The Great Walkaway

When Iran Turns Its Back on Islam, the Gospel Door Opens Wider Than Ever

The cultural shift has been building for years. In 2020, a major survey of more than 50,000 Iranians showed something the regime never wants to admit out loud. Only about one-third identified as Shiite Muslim. A nation that used to be 98.6% Muslim.

Then in 2023, even a senior cleric of the Iranian president’s office publicly admitted that fifty thousand of the seventy-five thousand mosques were closed because people aren’t attending. This means about two-thirds of Iran’s mosques were shut down.

And now here we are in 2026.
During the uprising, we’re watching videos of Iranians attacking, desecrating, and even burning mosques, shrines, and Qur’ans. These are not some small details. It’s a shocking sign of how deep the disgust of Iranian people toward Islam has become.
Why would people burn places that were supposed to be houses of worship? Because for many Iranians, the mosque has become an outpost of oppression. In countless neighborhoods, mosques have been used as staging grounds for the Basij, the regime’s street-level paramilitary force under the IRGC. In many places, Basij bases are co-located with mosques, and Basij leadership is often intertwined with mosque leadership. From these locations, these Hamas-like soldiers are deployed to terrorize communities, enforce control, and crush dissent.
Their presence in nearly every neighborhood is not spiritual. It is strategic. They conduct surveillance, intimidate families, arrest protesters, and violently suppress demonstrations.

For many, the first arrests start there. People are dragged into these mosques, and what follows is not worship. It is abuse. It is terror. It is torture.

However, the spell of Islam is breaking. And when lies collapse, hearts become open.

Iran’s Uprising: A nation crying out for Freedom

Writing this to you as an Iranian about the situation in my home country has been heart wrenching. Iran is in the middle of what can only be described as a civil war — a war between the Iranian people and its Islamic occupier ruling our land. This is the single largest massacre of Iranians by the Islamic dictatorship since taking power in 1979.

In 1979, the Islamic regime did not simply “take power.” It invaded our nation. The Mullah’s promises were: “free electricity, free water, and free transportation”, all supposedly paid for by Iran’s oil revenues under a “just Islamic system.” Many were deceived into believing Islam was the answer. But what we got was not justice. What we got was occupation.

They didn’t just change laws. They changed our identity.

Our beautiful national flag was altered to carry Arabic words — Allahu Akbar — stamped across it. The national anthem changed. Our names changed. In schools, students were forced to learn Arabic, study the Qur’an, and absorb Islamist ideology as if it were the essence of being Iranian. Even politicians began addressing the nation with Arabic phrases, a language foreign to the Persians.

We thought we were choosing justice, equality and “free benefits.” Instead, we were invaded. Our Persian culture, history, and identity were treated like enemies. And for 47 years, the Iranian people have paid the price — through economic collapse, fear, censorship, prisons, and blood.

Now, the Iranians have dared to demand a change. It was sparked after a severe currency crash and economic desperation. The protests began with shopkeeper strikes in Tehran’s Grand Bazaar before spreading nationwide, evolving into intense anti-regime demonstrations. It went from Tehran’s Bazaar and spread far beyond the Capital city—into more than a hundred cities, and even across all provinces, millions in the streets. The regime’s response is being described as war: one side armed, the other side unarmed.

At the time of writing, according to many reports, the numbers being cited are staggering as many as 43,000 killed, more than 350,000 injured, and over 10,000 blinded by metal birdshot.

One heartbreaking example is described in a story of a 17-year-old whose final message was: “It’s time to say goodbye. Don’t tell mom. Know that my only dream, everything I ever wished for, was to see Iran free one day.” That sentence captures what millions of Iranians are feeling: they are willing to risk everything for the hope of a free Iran.

The Bloodiest Suppression in a Generation

This is believed to be the bloodiest suppression since the 1979 Revolution. Execution-style killings, mass shootings, and overwhelmed hospitals reveal the true face of the Islamic theocracy when people dare to demand freedom. The Iranian government is forcing grieving families to pay for the bullets used to kill their loved ones before releasing their bodies. We have heard from some of the believers inside Iran that in some areas, they saw rivers of blood in the streets.

Blackout, Mass Detentions, and Claims of Executions

There has been almost a month of internet blackouts, cutting people off from the outside world and from each other. Even more disturbing are claims of mass detentions, with several thousand reportedly held in a large warehouse-like location. 

The allegations go further, detainees are being placed into halls under the label of “prison,” then executed in groups — with names later recorded as if they had died on earlier dates. No trial. No due process. No court.

We need to pray that the Western governments don’t turn a blind eye toward this. We need to pray that President Trump acts immediately. We need to pray that the lives lost for freedom in Iran don’t go to waste. Oh God, please intervene!

Armenia’s 10 days Evangelism

During the Christmas season, Armenia becomes a unique open door for the Gospel. Many Iranian tourists, including many non-Christians, travel to Armenia to experience a festive winter atmosphere that feels impossible back home. Iran’s strict religious and social controls suffocate public celebration, but Armenia offers something nearby and familiar yet far freer.

Armenia holds a unique place in the Middle East. It is widely known as the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion, dating back to the early fourth century. Even today, Armenia’s constitution recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church’s exceptional mission in the spiritual life and national identity of the Armenian people. For Iranian visitors, that creates a rare environment where Christian faith is visible in public, and conversations about Jesus can happen far more openly than inside Iran.

This past Christmas, our team of 10 believers spent 10 days in Armenia reaching Iranian tourists. They went out on the streets every day, handing out gift-wrapped Bibles and speaking openly about what Jesus have done for them to have eternal life.

Many of the people we met were surprised to learn that the Christians speaking to them were Iranians who were born Muslim and are now followers of Christ. For many Iranians, Christians are usually seen as Armenians, meaning Christianity feels like something foreign or ethnic, not something an Iranian would ever embrace. That realization opened many doors for honest conversations. Some were skeptical at first, but many were curious and willing to listen.

The outreach was not only about what happened outside. Our team comes together as a family. They gathered, ate together, prayed together, and evangelized together. It was a picture of the Body of Christ in action, serving side by side and strengthening one another daily

By God’s grace, we saw 57 people come to faith in Christ. Hundreds more heard the Gospel presentation for the first time. Several were not ready to commit right there in the moment, but they promised to read the Scriptures and make a conscious decision later.

YOUR PARTNERSHIP MOVES THE GOSPEL FURTHER AND DEEPER INTO MUSLIM WORLD

Iran’s turmoil has brought hopelessness to millions.

The Islamic regime does not want to let go at any expense. They will crush, silence, imprison, and kill to hold onto power. And as the Persian New Year arrives next month, thousands of families who have lost loved ones will be mourning instead of celebrating.

So, what is the Church’s response?

We mourn with those who mourn. We weep with the sorrowful. We pray for the brokenhearted, the imprisoned, the fearful, and the families who are carrying fresh grief into what should have been a season of joy.

But we do not stop at mourning. We offer hope—and that hope is found in Jesus Christ. Not in politics. Not in revolutions. Not in anything else. Hope has a name. And His name is Jesus.

This is why this year’s Newruz Bible distribution matters more than ever. When a nation is shaking, people begin to ask deeper questions. Iranians are disgusted—not only with the regime, but with the religion used to justify its brutality. And in that moment, the good news of the Gospel becomes a lifeline.

This Persian New Year, which falls on the last 2 weeks of March 2026, we are going again—to place thousands of Bibles into waiting hands, to pray with people in pain, and to point Iranians to the only One who can heal what tyranny has shattered.

Would you help us go? Your support helps place thousands of Bibles where they’re needed most. Your help is needed more than ever.

Thank you for standing with us in the calling which God called us to.

With love,

Mohamad Amin & Susan Faridi