Prisoners for Christ says amid prisoner communities, the harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Especially outside of US ministries, there is often a dirge of prison ministry workers. But Von Tobel says his team’s calling is irrevocable. 

“We stand firm. We continue to march.”

For laborers with Prisoners for Christ, that means serving prisoners in more than 160 countries. From hosting medical clinics to offering Bibles, Christian resources, and prayer support, Von Tobel says his team is taking Christ to some of the world’s darkest places. 

“There are many – especially in some of these dark jungle prisons of Africa – many people who have never heard the name of Jesus Christ before,” he says. 

The story is similar in densely populated India and its neighbor Pakistan. 

“Every country has a prison system, and many people come to know Jesus while in prison,” Von Tobel points out. 

He sees prisons as one of God’s great gifts to mankind. 

“Because it can be the last bastion where a lost soul will come to know his creator face to face,” he says. 

Please pray that prison ministries like Prisoners for Christ would be adequately resourced to serve inmate populations around the world. Pray that God would raise up volunteers to contribute to this effort and that hearts would be pricked to tell prisoners about God’s great rescue mission: one which proclaims liberty to all captives.

(Above photo courtesy of Biblica via Facebook; Header image courtesy of Ron Lach via Pexels)

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Martyrs, USA explains the potential ramifications. 

“So if you are sharing your religion and it’s making people of another religion angry, well, then you’re upsetting public order, and public order is a higher value than religious freedom, which has been guaranteed in the constitution,” he says.

(Photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs)

“I would love to know the discussions behind the scenes between the various attorneys and how he (the judge) came to this decision. But it does show what the Hindu nationalists believe: that ‘if we let the Christians propagate their religion, if we let the Muslims grow in influence, that is going to upset the public order, that’s going to bring about hassles and upset and upheaval that we don’t want. So we need to stop those. Therefore, we need these anti-conversion laws that we have, even though clearly they violate the constitution that promises the freedom to freely propagate your religion.”

Anti-conversion laws are used with relative impunity to justify attacks on Christians and other minority religions. One India-based monitor verified 640 violent or discriminatory acts against Christians in 2024. That’s likely only a fraction of what really happened. 

“It’s the government that’s driving this persecution, and as I say, the trend is unfortunately much more persecution today than there was even five or 10 years ago,” says Nettleton.

In 2024, Voice of the Martyrs changed how it classifies India, moving it from a hostile area to a restricted nation. (More on that here.) The ministry comes alongside Christians in India with legal assistance, help for families of imprisoned Christians, audio Bible distribution, and more.

Lawyers are frequently needed these days. Nettleton explains that Christians accused of coercing someone to change their religion can spend months, even years in prison — before a court ruling. 

“Sometimes the challenge is just enduring while you wait for the process to go forward,” he says. 

Find your place in the story with your brothers and sisters in Christ. 

“We want to pray for them. We want to stand with them where we can,” says Nettleton, “and I hope that we’re inspired to be bold. If a pastor or an evangelist is willing to go to jail to share the gospel, am I willing to walk across the street to my neighbor? Am I willing to strike [up] a conversation with someone?”

Header photo courtesy of Voice of the Martyrs.

Reverend Shah Ahmadi with Iran Alive Ministries says discipleship for new believers in Iran includes this message: “If you want to follow Christ, you should be ready to lose everything.” 

But one of Iran Alive’s contacts was honest with God after she and her husband first became Christians.

She would cry in bed at night. “I love you, Jesus. I love what you did. I accept you. But it’s very hard for me practical[ly] to go to [the] Iranian regime and prison, whatever [could happen]. So don’t test me, don’t put me in that kind of place.”

(Representative stock photo from Iran courtesy of Mashid Saberpour via Unsplash)

Then what she feared came true. Her husband was arrested and so was she. Then came the moment she stood before a judge. 

“Are you a Christian?” he asked her. 

It was her chance to say no and claim she had been deceived. She was ready to do just that… but suddenly she found she was mute! 

In her heart she recognized God giving her a choice to deny or not deny Him. She realized she would rather speak and go to prison than remain mute and perhaps go free. 

“During that time, I receive[d] a special grace and boldness I never had — scared like a baby! Suddenly my lips start opening, and I start testifying: ‘Yes, I am a Christian. I used to be afraid of sharing, and now God gave me grace to share with you.”

Representative stock photo from Tehran, Iran (Photo courtesy of Soroush via Unsplash)

God gave her a word of knowledge about the judge: “You [are] going through marriage problem,” she told him. “If you want to save your life, you need to give your life to Jesus Christ.”

Later, the judge visited her one-on-one in a prison cell, asking how she knew what he was going through. The presence of God came to her again. She said it was God-given knowledge and only Jesus could save the judge’s marriage. 

“I’m going to help you and your husband get out of the prison,” the judge told her, “and you help me and my wife to be disciple of Jesus Christ.”

Ahmadi says these two couples are now disciples of Christ inside Iran. 

“This is one of the most brave [stories], because I see their weakness, and I see a power of God. I see a grace of God in our most vulnerable area, [when] we are unable to do anything,” Ahmadi says. 

Please take a moment and pray for strength for Iranian Christians under extraordinary pressure today. During 2024, nearly 100 Iranians Christians were sentenced to a combined 263 years in prison, a massive uptick compared to 2023 (source: Article18).

Connect with Iran Alive Ministries for more stories and opportunities to stand with the Iranian church. 

Header photo is a representative stock photo courtesy of Aliata Karbaschi via Unsplash.

Peyton Burkhart with Prisoners for Christ says, “The first few issues, I was doing interviews with ex-cons who were sharing their testimonies, and I was writing an article for it. But after they [the newspapers] started getting into the prisons, we had inmates send their stories to us to use. We found that that was a really great way to connect with the prisoner.”

A Wide-Reaching Impact

Now after around 30 years of producing Yard Out, the publication is in 1160 prisons across the country with a print run of about 51,000 as well as online copies. There are three issues a year, one of which includes a special art contest for prisoners. Each issue clearly presents the Gospel with Scripture references and then shares testimonies, poetry and letters to the editor from prisoners. This powerful publication is spread through inmates and chaplains.

(Image courtesy of Prisoners for Christ)

Burkhart says time and time again they’ve heard stories of how Yard Out has impacted incarcerated men and women. “There’s so much drama and conflict in their lives. They’re broken and lost. It’s just amazing how God reaches into that circumstance and touches them. And we get letters from inmates who are gang members. They’re tough men covered with tattoos, and they go into a chapel service, or they find a Yard Out under their mattress in the solitary confinement, or some expression where God reaches out to them. And they’re just broken by the discovery of grace and forgiveness. They may be in front of their old gang members who they used to fight with and do drugs with, and they’re just shamelessly crying for Christ, touched by the presence of God in their life. So it’s very transforming for them.”

Encountering Miracles

Many stories stand out to Burkhart after years with the publication, but one of his favorites is from a prisoner who planned to kill himself with a shiv he’d made. He was hopeless and around two in the morning one night he was ready to end his life.

(Image courtesy of Ron Lach on Pexels)

Burkhart says, “Suddenly there was a guard, a prison guard at his door. He asked him, ‘Do you believe the Bible?’ And he replied, ‘Yes, I do.’ And the guard asked him, ‘Why don’t you do what it says?’ And he quoted a verse out of Leviticus. It says, ‘Do not cut yourself.’ So the inmate looked that up and he described it as a neon sign that was flashing off the page at him, ‘Do not cut yourself’.

“So he realized God reached out to him. He asked about that officer the next morning and wondered where the tall thin black officer that was on duty the night before. They said, ‘Well, we don’t have a tall, thin, black officer who works here.’ He realized that he had seen an angel who had intervened to keep him from taking his life, and he consequently committed himself to Christ.”

Get Involved

The ministry continues to share the Gospel and see men and women commit their lives to Christ. However, they are not working in a vacuum. They need prayer and support from the Church.

Greg Von Tobel also with Prisoners for Christ says, “We pray for everything in this ministry, everything from just the normal everyday needs of the ministry all the way up to major gifts to continue to financially support this ministry. So we’re always looking for new supporters. We’re always looking for new volunteers. We’re always looking for how we can creatively get in front of the inmate population with the Word of God.”

Consider joining Prisoners for Christ as they present the Gospel to incarcerated men and women. Learn more on their website at prisonersforchrist.com or request a copy of Yard Out here.

Image courtesy of RDNE Stock Project on Pexels.