We purchase, warehouse, and smuggle thousands of Bibles into Iran where they are distributed to new converts and local believers who have come to Christ in many ways including through satellite TV.
What we provide in a Bible is the critical link to a new believer. We take a babe in Christ and deliver the word of God so that they can grow and be transformed through self-study and discipleship groups reading the Bible together.
Maybe that sounds commonplace to you, but it’s not the case in Iran. There are so few Bibles available that one family tore their Bible in half to share it with extended family who had gotten saved. Imagine that, a family trades halves of the Bible so that someone can always be reading something.
In other house churches, they simply tear the pages of the Bible out and distribute single pages to believers to study, and return. They are sincerely hungry for the word of God; they cherish each page.
World Compassion continues to coordinate with this TV network to deliver Bibles to those being saved through their ministry in addition to other house church networks we are connected with. Believers are waiting in Iran for more than a page. They need their own Bible, and you can help!
It’s not as easy as it sounds, just smuggling Bibles into cities throughout Iran, and we certainly don’t sensationalize it. Recently there were three truckloads of Bibles being smuggled into Iran by another organization. The government found and confiscated the shipment and destroyed the Bibles. It’s a risky but necessary project. We’re very careful to ensure that each shipment arrives safely and is distributed swiftly and discreetly.
Iranian believers are resilient and patient. Recently the largest underground church in Tehran was raided and closed. But neighborhood house churches have cropped up across the city, and Iranians keep coming to Christ every day! Some statistics show that the church in Iran grows at an annual rate of 5.2%.
We currently have 5,650 Bibles that have just been delivered, but we have the capability of purchasing and smuggling thousands more into the country. It costs roughly $7.50 (£5.00) to purchase, smuggle and deliver a Bible to a Christian inside of Iran.
As we closed our conversation, she expressed her gratitude. “We couldn’t do what we do in Iran without the support and partnership from World Compassion. You provide the Bibles we distribute to all our believers.”
She’s talking about you! Your prayers and financial partnership are what help us accomplish all the amazing projects World Compassion does around the world. You are the reason new believers inside of Iran have an opportunity to have their own Bible.
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