ICC Note:

Despite its top ten ranking in Open Door USA World Watch’s hardest countries to be a believer in, Iran witnessed a 20% increase in the number of Christians last year. Persecution has not stopped the Gospel’s spread.  Poverty and violence may actually be promoting the church’s growth because Iranians associate those problems with Islam. In 1979, Ayatollah Khomeini established Islam as Iran’s governing structure, thus any problems will be associated with Islam. Christians are able to promote an alternative narrative that is attracting frustrated Iranians. We must continue to pray for Iranian believers as they spread the Gospel in a difficult environment that is also proving very fruitful.

09/26/2016 Iran (MNN Online) – Which country do you think has the fastest growing Church in the world? China? Russia? Maybe a country in South America?

Here’s a hint: the official name of the country starts with ‘The Islamic Republic’.

Todd Nettleton with The Voice of the Marytrs, USA reveals, “The Islamic Republic of Iran is actually the place in the world where the Church is growing the fastest, something that would be pretty surprising to most Christians.”

The situation is bursting with irony. The Islamic Republic of Iran is listed on Open Doors USA’s World Watch List in the top ten hardest countries to be a believer. And yet, last year, Iran saw a 19.6 percent uptick in the number of Christians — more than any other country.

“Conversion is illegal, the above-ground churches have almost all been closed down,” says Nettleton. “So it is a country that has worked very hard to eliminate Christianity, and particularly to eliminate Muslim conversion to Christianity. But it’s the place in the world where the Church is growing the fastest.”

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