Last month I spent a life-changing week with 40 Iranians who traveled by bus into a country bordering Iran to receive our Certificate in Holistic Liberation. My team consisted of me and a Swiss theologian friend and two Iranian interpreters.
Iranian refugee Pastor Zia and his family living in this neighboring country organized the training– which included all the logistics of helping people travel by bus from many different regions of the country. A national host church provided lodging and meals in a secure location. Once the training was completed the people returned to their homes inside Iran- a dangerous endeavor.
I first met Pastor Zia when offering a similar training back in 2023—which was followed up by near monthly two-hour zoom meetings with Iranian believers inside Iran. He reached out earlier this year to invite me to provide regular in-person and online training for Iranians through The People’s Seminary
Pastor Zia and his wife Eiman
Pastor Zia is no stranger to suffering for his faith. He recounts how he was arrested 14 times, and has spent a total of seven years in prison for his faith. He shared how after attending a conference in a neighboring country in 2019, his wife and his two then teenage daughters had been arrested and taken in for interrogation after some 30 vehicles from Iran’s Ministry of Intelligence showed up at their residence. He was shown a photo that someone had taken of him at the conference, which included an American who was one of the teachers– whom the Iranian secret service had investigated and found was a very active and public Trump supporter.
Iranian Ministry of Intelligence agents accused him of being allied with enemies of Iran, of being a Trump supporter and Republican—though he never in any way identified with Trump or American politics. They tortured him, trying to force him to give them the names of all his underground house church contacts. He was given a fifteen-year sentence. Before his final sentencing he bailed out, using his home and bank account as collateral. Upon his release he and his family fled into the neighboring country where he now lives. The regime confiscated everything he owned. Since that time he has given his life to ministering to Iranian exiles and actively communicates with believers inside Iran– many of whom are at constant risk of arrest.
The people who attended our training had all grown up as active Muslims. We heard many of their stories of how they came to believe in Jesus in a country where conversion from Islam to Christianity is a crime and the church is an illegal organization that must exist clandestinely. The people who attended were deeply traumatized by their lives under the repressive regime of the Islamic Republic of Iran– made far worse by Israel and the United States’ recent attacks.
People shared horrific stories of the massacres committed by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Basij, and imported foreign militias January 7, 8 and 9. During those days over 36,000 were killed, and as many as 100,000 have since been killed or died from injuries. One man shared how over 300 young people from his smaller city, all in the late teens and early twenties were brutally killed. Everyone knew people who had died.
A man in his late twenties who attended our training had been shot by the Revolutionary Guard Corps with a shotgun back in January, filling him with over 70 pellets. Since the military were going into hospitals and executing people wounded during the massacres, this man had spent two months with no medical treatment, finally getting help once he made it out of the country. He still has pellets lodged near one of his eyes and in his lips which require more specialized surgery.
Baptizing the man shot in the protest
When Israel and the US invaded February 28, many Iranians hoped this might lead to the fall of the regime. Many were deeply disillusioned when they saw that Trump’s main objective is assuring an unobstructed oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, and global experts keep insisting Iran is far from developing a nuclear weapon. The current economic embargos and continual threats from President Trump to “send Iran back to the stone ages” add insult to injury—making life untenable for the majority of Iranians, who feel powerless before their brutal regime.
We heard from a course participant who lived beside a twenty-story apartment building that was completely destroyed by Israeli bombs in order to kill one high level government official who lived in one of the apartments. This woman shared her terror of not knowing if this could happen to their building should someone on Israel’s hit list live there. Another participant shared how the US bombed a natural gas plant a block away, shaking their home in ways that terrified them, and filling the air with toxic smoke.
The people were visibly relieved to be there at the retreat. They soaked up the teaching, relished the humble worship led by one of the participants who played the guitar and sang with his teenage daughter. Many openly wept, while also expressing joy at being able to freely gather for meals and fellowship with other believers—most of whom they didn’t know before this training.
We baptized twenty of the people in a baptismal pool there at the retreat venu—as full immersion baptism is desired but quite dangerous (punishable by imprisonment) inside Iran.
We gathered for delicious meals cooked by our host community. A group of Arabic-speaking Iranian men living near the border of Iraq offered me delicious, sweet and uniquely spiced Arabic coffee cooked over the fire every afternoon.
Our Iranian interpreters were both exiles themselves- one living in Turkey and another in Scotland. One has a PhD in Persian literature. He was deeply impacted by the testimonies of his people, and often could barely hold back tears as he interpreted.
On September 22, a week after returning from our time with the Iranians I read about Trump’s threats to annihilate the Islamic Republic of Iran, spoken before the United Nations. Since then, Trump has threatened to resume attacks against Iran after the midterms, and stirred up anti-Iranian sentiment by suggesting Iran could take out Los Angeles or San Diego.
This violent rhetoric coming from the US president and other US government authorities must be publicly denounced by followers of Jesus, and anyone committed to peace. Attacking Iran puts many ordinary Iranians in extreme danger. Thousands of civilians with no ties to the regime have already lost their lives. Threating to annihilate a country full of already traumatized people is intolerable. So why is it being tolerated?
In contrast, Americans should be taking a far more humble, confessional approach to the people of Iran. I was able to repent before my Iranian brothers and sisters for how the US is in fact directly responsible for the very existence of the Islamic Republic of Iran, which is the fruit of US policies. In 1953 the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the United Kingdom’s M16 organized a coup that removed democratically-elected Prime Minister Mohammad Masaddegh.
In his place the US supported the pro-Western Shah Rez Pahlavi, who established a brutal police state, crushing all dissent and establishing economic policies favoring the rich. This led to a massive anti-American movement, country-wide strikes and daily protests, resulting in the victory of the Islamic Revolution under Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979.
The people in the course were deeply moved by my denunciation of America’s actions, and by my repentance as a US citizen and Christian for the more recent bombings, threats and supplying of weapons to Israel that have brought widespread death, destruction and terror.
We talked at length about Jesus’ way of overcoming evil through active love of people, including enemies. Martyred Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero’s description of the violence of love felt like an especially relevant but costly message among these humble believers.
“We have never preached violence, except the violence of love, which left Christ nailed to a cross, the violence that we must each do to ourselves to overcome our selfishness and such cruel inequalities among us. The violence we preach is not the violence of the sword, the violence of hatred. It is the violence of love, of brotherhood, the violence that wills to beat weapons into sickles for work.”
“Our primary allegiance must be to Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God. Governments, political parties, and leaders come and go, but the Gospel of Jesus Christ remains, writes pastor Zia.
I recognize that Christians may have different political opinions and that people have different understandings of how societies should be governed. However, I believe we must be careful not to confuse our faith with political loyalties or allow political divisions to damage the unity of the body of Christ.
For me, the central question is not whether a political leader is American, Iranian, Republican, or affiliated with another movement. The question is whether our lives reflect the character of Jesus Christ: His love, humility, truth, mercy, justice, and concern for the suffering.
Although the name of Donald Trump became part of the accusations against me, I hold no personal hatred toward him. I bless him in the name of Jesus Christ, as I believe we are called to pray for and bless others, including those with whom we disagree.
At the same time, I cannot place my hope in any political leader as the source of salvation or lasting peace. No human government can take the place of Christ, and no political system will endure forever.
I have also come to believe that when political power, wealth, and national interests become more important than human dignity, the consequences can be devastating for ordinary people. Those who suffer most are often families, minorities, refugees, and people who simply want to live in peace and practice their faith.”
My hope is that Pastor Zia’s witness and words will help us clarify our unique identity and voice as followers of Jesus in the face of increasing threats and acts of war.
“I have also witnessed how political tensions and international conflicts can place Iranian Christians and other vulnerable people in even greater danger,” continues pastor Zia.
“When governments seek to blame others or construct political narratives, people who have no political involvement may find themselves accused, persecuted, or forced to flee. For this reason, I believe that Christians must be especially careful when speaking about political conflicts. We should not encourage hatred, glorify violence, or place our hopes in war as a means of bringing lasting peace.
If Jesus had taught that violence was the way to establish His Kingdom, He could have called his followers to take up arms. Instead, He taught us to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, and be peacemakers. He showed us that the way of his Kingdom is fundamentally different from the pursuit of power through force.
This does not mean that we should remain indifferent to injustice or the suffering of innocent people. Rather, we must respond in ways that reflect the heart of Christ: speaking truthfully, caring for those who suffer, protecting the vulnerable where possible, and refusing to allow hatred to rule our hearts,” concluded Zia.
Now is the time for followers of Jesus from around the world to stand in prayer with the people of Iran, and with the growing movement of Jesus followers, who despite widespread persecution make up around 1.5 million people (of the total 93.5 million population). In the face of threats from many sources the body of Christ is multiplying—much like God’s people under Egyptian enslavement (Ex 1:7,12). May we seek to align ourselves with Jesus and the Kingdom of God, and not with how corrupt leaders define our national interests.
Please pray for Pastor Zia, his family and for the many Iranian believers who are seeking to live out a distinctly Jesus-informed life in Iran, and wherever they reside as refugees. If you’d like to contribute to future trainings for Iranian Christians, now scheduled for the first quarter of 2027, US donors can donate here, Canadians here or UK donors here.
Check out links to my most podcast “Disciple: Word, Spirit, Justice, Mission” below. Also take note of the new editions of Guerrilla Gospeland Guerrilla Bible Studies, now entitled Liberating Gospel and Liberating Bible Studies, available here.
Disciple podcast Apple
Disciple podcast Spotify
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