American churches and ministries are gearing up, convinced that God is about to do something big in Iran. Christians are praying and getting ready for the day – maybe sooner than we think – when Iran’s doors are finally open to the gospel.
As airstrikes continue to pound Iran, Christians there are praying for God to step in and bring freedom to their country.
“They’re still gathering, and they’re still praying. And I think they’re a lot more cautious now. They’re really kind of staying closer to home if they can,” said Vision Beyond Borders President Patrick Klein.
He told CBN News that he and his Bible smuggling team recently met in Armenia, just a stone’s throw from the Iranian border.
“There’s also a lot of trucks, about a thousand oil tankers coming across the border every day, carrying oil to Western Europe. So it’s a great border. And we just went with our team and prayed at the border and asked the Lord to open the borders,” Klein explained.
Dirk Smith, Vice President at Eastern European Mission, said, “The doors are going to open up, and if they do, it’s going to be a flood. It’s going to be a flood that opens up.”
Smith’s team is ready to send a huge shipment of children’s and teen Bibles, plus other Christian books in Farsi, into Iran.
Some Christians argue that Bible smugglers need to wait. They warn that civil war and insurgency could soon make Iran too dangerous for spreading the gospel.
“Too dangerous to spread the gospel?” Smith asked rhetorically. “How does that work? I guess I would ask somebody to find me the Scripture. You know, we pray for safety a lot. I find that interesting. You know, I go to church, and I keep safe, and I’m like, I don’t know that I find that in the Bible. I don’t find a prayer for safety. How is something too risky? Is it? Is it ever too risky to share the gospel of Jesus with someone?”
Smith believes God will answer prayer in a big way – something like a Berlin Wall moment. In other words, he expects a historic change and a dramatic breakthrough that will change everything.
“Our prayer is that we’re prepared. We’re ready to go. And that was what happened when the Wall came down in ’89. The opportunity came. And again, when we pray, God will open those doors. And, that’s what happened when the Wall came down with the Soviet Union, we were able to walk in and distribute hundreds of thousands of Bibles.”
Klein urges Christians worldwide to pray for a future where every Iranian can own a Bible and read it freely.
“One man just got one, and he was so grateful. And he said, ‘Now I have the truth for myself. I can read the Word of God anytime I want, day or night.’ And he’s just so grateful to have the Word of God,” Klein said.
“We believe God is going to change Iran, and I believe it’s going to affect the whole Islamic world.”
