“The current protestors have understandably taken to the streets to stand up for their rights and economic interests,” says Representative Foley. “But Iran’s underground Christians have ‘taken to the streets for years’, not to protest in groups but rather to lay down their rights and sacrifice their own interests in order to share the gospel individually with their fellow Iranians. And the Christians have paid a high price for this, with many currently serving long sentences at Iran’s infamous Evin Prison.”

Representative Foley says that even though evangelizing Muslims is a serious crime in Iran, Iran’s underground Christians have risked their personal safety to do street evangelism for years, even during Covid.

“When the coronavirus pandemic began, an older Muslim couple, Aref and his wife, Liana, were obeying the government’s lockdown orders and staying at home,” says Representative Foley. “But one day they went out to get some fresh air in a local park. A man came up to them and talked to them briefly about God and gave them a Bible.”

She says the couple did not think much about the encounter and simply put the Bible on a bookshelf when they returned home. But eight months later, Aref had a dream.

“In the dream he heard a voice saying, ‘I will reveal the true way to you. You will find Me there,’” says Representative Foley. “When Aref woke up, he remembered the man who had given him the Bible, so he went to the bookshelf and retrieved it.”

Representative Foley says that after reading some scriptures in the Bible, Aref returned to the first page and found contact information for the man who had given it to him. “He called the number and asked about his dream and about God. Imagine the risk the Christian took to talk to the couple, give them a Bible, and even put his contact information in it. He was literally laying down his life for strangers.”

Representative Foley says that in addition to street evangelism, Iranian underground Christians go to neighborhoods and put Bibles in each mailbox.

“One Iranian woman, Fareena, told Voice of the Martyrs that she secretly became a Christian but had hidden her faith for two years because she worried about being beaten or even turned over to the police by her family,” says Representative Foley. “But one day Fareena went to the living room in her house and saw her father sitting on the floor reading a Bible. When she asked her father what he was doing, he told her, ‘I am reading an amazing book that I found in the mailbox today.’ It turned out that Iranian Christians had gone house to house, placing Bibles in all the mailboxes with notes saying the book was a gift for Nowruz, the Iranian New Year.”

Representative Foley says that not only did the mailbox Bible lead her father to accept Christ, it also included contact information that Fareena and her father used to find a house church they could join.

Representative Foley says she believes it is important for Christians in the rest of the world to understand the story of Iranian underground Christians when they read news reports on the current protests. “We should not think that these protests may ‘open the door’ for the gospel to spread in Iran,” says Representative Foley. “The gospel has been spreading in Iran for years! Many researchers believe that more people may be coming to Christ in Iran than anywhere else in the world.”

Representative Foley says she believes Christians in the rest of the world often have the wrong idea that the Christians in Iran must be hiding and hoping for a regime change so that they can be Christian openly. “The truth is, Iranian Christians have never gone into hiding. They have been in the streets for years—not protesting for their rights but making a bold witness for Christ. They are not waiting for greater political freedom so that they can share the gospel. They have freedom in Christ, and they have used this freedom to evangelize, even when it has resulted in them being sent to prison. So we can pray for the protests, but we should remember that whatever happens, God is not dependent on economic protests or regime changes in order for his word to reach the world.”

Individuals interested in learning more about the work of Iranian underground Christians can visit Voice of the Martyrs Korea’s country profile on Iran at https://vomkorea.com/en/country-profile/IRAN/.