When the Iranians sensed weakness in the Islamic leadership of the country in January, they flooded the streets to peacefully protest their government. It did not go well for them as it's thought that about 30,000 protesters were slaughtered in the streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities.
Hormoz Shariat of Iran Alive Ministries claims that the massacre of tens of thousands had spiritual roots. An influential Imam used the Quran to justify it.
“He was telling them, ‘Hey, here is a Quranic verse. It said it's better to kill this dissident than be a dissident.’ So, what he's telling them, ‘Go ahead and kill these people on the streets. They're enemies of God, and you're doing God a favor,'" says Shariat.
He says that they filled the prisons with the protesters and kept on killing them.
“The government has continued to kill. They arrested 100,000 prisoners. Prisoner means they're going to be tortured and executed,” informs Shariat.
But he says the underground church responded in a very New Testament way. They went out in the protests, not to demonstrate, but to save lives.
“Those who are wounded, they told them, ‘Hey, bring them home, into your home, take care of them because if they go to the hospital, they will be shot.' Christians did it,” states Shariat.
And God used them.
“So many testimonies of Muslims who were helped by Christians, taken into their homes, helped with their wounds, brought a doctor and nurse, helped them and they became Christians,” says Shariat.
He says the Christian church in Iran literally dates back to day one.
“You know when the church in Iran started? Day of Pentecost. Read Acts 2,” instructs Shariat. “The first three people groups that were converted in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost are from Iran.”
Of course, it's been under heavy persecution since then, especially in the last 40 years. But even run underground, it's still strong.
Shariat says that if the war does topple the Islamic regime, whatever follows will not be Muslim.
“Islam is dead. Islam is gone. Islam is defeated. The majority of Iranians do not want to do anything with Islam,” informs Shariat.
Shariat says Iranians are echoing the experiences of new Christians in other Muslim countries.
“Visions and dreams are amazing. It happens so often that people expect it. They think it's common. It's normal,” says Shariat.
In fact, it's so common that he has to pull it out of new converts.
“I have to ask them, have you seen Jesus? Have you been healed by Jesus? ‘Oh yeah, yeah, I had cancer and Jesus healed me',” states Shariat.
And despite the potentially high cost of following Christ in that repressive regime, newfound faith in Iran is sticking.
“They've become a Christian by seeing Jesus. Their lives are in danger, but they cannot deny Jesus,” states Shariat.
