A ‘Jesus Revolution’ may be underway in Iran where an unprecedented number of Muslims are choosing to follow Christ with some reports claiming at least one million have left Islam for Christianity.
That’s according to US Christian broadcaster CBN News which reports: “Iranians are growing tired of the ayatollahs and a nation led by the empty promises of their Islamic theocracy. An anonymous internal poll found that 80% now prefer a democratic government, and many are leaving Islam.”
Todd Nettleton, Vice President of Messaging at persecution watchdog the Voice of the Martyrs, told the broadcaster: “You have a country with one of the highest drug addiction rates in the world. You have a country where corruption runs rampant. You have a country where more than half the people live below the poverty line. The people of Iran are looking at this and they are saying: Wait a minute. If this is what Islam has brought us in the last 45 years, we’re not interested. We want to know what the other options are.”
The disillusionment is being blamed for the reported closure of 50,000 of the country’s 75,000 mosques.
“I think what’s happening there is actually representative of what’s happening in the Islamic world,” said Don Shenk, executive director of The Tide Ministry which broadcasts to Christians across the Middle East. He explained how many Muslims are experiencing dreams and visions about God. “We get responses from listeners who say: Now I understand that God loves me. I always thought that God wanted to punish me. I think there’s an awakening that is taking place across the Muslim world, not just in Iran.”
But the mass conversions are coming at a cost in Iran with house churches being raided and leaders and members being jailed. A recent United Nations report underlined the severe and targeted repression faced by religious minorities in Iran.
In response UK & Ireland CEO of persecution watchdog Open Doors Henrietta Blyth said: “These findings resonate deeply with the plight of Christians in the region, who continue to endure intensified persecution for their faith.”
That persecution, especially of converts, has intensified since the crackdown on large protests two years ago over the death of 22-year-old Jina Mahsa Amini while in police custody following her arrest by Iran’s morality police for allegedly breaking rules over the proper way to wear a hijab.
Open Doors reports five people arrested over their alleged involvement in those protests were hit with the additional charge of “apostasy” after the authorities discovered that they were converts to Christianity.
