World Evangelical Alliance - Iranian Pastor Victor goes to the U.N.

“This is a Persian Bible, which is illegal. In Iran, if you have it, it’s a crime.” Iranian Pastor Victor shared his testimony at the United Nations in April 2023 when he and his wife Sharan were invited to join the World Evangelical Alliance to discuss the situation of Christians in Iran. Pastor Victor went on to say… “In 2014, I was arrested and held in solitary confinement for 65 days for a crime I did not commit. My charges were acting against national security, evangelism and promoting terrorism.  “Back then, no one thought that the government would close down all our churches and arrest pastors and leaders. No one thought they could get away with persecuting church leaders. And yet, almost all evangelical Persian speaking churches have been closed.  “We want our churches back… and for our members to have the right to gather and to worship in our own church buildings.” Today, 1 in 7 Christians worldwide suffer under high levels of persecution or discrimination for their faith. And most are powerless to do anything about it. (Open Doors 2023 World Watch List) But that’s where we step in. The WEA Global Advocacy team speaks to the powerful on behalf of the powerless. We’re already working with a delegate from Iran to promote freedom of religion not only in that country but in other Islamic countries as well. Are we effective? Yes!  1)     Because of WEA advocacy, one South Asian government changed their policies to take a "soft approach" to evangelicals. This allows our brothers and sisters to worship in freedom.  2)     When Afghanistan was overtaken by the Taliban, the WEA was able to rescue at-risk Christians and mobilize churches in surrounding countries to support refugees and help them find permanent homes in asylum countries.  3)     WEA advocacy helped change the government policy in a country in the MENA region that now allows evangelical churches to be registered and operate legally.   4)     During the COVID-19 pandemic, one East Asian country closed evangelical churches and blamed them for spreading disease. WEA advocacy got the government to reverse this policy and admit that the churches were not at fault.  5)     The WEA Advocacy team recently made an oral statement at the UN Human Rights Council about a North African country that would not allow any churches to open. A diplomat from that country contacted us immediately to report that the foreign affairs minister was watching. Within 2 days, the head of the WEA National Evangelical Alliance in that country was invited to meet with government officials to start the process to re-open churches. We’re grateful and humbled to be used by God to protect His people and His churches. But we have a problem. And I’m wondering if you might help solve it – for the sake of seeing more of God’s people set free from the yoke of religious persecution. You see, persecution of Christians in particular is alarmingly on the rise. In recent days we’ve received requests for help from brothers and sisters in Burkina Faso, Sudan, Algeria, Nigeria, Cuba, Yemen and India. The volume of urgent requests coming in from Christian leaders is growing day by day and our small Global Advocacy team is really struggling to keep up.  We never want to say we can’t help. Especially while God is opening doors for us to U.N. staff, experts and diplomatic circles as never before. A total of $55,000 right now would go a long way. If you’d like to be part of defending your Christian brothers and sisters facing persecution for their faith, please CLICK here and give $50, $100, $500 or what ever amount God lays on your heart. Your gift could mean the difference between persecution and freedom. We’ll keep you informed. Thank you for your prayers as well. Sincerely, P.S. Our advocacy ministry is one of a kind. As the voice of 600+ million evangelicals we speak with authority and those in power listen. Please keep our voice strong. Thank you and God bless you. CLICK HERE.