Did you know that the church in Iran is one of the fastest growing churches in the world? Farsi-speaking people are meeting Jesus every day and seeing their lives transformed by the Gospel. The Jesus Speaks Farsi podcast seeks to share the stories of these brave men and women, stirring your imagination for what is possible with God. We hope these stories remind you that Jesus is alive, the Gospel is still true, and that God is writing an incredible story for His church that you can participate in.

In this episode, Joe will be talking with Farshid, a key leader within the early underground house church movement inside Iran. He’ll be sharing his story of spending almost a year in solitary confinement. Despite the incredible hardship he underwent, Farshid exhibits contagious joy in Christ.

In this episode, Jennifer’s talking with Ladan, a senior leader in the Iranian church who has shared the Gospel with thousands of people across the Iran region. She’ll be sharing her story of meeting Jesus and planting house churches in Iran. We’ll also hear how that led her to take a taxi to jail and ultimately spend nearly a month in solitary confinement.

In this episode, Dara Lynn talks with Anahita, a senior leader within Iran’s house church movement. We’ll hear how only a few months into her marriage, she and her husband Matthew were both arrested for their involvement in church planting. She’ll also share the fascinating story of their escape from Iran over the mountains.

We’ll be checking back in with Farshid from our first episode ( One Year in Solitary - Persecution E1 ) in this series to hear what life was like in prison after leaving solitary confinement. The majority of the 120 leaders arrested along with Farshid, like Ladan and Anahita, had been released from prison, and many had even left Iran. Farshid, however, would go on to spend another four years behind bars.

In this final episode of the Persecution series, Joe, Dara Lynn and Jen sit down over a cup of chai to talk through the stories we’ve shared in this series. Persecution and suffering go hand in hand and bring up a lot of difficult questions for our Christian faith: Why does God let his followers go to prison? Where is He in all the suffering? What should we as Westerners do with these stories from Iran?

If you’ve asked yourself similar questions, bring your cup of tea or favorite beverage, and join us for another episode of Jesus Speaks Farsi.