Lorene Hodges:  Because of the demonstrations in Iran, I want to talk about:

I met Dr. Hormoz Shariat at the Voice of the Martyrs conference in 2016.  He is a dynamic speaker and has a deep feeling for the Muslims in Iran.  His 16 year old brother was arrested, tortured and then murdered by Muslims in Iran.  He decided he could either hate the Muslims and damage himself or he could love the Muslims and convert them to Christianity.  He chose the latter. 

This is information he wrote about himself.  “In 2001 I followed the Lord’s leading and founded Iran Alive Ministries, which utilizes Satellite TV to reach the millions of lost and broken people of Iran and the rest of the Middle East.  Today, we broadcast the Gospel 24/7 from our studio in Dallas to Iran and the Middle East, trusting the Lord to use us to transform a nation, which is responding to the Gospel unlike any other time in history.  You can find out more about the ministry by visiting www.IranAliveMinistries.org. Since the beginning of the protests, we have been broadcasting a special live program at noon CST (prime time in Iran) every day, even on Saturdays and Sundays. Our goals are to show that

God knows their pains, and so do we;
God cares about what they are going through, and so do we;
God has a plan for Iran and is active in the midst of this chaos and suffering, and we all need to align what we do with what he intends to do in Iran.

How should we pray?

Many families have been torn apart. Many reports tell of people congregating around Evin Prison in Tehran, hoping to secure the release of family members. Some young people have been killed, and many have disappeared. Please pray for these young people and their families.

People are also suffering economic hardship, no longer able to buy milk, cheese, or eggs. Pray that they would come to know that God loves them and cares about their situation. Pray that the leaders in Iran will have compassion on their people and instead of treating them as thugs, accusing them of being CIA agents, and heartlessly killing them, that they would care for their felt needs.

This is a great time for Christians to shine. Pray that the 2 million Christians in Iran will reflect Christ’s character by their love and actions. Also pray they will bring true hope and lasting change to the lives of millions by sharing the gospel.

And finally, please pray for Iran Alive. God has graciously positioned us to have a tangible impact on at least 6 million people according to a recent poll. This is the number who watch us regularly and for whom we are their favorite channel. Pray that the Lord will give us wisdom and provide for us financially so that we can have maximum impact during this historic time in Iran.

An Unlikely Evangelist: She first heard of Christianity from her torturer.

Because the Olympics are in South Korea and North Korea has been in the news, I also want to tell you something about Christians in North Korea.

As “Kyung-ja” drifted in and out of consciousness, her head bloodied by repeated blows from a club, she heard her North Korean guard shouting words she had never heard before: “Bible,” “God,” “Jesus.”

Kyung-ja understood why the female guard demanded information about her illegal trip across the border into China … and about her daughter’s defection. But she’d never heard of Christianity, and she couldn’t understand why the guard kept asking about it and then beating her when she didn’t  provide answers.

Two months later, Kyung-ja was transferred to a labor camp. When she got there, she asked a fellow prisoner, “What is God? What is a Bible?” The prisoner told her there was a God, but that they couldn’t discuss it because it was too dangerous.

Months later, while talking on the phone with her daughter in South Korea, Kyung-ja finally got answers to her questions. Soon afterward, she placed her faith in Christ, and today she lives and serves Him in South Korea.