Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) is keeping close tabs on its workers in Iran, and Vice President Todd Nettleton says he was talking with one recently and was surprised to hear good news.
“The Christians in Iran are very encouraged, and I was kind of like, ‘well, whoa, wait, there's a war going on.’ But overwhelmingly, there is a sense of a great spiritual harvest that is coming, and we are on the cusp of it,” Nettleton says.
He says it's not the message he was expecting from war-weary Iranians.
“They are not saying, ‘hey, we want to leave, help us get to a safer place.’ They are saying, ‘pray for us, pray that God will protect us, and pray that we'll be ready for this time of spiritual harvest’,” Nettleton states.
Nettleton says VOM is doing its best to equip the believers there for the work ahead.
“There is work going on to get Bibles, especially, into Iran,” Nettleton states.
And he says God is already clearing the way.
“Right now, the authorities and the police, their hands are full with the war. They're not that worried about Christians, they're not that worried about Christian materials. They're more worried about their own lives,” Nettleton says.
AFN has previously reported how Christianity is growing in Iran despite war, massacres and the threat of the Islamic regime.
Meanwhile, it's been months since dozens of members of the growing house church network in China were taken into custody during a major government crackdown on churches.
Several church members have been released, but at least 18 remain imprisoned. The Washinton Stand reports the Chinese Communist Party is persecuting and suppressing the lawyers who are defending those remaining 18.
Dr. Bob Fu, founder and president of China Aid, spoke about this on Washington Watch.
"The Chinese Communist Party is not only satisfied in enslaving and continually arbitrarily jailing those 18 house church leaders plus many others, but also they are launching a war really against their defense lawyers,” Fu says.
The lawyers are also all Christians, and more than 20 of them, Fu says, are facing disbarment.
“Already, there are a few being declared disbarred, and six of them are suspended of their law license for simply representing these imprisoned church pastors,” Fu states.
He says this shows that there is no such thing called the “rule of law” in China.
"Of course, we all know the outcome of a potential trial with or without a lawyer in communist China has been predetermined, and yet the lawyers, especially these Christian lawyers, often serve as the only channel, reliable channel, for communication between those imprisoned pastors and their family members,” Fu states.
By launching this new "war against the rule of law," Fu says the Chinese Community Party is trying to cut off even the basic communication between prisoners and the outside world.
This not the first time that the government has targeted lawyers. Fu mentions a situation in 2015 where the 200-plus human rights lawyers and legal activists were imprisoned and tortured.
"I think we need to pray for divine protection for those human rights lawyers, especially their family members. I know some of them have little children, and some had been tortured previously,” Fu says. “So, we pray for the protection of their families, and also we pray for their continued boldness to speak up and stand up for justice for those imprisoned pastors, even though they may lose their law licenses.”
