In the West we recently experienced non-stop TV and Internet services coming from Lakeland, Florida. The participants unfortunately became celebrities over night. But there is an incredible revival going on completely hidden from view in one of the most anti-Christian despotic countries in the world–Iran.
I just read this article over the weekend in the June 2008 Charisma mag.: “A Martyr’s Cry” by Joel Kilpatrick. Wow!, it is a must read for those interested in true revival.
It is the story of Haik Hovsepian, the Iranian AG leader who was martyred for his faith. It is a story about a land that has made it illegal to convert from Islam, however, Christ has different plans for Iran and like China, the Gospel is spreading at a phenomenal rate in this country, totally hidden from view.
Right now Iran is experiencing one of the greatest revivals of modern times–due to supernatural phenomena such as dreams and visions. A few short years ago there were only a few thousand Christians in the country, now there are 200,000+!
According to Carl Moeller, president and chief executive officer of Open Doors USA:
“Iran remains one of the worst places in the world for a Christian to live out their faith, preceded only by North Korea and Saudi Arabia,”
“The abuse of Christians, literally, in the justice system is legendary. Christians do not have the same rights as the other Islamic citizens. They are routinely discriminated against, restricted, and in many cases when they seek to evangelize and disciple, church leaders are arrested, interrogated, tortured and even killed for their faith in Jesus Christ.
“However, the church there is growing incredibly. In Iran there is a revival that maybe is only rivaled by the Chinese revival [of recent years]. Honest, seeking Muslims are having dreams of Jesus Christ.
“Some are being approached by what we can only call angels in parks and being confronted with their personal sins and told they need to come to Jesus Christ. It’s a revival the likes of which we’ve rarely seen in the history of the church. It’s been Holy Spirit-driven through dreams and visions and the technology available to us in the 21st century.”
What an incredible turn of events and totally unprecedented in an Islamic country, praise God! I can’t tell you how encouraging this is to me at this time, thank you Lord.