Christmas was both a joyful and a challenging time for the Iranian church.

Many people came to church meetings in the Iran region and heard the Gospel for the first time, invited by Iranian Christian friends and neighbors.

Some expressed faith in Jesus, including a woman in Iran who prayed a prayer of repentance just before the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve! We praise God that she and many others have started 2024 as followers of Christ.

Alongside the joys, there were challenges: dozens of Christians were caught up in a significant wave of arrests in Iran.

They faced intensive interrogation, abusive treatment and separation from loved ones. Now their futures are uncertain. I encourage you to use this month’s Persecuted but not forsaken resource to pray for some of them.

Despite the hardship, we are already hearing how God is at work.

After leading a fellow prisoner to Jesus, a Christian reflected, “I think this is why I came to prison.” Another leader who was arrested said, “There is such a harvest here – we need to prepare more people for prison ministry!”

As we have seen time and again, in God's mercy, persecution is never the end of the story. For this reason, I remain excited to see what the Lord will do in 2024.

Would you pray with us for:

• Encouragement, peace and hope for all those caught up in the recent wave of arrests, and their loved ones

• God to be at work in the hearts of those who heard the Gospel for the first time over Christmas

• The new believers in the Iran region to grow in faith as they are discipled