AFWIS Joins Operation World in Prayer for the Islamic Republic of Iran in Asia

Published on Operation World (http://www.operationworld.org)

Home > Jul 15: Iran

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Jul 15: Iran

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Iran

Islamic Republic of Iran

Asia

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Geography

Area: 1,648,196 sq km
Situated between the Caspian Sea to the north and the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the south. A central desert ringed by mountains.
Population: 75,077,547    Annual Growth: 1.19%
Capital: Tehran
Urbanites: 69.5%
HDI Rank: 88 of 182 (UN Human Development Reports 2009)

Peoples

Peoples: 103 (90% unreached) All peoples
Unreached Peoples Prayer Card

Official language: Persian (Farsi; Dari and Tajik are major dialects); almost all Iranians speak some form of Persian as a mother tongue or second language    Languages: 79 All languages

Religion

Largest Religion: Muslim

Religion		Pop %	Ann Gr
Christians	384,897	0.51	5.1
Evangelicals	117,678	0.2	19.6
Muslim	74,054,491	98.64

Prayercast

Challenges for Prayer

Christian help ministries are an important component in reaching Iranians and providing resources for the burgeoning Iranian Church. Many media ministries and resources have emerged in recent years.
a) Bibles are in very short supply and very high demand – 10 million Bibles would be readily received. It is illegal to print and distribute the Scriptures, yet they continue to slip into the country. Several ministries, especially Elam Ministries and Open Doors, focus on increasing the availability of Scripture to Iranians. There are three translations of the Bible in Persian, with another version due out in 2012. Pray for innovative and effective ways of distributing God’s Word and for a deep impact to be made through it. Pray also for translation teams to be raised up for the other languages that have a need for Scripture translation.
b) Christian literature, when available, is much sought after, but many more publications are needed, especially in Persian. Elam, 222 Ministries, Sohrab Books, Persian World Outreach, Iranian Christians International and others are involved in production and distribution. Pray also that the Lord will raise up more indigenous writers to produce Christian material to meet the accelerating demand from the Iranian Church. Pray that God will continue to open new avenues for distribution. Pray specifically for the development of children’s materials – a glaring need with 15 million Iranians aged 15 or younger.
c) Radio remains a valuable ministry. Millions listen despite government restrictions, and thousands of response e-mails and letters are received. Voice of Christ Media Ministries, TWR and others prepare daily programmes in Persian and Azeri and broadcast them on satellite, shortwave and medium wave.
d) Other media include Christian and worship music (very popular with the younger generation, in particular) and film, including the raft of materials associated with the JESUS film. Pray for these to have a great impact.
TV ministry is an area of huge growth for reaching Iranians. Many ministries pour resources and efforts into developing videos for evangelism and Christian teaching. Possibly 20 million illegal satellite dishes are used to access television broadcasts. Stations such as SAT-7 Pars, Nejat TV, MOHABAT TV, and producers such as Iran Alive Ministries, 222 Ministries, Elam Ministries and others reach millions through this popular medium. Live worship broadcasts with music and teaching prove especially effective. Pray also for the development of Christian video programming and materials for youth and children, who constitute such a large swathe of Iran’s population.
     For an additional 12 Challenges for Prayer see Operation World book, CD-ROM, or DVD-ROM.

More Information

The Operation World book, CD-ROM, and DVD-ROM provide far more information and fuel for prayer for the people of Iran.