The Watchman: Iranian Proxies Attack U.S. Embassy in Baghdad

"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute

you and say all kinds of evil things against you falsely 

on My account. Be glad and supremely joyful for

your reward in heaven is great, for in this same way

people persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Matthew 5:11-12

"The people of Iran are suffering ever-increasing hardships

under the mullahs that control their government.  International

sanctions have derailed the country's economy, causing the price

of a bag of fruit to increase tenfold over the past two years

while rent has more than quadrupled.  

Unsure at times of where their next meal will come from,

Iranians have grown more and more desperate. Drug abuse and

crime have increased significantly, even in previously safe areas,

while the Islamic government has further demoralized its citizens

by tightening controls on basic freedoms.

All unregistered cellphones and SIM cards (i.e., "burner phones)

have been turned off, and the government can monitor all calls and

text messages made with registered legal cellphones.

Christians are specifically targeted, making outreach discipleship

and even arranging a meeting incredibly challenging. 

Iranian Christians know that arrests and raids on their meetings

can come at any time, and yet the church in Iran is the fastest

growing in the world.  As one church leader in Iran said,

"Don't pray for regime change. This is where the gospel is flourishing!"

-Voice of the Martyrs Ministries

THE STORY BEHIND THE SCENES...OR, WHAT YOU

WILL NOT HEAR BEING REPORTED IN THE SECULAR NEWS MEDIA.

Iranian Proxies Attack US Embassy In Baghdad

The Watchman with Erick Stackelbeck

(January 2, 2020)

 As one church leader in Iran said,

"Don't pray for regime change. This is where the gospel is flourishing!"

This mentality is often a hard one to grasp for Christians living in the West,

where we have always had the freedom to worship God and read His Word,

 or attend church services without hindrance from an oppressive government 

regime which views all followers of Jesus Christ as enemies of the state.

But I liken this church leader's attitude to that of another Christian

pastor serving the Lord in the African nation of Tanzania, where believers

are routinely targeted for persecution and imprisonment and often death 

 by the followers of Islam.  As he once told an interviewer, "Even if I have to

someday die for my faith, my greatest desire is to see the miraculous

life-changing power of the gospel continue to grow throughout my nation."

Persecution In Tanzania

CBN News

(June 28, 2013)