Satellite-TV Strengthens the Underground Church -

 ODICC -  july/15/2007

Until about the year 2000, converted Muslims in Iran only came to Christianity if they had experienced a miracle or if they had spoken to Jesus Christ in a dream. That still happens, but now the majority of new converts come to faith through Satellite-TV, says Stefan De Groot, an Open Doors field worker for the Middle East. “New media are becoming increasingly important in the future to strengthen the Church.”

Iran is in the news almost daily on account of its nuclear aspirations. “Ordinary” Iranians are fearful for war, but at the same time try to make something of their lives. Young people hold underground parties with Western music, alcohol and without head coverings. Above all there are few countries where web-blogs are more popular than Iran. A large section of the community longs for contact with the outside world and does not really uphold the strict convictions of the regime

“The authority of President Ahmadinejad and the other leaders is grounded in Islam,” says De Groot. “That means that if people ‘go astray’ from Islam, the leaders lose their authority. They create on the one side a common enemy, America, and on the other side a common basis, Islam. Ethnic Christians are tolerated, but nothing more. For example, they may not evangelize. In the Armenian, Assyrian and Roman Catholic churches, uniformed guards are regularly at the doors controlling who goes in and deciding whether or not this person is an ethnic Christian. The Armenian and Assyrian churches are very inward looking. In exchange, they can have limited meetings together and also publish certain books. The Roman Catholic Church does not turn ‘seeking Muslims’ away but has very few options to help them.

Muslims who become Christians put their lives on the line. They risk persecution from their families, friends, employers, local spiritual leaders and the authorities. In November 2005, Pastor Ghorban Tourbani was murdered by an unknown person or persons. Since that time, countless Christians have been imprisoned, some with short sentences and others with longer sentences. Only a handful of reports about these ‘incidents’ has trickled into the outside world.

De Groot reports, “In spite of this pressure, the house church movement has seen spectacular growth.” He further states, “This is not happening just because of dreams and miracles. There are Iranians who go to the West and become Christians, then finally come back to their own country and start evangelizing. But the majority of people now come to faith through the multimedia, and especially Satellite-TV. Nobody can control what programs Iranians watch. However, many reactions and questions are coming in at the stations from the Muslims. Program producers also come to hear stories about people who converted to Christianity.”

Open Doors is also playing its part in this trend by producing TV programs. De Groot continues, “We research in Iran where the need lies. Through which programs can we strengthen the Iranian church? It is not only the evangelization programs that do well. We also give discipleship training and training for pastors. Some cell groups are growing amazingly fast from just one person to a hundred people. How can the organizer of such a group, who is usually a believer of just one or two years, possibly know how people should grow in their faith?

“Yet Open Doors continues to proceed with the ‘old fashioned work,’” says De Groot. “I expect that our literature distribution in Iran will increase by 10 15% in the coming years. Much of the literature which we distribute complements, directly or indirectly, the programs from the Satellite channels. Our training and social-economic development aid will increase with an even higher percentage.