Kerby Anderson

As last year was ending and this year was beginning, we have seen tumult in Tehran. While Iranians have been protesting in the streets, there is another important story that is being missed.

Mark Howard, writing in the Gospel Coalition, says the story can be summarized in two sentences. “Persecution threatened to wipe out Iran’s tiny church. Instead, the church in Iran has become the fastest growing in the world, and it is influencing the region for Christ.”

It is an incredible story. When the Iranian revolution broke out in the late 1970s, Christians faced persecution from the militant Muslim leaders. Bibles were banned and missionaries were kicked out of the country.

Many feared that might be the end of the tiny Iranian church. Michael Brown compares it to the fears Christians had when China closed its doors behind the Bamboo Curtain and began persecuting Christians. But instead of that being the end of Christianity in China, just the opposite happened. Millions of Chinese people became Christians.

Something similar has happened in Iran. More Iranians have become Christians in the last 20 years than in the previous 13 centuries. Operation World named Iran as having the fastest growing evangelical church in the world. Also, I might mention that they believe that the second-fastest growing church is in Afghanistan.

Why is the church in Iran growing so fast? First, the violence done in the name of Islam has caused widespread disillusionment with Islam itself and the Iranian regime. Second, bold Iranian Christians are proclaiming the gospel to their fellow citizens and giving hope in the midst of difficult circumstances.

Although the press will cover the protests in the streets, I think the more important story is what is happening in the hearts of the Iranian people who are converting to Christ in record numbers.