Iran (MNN) — What’s next for Iran and Israel won’t change what Iran and Israel are today. As the international dialogues continue around peace and nuclear power, Greg Kelley with Unknown Nations says, “We need to really look at the Iranian regime as it stands now, and what that represents more so than some kind of a fleeting, fragile peace deal.” 

The Islamic Republic of Iran will always be against Israel and America, Christianity and Judaism, among other things. It’s embedded in the regime’s worldview. 

“I think that the regime, as it weakens — which there’s no denying that it’s weakening — that it will all the furthermore lunge out and attack anything that is in opposition to it,” says Kelley.

That puts Iranian Christians in the crosshairs. Unknown Nations partners in Iran requested immediate relocation for up to 500 leaders and their families. Kelley says it’s short-term protection in order to prepare for long-term gospel witness in Iran. 

These Christians “love the Iranian people with a passion,” says Kelley. “[They] aren’t interested in leaving the country of Iran, but they need to be relocated into places where it’s a little more stable, so that they can continue to grow and their ministry can continue.”

Azadi Square, Tehran, Iran (Stock photo courtesy of Erfan Ro via Unsplash)

Unknown Nations trains Christians like these with the future in mind.

“Iranians are looking at the religion of Islam through a new lens today, and there’s an openness because of that to the gospel. The Body of Christ needs to recognize that and lean in. For Unknown Nations, it looks like equipping leaders, the diaspora of the Iranian people — and that involves people groups like the Persian people, who live not only in Iran, but in neighboring countries.”

Kelley calls this leadership training a critical strategy, “all the more so now, because the day is coming [when] Iran will be open, and… that void of leadership is going to be a critical time — whether it lasts for a week, a month, a year, two years — for the Body of Christ to really lean in and pour into [gospel advance in Iran].”

Please pray

Kelly invites you to keep Iran regularly into your prayers. “And not just Iran as a country, but recognizing there [are] 94 nations or people groups inside the country of Iran. Jesus called us to pray for the nations, not a [geopolitical] country like Iran, but the nations.” 

Visit Joshua Project and start with the Persian people or with the Western Baloch. 

Then zoom in and pray for the strategic relocation process for the 500 believers and families Unknown Nations is working with. (Watch a special video directly from Greg Kelley to learn how you can be part of this mission.)

Please pray for the gospel ministry of Christians to increase in Iran. But don’t make “safety” the focus of your prayers. 

“They would ask rather that you pray that they would be bold. Pray they would be courageous,” says Kelley. “Pray that they would have discernment in the face of adversity.”

 

Header image: People on the Withe Bridge of Ahvaz. (Photo courtesy of Ashkan Forouzani via Unsplash)