Last Sunday was the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. As we lifted our voices to pray on their behalf, one of our watch missionaries sent us the following stories that vividly show that God is at work in miraculous ways. She helps serve at an Iranian fellowship in her country—a part of the world that is unwelcome to Christians.

Just a few weeks ago, an Iranian member brought his unbelieving family members to church. He has been sharing the good news with them for two years, and when he invited them to church, they did not want to come. His dad pointedly remarked, “I will never abandon my beloved Mohammad. You are an infidel, and now you want me to come and see you be the emcee at an infidel service?”

In the end, the entire family did come to church, which is quite a distance away for them. When the pastor saw the number of unbelievers present that day, he set aside his planned sermon and did a comparison of Islam and Christianity.

Recalls our missionary, “He was challenging, and at the end of the sermon, that 80-year-old father was the first to stand up and declare that he was ready to follow Jesus. He said he saw a man dressed in white standing behind the pastor as he taught.

"At this point, everyone started crying—then his mom believed as well. Then another member’s 20-year-old daughter came up and said she believed. Towards the end of the service, the Iranian man’s sister also came forward and said, ‘I teach Islamic theology, and you have destroyed what I believed. It’s not true. This is true. Everything you said is true.’ This man’s entire family accepted the Lord that day.”

After the service, the member’s younger sister said, “I am returning to Iran in two weeks. I will convert my husband and then our house will become a house church. Will you help me?”

Throughout the morning, four young men sat in the back of the room, watching everything. Finally, one of them spoke up, “When you first started talking, I was planning to go to the Iranian embassy and give them your name. But as you were praying, I saw a holy man behind you dressed in white. We want to accept Jesus.”

God is truly at work among them.

Another story involves “Helen,” a woman our missionary disciples. “She’s Afghan and the only one in her family who believes,” explains our worker. One evening, her older brother, who was the most vocal one against her faith, tore up her Bible. Her parents denied her access to her Wi-Fi password and tablet, essentially cutting off her only means of communicating with the missionary and other Christians. The whole family goes through waves of treating her poorly and teasing her because of her faith, but this had been the worst episode yet.

Our worker there connected with some friends who had visited Helen, and they related that both Helen’s parents and her brother woke her up that morning to apologize for treating her poorly. And they kept asking why she remained so loving towards them even after the bad things they did to her.

“Anyone familiar with the strong pride in this culture knows the great conviction it must have taken for her parents, especially, to sincerely apologize to her and why this was such a big deal. The brother served my friends tea and was quite hospitable, which has never happened before. We are praying that Helen’s whole family will believe,” our missionary says.

Providentially, "her dad memorized several Bible stories when he helped translate them into easy Dari for verbal learners. I think his heart is softer than her mom’s and more open. He also has come to church with her before. Please pray with me for Helen to remain strong in her faith, to keep growing and for her entire family to believe.”

Praise God who is sovereignly working in closed countries. Praise Jesus that people are making eternally significant decisions to follow him. Give thanks that the Spirit is using people like this worker to point people to faith in the one true, living God.