Harness the Internet to save Christian converts from execution in Iran
Oct 06 2008
Postings >> Iran

Release International has launched a viral video to help Christians in Iran – where converts from Islam may soon face the death penalty. The Iranian parliament has voted overwhelmingly to execute citizens found guilty of apostasy – changing their faith.

The viral video is short and punchy and can easily be sent by email. The idea is to spread the video across the internet by forwarding it to friends and contacts.

The aim is to raise prayer and put pressure on the Iranian government, as Tehran moves closer to imposing a mandatory death penalty on anyone leaving Islam.

Iran has been cracking down on Christians. According to Middle East Concern, the authorities are holding up to 43 Christians from Muslim backgrounds in a number of locations throughout the country. 

The viral video ties in with a new appeal by Release International, which serves the persecuted Church. Its CEO Andy Dipper says: New technology and the Internet have handed Christians an incredibly powerful tool for raising awareness, generating prayer and effecting change. 

Were calling on Christians to spread the word about the growing persecution of Christians in Iran – especially Muslims seeking to change their faith. Please get this video out across the entire web. Help us put pressure on Iran to drop its plans to impose the death penalty on Muslims who change their faith.  

Download the Iran viral video from: www.releaseinternational.org/prisoners 

Iranian Christians are calling for prayer that:

·        Gods presence will sustain the Christians who are behind bars

·        That legislators will reject moves to impose the death penalty for apostasy

·        Iranian officials behind the arrests will hear the gospel and respond to Jesus 

Lets harness the power of prayer and the Internet to help our brothers and sisters in Iran, says Andy Dipper. 

ENDS

NOTES TO THE EDITOR

Middle East Concern story: http://www.givengain.com/cgi-bin/giga.cgi?cmd=cause_dir_news_item&cause_id=%20%20%201489&news_id=53736 

Background briefing:

The Iranian parliament has given its overwhelming approval to a new penal code, which includes the apostasy bill. The motion was carried on September 9 by a vote of 196 to seven. The code is still being reviewed by parliament and will then need to be approved by Irans Guardian Council – a body of 12 conservative theologians and jurists. The Council is not expected to veto parliaments decision.

Commentators now believe the only hope of derailing the bill is international pressure. There is a precedent for this: in 2005 Christian Hamid Pourmand, a former army colonel, was acquitted of apostasy following international lobbying on his behalf.

On September 26 the EU issued a declaration urging the Iranian Government to reconsider the draft bill on apostasy.

Those who offend Sharia law may be publicly flogged or even executed by hanging in the streets. Seventy-one people were hanged in July alone.

Iranian Christians in particular are under constant pressure from the police and the agents who monitor adherence to Islamic correctness. Under Irans Islamic laws, Muslims who convert from Islam to another religion can be sentenced to execution at the judges discretion.

Although the death penalty is usually commuted to a lengthy prison sentence, at least two converts to Christ have been publicly put to death by the state while many more have been clandestinely killed. And the draft law now before the parliament would make conversion to Christ a mandatory death penalty offence.

Many Iranian Muslims who become Christian believers join house churches which meet in secret. As in other repressive societies, despite the pressures on national Christians, the house church movement is growing.

Pressure on house churches inside Iran is intensifying. On July 17, a police squad raided a house church near one of the larger cities, and arrested eight men, six women and two teenagers, beating them all as they did so. One man, in his 60s, died from his injuries later that month in hospital. His wife died five days later from similar injuries and stress-related causes, reports FCNN (Farsi Christian News Network).

Despite increasing pressure on those who attend house churches, their number is growing, and the calls for literature, training and support are increasing.

For more stories of individual Christians under pressure in Iran, please go to http://www.releaseinternational.org/pages/donate/iran-appeal.php 

Release is supporting Christians in Iran by: 

Providing emergency relief

We provide financial aid to Christians who have been turned out of their homes because they have changed their faith.

Supporting leaders

We provide financial assistance to a small number of church leaders who have lost their jobs, so they can continue their ministries, such as leading house churches, in their home town.

Leadership training

We support the training of leaders and run training programmes. More than a hundred leaders have been trained over the last few years. 

Womens ministry

We have a special ministry to women, who are hugely disadvantaged in Iranian society. 

We help them to receive Bible teaching, encouragement, and teaching on family values and childrens ministry. 

Supporting outreach projects

We supply copies of the Jesus film, evangelistic and teaching CDs, New Testaments, Bibles and evangelical Christian literature in Farsi, which is the main language in Iran. 

Satellite TV broadcasting

We have supported our partners in broadcasting Christian evangelistic and teaching programmes into Iran. Many people have written to ask for literature, and have indicated that they have become Christians as a result of these programmes. 

For further information please contact Release International on 01689 823491 or by email at info@releaseinternational.org  

For more information on Release International please go to: www.releaseinternational.org