The Testimony of Zahra and her Daughter

One evening during our conference in Armenia, it was almost 10:00 p.m. The Iranian attendees had already spent hours from the early morning listening to the Word of God, so I asked, “Are you tired, or would you like me to continue teaching?”

They answered, “Brother, please teach us more.”

Their response shows the deep spiritual hunger many Iranians have for the Word of God and for Truth.

When the session ended that evening, one woman remained particularly on my heart. Her name was Zahra. I could not fully understand what was going on with her. Among believers, there is often a kindred spirit—a spiritual connection that can be sensed even before many words are spoken. But with Zahra, something did not seem to fit, and I could not quite identify what it was. After the meeting, I invited her to speak with me.

“Do you have any questions?” I asked. “Is something troubling you? Is there anything you would like me to pray about?”

As I gently encouraged her to open up, she finally told me the truth.

“To be honest, I am a Muslim,” she said. “Before coming downstairs, I was in my room performing my Islamic prayers.”

She then explained why she had come to the conference.

Her 19-year-old daughter had been invited to attend, but Zahra had been deeply suspicious of us. She feared that we might be human traffickers posing as Christians. She imagined that we would take her daughter from Armenia to Dubai and sell her into exploitation. Zahra had therefore accompanied her daughter for one reason: to protect her from us.

I asked, “Do you still believe that is who we are?”

“No,” she replied. “Now I know you are not human traffickers. You are completely different from what I imagined. I have seen the love and respect you have for one another.”

Zahra then described the transformation she had witnessed in her daughter.

For years, her daughter had struggled at home and frequently fought with her father. The conflict became so severe that she left the family home.

But two or three months before the conference, she returned with a completely different attitude. She began honoring her father, and her behavior changed dramatically. She told Zahra that, through an online Christian connection using an app, she had accepted Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.

Zahra could not deny the change. She became curious about Christ and Christianity but remained suspicious of those who had invited her daughter to Armenia.

I asked Zahra what else she knew about Jesus and Christianity.

That question opened the door to a remarkable story—one that had taken place years earlier, while Zahra was still a committed Muslim.

Zahra’s First Encounter with the Power of Jesus

Around 2016, while still a Muslim, she accompanied a friend to an Armenian church in eastern Tehran. Her friend was preparing a documentary about Armenian martyrs of the Iran-Iraq War. Zahra had always wanted to witness Christian worship, and their visit coincided with a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

At first, a church attendant received them coldly. Then another believer said, “They are our guests,” and they were welcomed into the service and celebration. Zahra was deeply moved by the warmth and spiritual atmosphere.

As they left, the priest offered them water that had been prayed over, saying people had witnessed miracles through it. Zahra accepted a small bottle, gave some to her husband and children while praying for them, and kept the rest.

A few days later, her brother-in-law, Davood, visited. He had undergone open-heart surgery about a month earlier but still felt unwell. Zahra gave him some of the water. Davood mentioned that he had a cardiology appointment the next day.

An echocardiogram revealed a small tear near his heart valve. The doctor warned that his heart could rupture at any moment and sent him immediately to Tehran Heart Hospital for another operation.

Because Davood had undergone surgery only one month earlier, doctors feared that another round of anesthesia might kill him. Eventually, one doctor agreed to assemble a specialized team. During a four-day public holiday, Davood was kept completely still in bed because movement could be dangerous.

On the fifth day, the team operated from 8:00 in the morning until midnight. Zahra and several family members waited anxiously.

Then they received devastating news. The valve had been replaced, but Davood’s heart had stopped. The family was told that he had been dead for approximately 45 minutes and that the doctors could not restart his heart.

Zahra’s sister fainted. Zahra walked out to the hospital courtyard. It was midnight, and a light rain was falling. She fell facedown on the asphalt and cried:

“O Jesus Christ! Didn’t I give Davood some of that holy water? Didn’t you raise the dead? I must see your miracle. Please show me!”

As she returned toward the lobby, she saw her brother coming downstairs, laughing.

“The doctor says Davood’s heart has started beating again!”

Zahra began crying and laughing, thanking God.

The doctors warned that Davood still had to survive the next 48 hours. When Zahra’s sister cried, “Only 48 hours?” Zahra answered, “The Lord who turned 45 minutes into 48 hours can turn those 48 hours into a whole new lifetime.”

Davood survived. He is alive today and witnessed the birth of his grandchild. Although he has physical limitations, Zahra says he became gentle and innocent, almost like a child. After awakening from the coma, he told her, “Sister Zahra, I saw things before I returned to this world, but I can never tell any of you what I saw.”

Zahra had witnessed what she believed was a miracle, yet she had never fully understood who Jesus was.

Years later, her daughter’s transformation brought the memory back, and now she was sharing it at the conference.

I sensed the Lord leading me to John chapter 3, where Jesus tells Nicodemus, “You must be born again.”

I explained that physical birth brings us into this world, but we also need a spiritual birth from the Spirit of God.
“You are a mother,” I told her. “A child cannot cause herself to be born. Can we cause ourselves to be born again?”

“No,” she answered.

“That is right. We cannot save ourselves. The new birth is the work of God.”

“That is right. We cannot save ourselves. The new birth is the work of God.”

Then I asked, “Do you want to be born again? Do you want to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?” Zahra said yes.

That Wednesday evening, I lead her to place her faith in Jesus, renounced Islam, and she repeatedly confessed Christ as her Lord and King.

The following evening, I baptized both Zahra and her daughter. On Friday, they returned home.

They had come to Armenia carrying fear, suspicion, family pain, and unanswered questions. They left united as mother and daughter in faith.

Zahra came to protect her daughter from Christians. Instead, God used her daughter to bring her to Christ’s family. The Jesus to whom she had cried out years earlier was now revealed to her as Savior and Lord.

They came one way, but they went home another.

In January 2026, Iran was shaken by two nights of mass killing. Between 50,000 and 60,000 Iranians were killed for the sin of protesting against the Islamic regime!

Millions had believed that a nationwide uprising could finally become the tipping point for change. Instead, the regime answered them with extraordinary brutality. The result was national shock, deep grief, and widespread hopelessness. Many Iranians came to the end of themselves, and reports of severe depression and suicidal thoughts increased throughout our network.

Iranians did not need January to become disillusioned with Islam. They have lived under Sharia since 1979, and many rejected it in their hearts long ago.

January did something different: it made Islamic identification a question of national loyalty. In the eyes of many Iranians, to identify publicly as Muslim, attend a mosque, or stand near the theocracy now means aligning oneself with an illegitimate regime that slaughtered their fellow countrymen—a regime they regard as the enemy of the Iranian people.

That was the emotional and spiritual condition in which our brothers and sisters traveled to the conference in Armenia: grieving, exhausted, and desperately in need of hope.

Even reaching the conference involved opposition. A bus carrying Iranian believers broke down about an hour after crossing the border. Delays, uncertainty, and much prayer followed before another bus could be arranged. But the believers continued and arrived safely.

Once there, their hunger for God was extraordinary. One evening, after hours of teaching, it was nearly 10:00 p.m. I asked them, “Are you tired, or would you like me to continue?”

They answered, “Brother, please teach us more.”

During a special women’s meeting, one of our ministers shared her own testimony of  being delivered by Christ from years of depression and suicidal thoughts.

Her story opened the hearts of three Iranian women who had also come close to ending their lives.

One of them was a nurse who had once gone to a high balcony at the hospital where she worked, intending to jump. Although she was already a believer, the trauma and hopelessness surrounding her had become overwhelming. Through testimony, prayer, and personal ministry, these women found that freedom and hope are possible in Christ.

The conference also provided essential discipleship. We printed hundreds of copies of four different discipleship books and equipped the believers. They returned to Iran with biblical resources they can study, share, and use to help strengthen others.

17 were baptized. Among those baptized was the son of a father whom I had previously baptized in Turkey. That father brought his son to the conference so that he, too, could publicly declare his faith in Christ. Seeing both father and son baptized shows how the gospel is taking root in families and carrying into the next generation.

For Iranian believers living under persecution, isolation, and national trauma, these conferences provide a rare place of refuge, biblical teaching, healing, fellowship, and renewed strength before they return to Iran.

“Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” -Galatians 6:2

OUR MOST SUCCESSFUL SUMMER OUTREACH YET

We have just finished our summer Bible distribution and evangelism outreach in Turkey, and after receiving the final reports from our teams, we can tell you that 578 people made decisions to follow Jesus Christ. That is the highest number of salvations we have ever recorded during a summer outreach.

Our team of 16 believers spent the week on the streets of Istanbul, meeting Iranians face-to-face, sharing the Gospel, praying with people, and putting the Word of God in their hands. By the end of the outreach, 2,100 Persian Bibles had been distributed.

Last summer, we rejoiced when 208 people made decisions for Christ. This year, on the same mission trip, we saw 578. Something has changed in the hearts of Iranians, and this openness is what Jesus described when He said the fields are already white for harvest.

Every day, our team came back with stories of conversations we could never have planned. People were searching. Some had questions they had been carrying for years. Others stopped simply because they saw a Bible in Farsi, or because they overheard us talking about Jesus with another Iranian.

“LOOK! THIS IS ANOTHER SIGN!”

Hamideh was evangelizing with her team near a cathedral in the middle of one of Istanbul’s busiest bazaars when she noticed a small group of three to four young people inside. Something about them caught her attention. She wanted to approach them, but she did not have peace about doing it there. The cathedral’s security had already warned our team that they were not permitted to stop or speak with the people inside the building.

Hamideh told her team, “By the grace of God, I know I will see them outside.”

About twenty minutes later, they saw the same small group of Iranians from the cathedral. Hamideh immediately approached them and held out a Persian Bible to one of the girls.

Sahar then explained to Hamideh what had happened only minutes earlier. While they were inside the cathedral, her Christian friends had spoken with her about Jesus. Sahar had prayed with them and made a decision to receive Christ. Afterward, one of her friends told her how much he wished he had a Farsi Bible to give her, but he didn’t have one. So, he prayed that somehow God would provide His Word for her. They walked outside, and while they were still talking about it, a woman Sahar had never met walked directly toward her and placed a Farsi Bible into her hands. Sahar began to cry. She told Hamideh, “I am certain this is a miracle and a sign from God.”

Hamideh answered her, “Yes, because the God you have believed in is a living God. He hears your prayers. What you asked Him for, He provided.”

Sahar’s Christian friend also began to cry. He had just asked God to somehow provide a Farsi Bible for this new believer, and within minutes, God sent one of our workers carrying exactly what he had prayed for. They were all strengthened.

We could never have organized that. But God knew where Sahar would be. God knew the prayer her friend would pray. And God knew exactly where one of His servants was standing with a Farsi Bible in her hand. What an awesome God we serve.

This summer has been one of the most fruitful seasons we have experienced at Iranian Christians International.

At our discipleship conference, 17 Iranian believers were baptized, including the son of a man I baptized in Turkey years ago. Hundreds of copies of four discipleship titles were printed and being distributed inside Iran’s underground church. Iranian women who arrived carrying thoughts of ending their lives returned home with renewed hope and freedom in Christ.

Then, during our summer evangelism outreach in Turkey, 16 laborers distributed 2,100 Persian Bibles, and 578 Iranians made decisions to follow Jesus Christ. Last summer, that number was 208. This year, we saw nearly three times as many.

Something is changing in the hearts of Iranians. The fields are already white for harvest. And we are doing it again. Another Bible distribution outreach in the Middle East is already being prepared.

Here in America, the work continues as well. In September, I stood before hundreds of pastors at the TPUSA Faith Pastors Summit in Detroit, speaking about the Islamization of America, the responsibility of the Church to reach Muslims, and the extraordinary work God is doing among the Iranian people.

If you are already one of our Monthly Partners, thank you. The fruit you have read about throughout this newsletter is fruit abounding to your account.

Would you prayerfully consider becoming a Monthly Partner and standing with us in the work ahead?

With love,

Mohamad Amin & Susan Faridi