Source: Christian Today
Christian Orthodox Iranian migrants Roya (C) and Sami (R), who live at a makeshift camp for refugees and migrants, hold icons during a mass marking the Sunday of Orthodoxy at the church of the village of Idomeni, Greece, on March 20, 2016. A great revival is going on inside the Islamic Republic of Iran, Christian believers who have planted an "Internet church" in that heavily restricted Middle East country have disclosed.
"Right now you can see the results of the Holy Spirit," Reza, one of the believers, told CBN News in Turkey where he was interviewed. "From 1994, there were about 100,000 believers. Right now, there are 3 million. You can see what the Holy Spirit is doing with the people," Reza said.
He said this is happening despite the constant threat, danger, and risk for the believers.
Reza explained that since churches are banned in Iran, believers use the Internet to connect to churches in the United States, Canada, Germany, and Malaysia via Skype.
"The main church is my house, and through the Internet I connect to everybody," Reza said. "That's why it's become like an Internet church."
He said many of the new believers embraced Jesus Christ after having a dream or vision of Him.
He himself dreamt of Jesus a "long time back" and since then Jesus has been with him. "And in all of my life, He was helping me and I didn't know who was this person. Suddenly Jesus Christ was over there and He said, 'Come to me.' And I came to that side and He accepted me," Reza told CBN News.
He said many of the believers have fled to Turkey for fear of their own lives. Despite the hardship they are facing at the moment, the believers exude joy as they remain hopeful that they would eventually achieve refugee status and immigrate to other countries, he said.
Some of the Iranian refugees who have fled to Turkey said they are glad to have "come out of the darkness."
As he waits for the U.N. office to grant him refugee status, Christian Afshin told CBN News that he can now do things in Turkey that he could not do in Iran like speaking about "God's Word to other guys," freely praising the Lord and attending church service.
Afshin said he attended the church led by American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who languished for years in an Iranian prison. That church was disbanded following Abedini's arrest in 2012, he said.
"As a result, I came out of Iran because day by day it was more difficult and it was more risky for me also," he explained.
Reza is urging Christians worldwide to pray for the Church in Iran.
"And I'm just begging, really, from the other believers, from other sisters and brothers from all over the world, to pray for Iran and to all the people of Iran to find new God and be familiar with God, with Jesus Christ," he said.
