Religious Liberty Prayer Bulletin | RLPB 067 | Wed 04 Aug 2010

Biblical revelation preaches freedom in love. Islam — like all man-
made religions — demands submission to law. While the God of the Bible
demands perfection in love, he freely provides a remedy for sin —
Jesus Christ — and the Holy Spirit as helper. This is indeed Good
News! On the other hand, while Islam demands submission to law, it
provides no remedy for sin and so can only culminate in failure.
Meanwhile, the dictators of Islam employ religious forces —
Revolutionary Guards, Basij, muttawa, hisba, taliban and others — to
police ‘vice and virtue’. To protect their own privilege and hegemony
they deny Islam’s failure and deflect scrutiny from Islam by blaming
the victims. Driven by apostaphobia, they strive to eliminate fitna
(anything that could tempt a Muslim to doubt Islam). Sunni reformation
(as in Saudi Arabia) and Shi’ite revolution (as in Iran) have only
produced repressive, totalitarian police states wracked with poverty,
cruelty, despair and disillusionment.

In Iran the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was set up to
defend Islam. The Ministry of Intelligence and Security (MOIS) was
established to eliminate all opposition and dissent which they
virtually did through purges, terrors and serial killings. When
President Khatami (1997-2004) pressed for reforms in the style of
‘glasnost’ (openness) and ‘perestroika’ (restructuring) , Ayatollah
Khamenei engineered his removal. Through the presidency of Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad since 2005, the hegemony of the blood-stained IRGC and MOIS hardliners of the 1980s-90s has been restored. The regime has just
announced a massive boost in funding for the Basij (state-sponsored
Islamic vigilantes) and will establish 7000 new Resistance Bases across
Iran. All this is unsurprising, for whilst Christianity requires
radical, personal, spiritual transformation, Islam merely demands the
enforcement of Islamic law.

Persecution of the Church escalated through 2009, aided because the US
no longer has leverage — due to Iraq, the US now needs Iran more than
Iran needs the US. As noted in RLPB 041 (3 Feb 2010), the regime is
escalating repression to curtail unrest due to widespread social
dissatisfaction and economic distress. A wave of persecution hit the
Church in late December 2009 and early January 2010 when many
Christians were harassed, interrogated, threatened and arrested. Whilst
most have been released on bond, some remain incarcerated and others
have been added to their number.

Pastor Behrouz (Marco) Khanjani was arrested on 11 January when he
responded to a request from the authorities to come in for questioning
in Chiraz. He was bailed on 17 March only to be re-arrested on 16 June.
His wife, Fatemeh (Marie) Torkkajouri, was arrested the next day and
placed in solitary confinement in Evin Prison. After informing Pastor
Behrouz of his wife’s fate, the authorities reportedly incarcerated him
in ‘Plate 100’, a dungeon of the intelligence services in Chiraz. Their
daughter Esperance is in the care of Muslim family members.

Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani was arrested in Rasht on 13 October 2009 for
protesting the regime’s plans to force Islamic education on all
children in violation of the constitution. He has reportedly been
sentenced to death. Furthermore Pastor Yousef’s wife, Fatemeh (Tina)
Passandideh, was arrested on 8 June 2010 and is in solitary confinement
in Evin Prison. The authorities have threatened to put the couple’s
children, Yoel and Daniel, in an Islamic institution.

A group of 15 new believers were travelling by bus to the provincial
town of Bojnoord on 18 July 2010. Security forces were informed and
ambushed and arrested them in the city of Mashhad. After a week of
harsh interrogation, believers who signed ‘confessions’ were freed on
conditions including due payment of all bail. Mr Reza (48, also known
as Stephen) and Mr Ehsan Behrooz (23) refused to co-operate and so
remain incarcerated in the 901st branch of the Revolutionary Court in
Mashhad.

PLEASE PRAY SPECIFICALLY THAT THE SPIRIT OF GOD WILL:

* fill Iranian believers with courage and faith to face persecution in
a way that brings glory to God.

* fill persecuted Iranian believers with the inner peace and joy that
comes from trusting the LORD, from assurance of salvation, and from
the experience of God as ‘sanctuary’ (Isaiah 8:14a).

* give all Iranian Christians — especially pastors — great spiritual
wisdom to be ‘wise as serpents and innocent as doves’ (Matthew 10:16
ESV).

* awaken multitudes of Iranian Muslims to the deficiencies of Islam
(and not just Iranian economics and foreign policy) and the Good
News of Jesus Christ.

* enlighten especially the Muslim relatives, friends and neighbours of
Iran’s persecuted Christians that they may be so shocked and
challenged by Islamic injustice, and so surprised and moved by
Christian grace, that they will seek love over law and find truth in
Jesus Christ.

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SUMMARY TO USE IN BULLETINS UNABLE TO RUN THE WHOLE ARTICLE

PERSECUTION SURGING IN IRAN

Dozens of Iranian believers have been harassed, threatened, detained
and tortured in recent months. Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani has reportedly
been sentenced to death whilst his wife Fatemeh suffers in solitary
confinement in Evin Prison. The authorities have threatened to place
their two young children in an Islamic institution. Pastor Behrouz
Khanjani and his wife Fatemeh are both detained and their daughter is
in the care of Muslim relatives. Mr Reza (48) and Ehsan Behrooz (23)
were arrested on 18 July and are being held in the Mashhad branch of
the Revolutionary Court. Many other arrested believers are now free
only because they were coerced into signing ‘confessions’ and paying
bail. Their freedom remains conditional and tentative. Please pray for
the Church in Iran facing intensive pressure.

——————–

We suggest that churches and fellowships using the above Summary might
also provide a copy of the listed prayer points to be used in their
worship by people who are leading in prayer.

For more information, updates and helpful links see Elizabeth Kendal’s
blog ‘Religious Liberty Monitoring’
.

This RLPB was written for the Australian Evangelical Alliance Religious
Liberty Commission (AEA RLC) by Elizabeth Kendal, an international
religious liberty analyst and advocate, and a member of the AEA RLC
team. Previous bulletins may be viewed at .