God on the move in the Underground Iranian Church with Lana Silk from Transform Iran

In this powerful episode, Lana Silk, CEO of Transform Iran, shares remarkable stories of how God is moving through the underground church in Iran despite intense persecution and government opposition. Raised in a Christian family under Iran’s Islamic regime, Lana offers personal insight into the spiritual hunger spreading across the nation and the courageous believers risking everything to follow Jesus.

Together, they discuss the rapid growth of Christianity in Iran, miraculous testimonies of healing and transformation, and how ministries like Transform Iran are using discipleship, Bible distribution, media outreach, and humanitarian aid to reach millions with the Gospel. Lana also explains what Western Christians can learn from the faith, sacrifice, and boldness of the Iranian church.

This conversation is filled with hope, courage, and inspiring reminders that even in some of the darkest places, God is powerfully at work. 

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:07

In this episode of Pursuing Redemption, I sit down with Lana Silk, CEO of Transform Iran, to hear the remarkable story of her family's journey from Iran to Europe and eventually the United States, all in obedience to God's call. Lana is the daughter of Lazarus and Maggie, who devoted their lives to serving the Iranian church during a time of growing persecution. In the late 1980s, after a series of supernatural confirmations, they made the difficult decision to leave Iran and continue their mission abroad, trusting that God had a greater plan unfolding. Today, Transform Iran is training leaders and planning churches across 17 nations, including the underground congregations in Iran, Afghanistan. Through discipleship, compassion, and courageous faith, more than 100,000 people are now following Jesus Christ. God is moving powerfully in Iran, and Lana and the team at Transform Iran are helping lead that transformation by meeting practical needs, equipping believers, and boldly sharing the gospel.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

Welcome to the Pursuing Redemption Podcast with Heather Short.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Well, Lana, thank you so much for coming on the Pursuing Redemption Podcast. We're excited to have you. Welcome to the show. Thank you for having me. Yeah. Well, we're gonna hop right in here. Tell us a little bit about your journey of coming to know Jesus.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

I have had the joy of being raised in a Christian family. So my parents have known and loved the Lord their whole lives. And I've experienced God in very real ways from as young as I can remember. Uh so I kind of assumed, I think, that I was in the gang, as it were. And then I would have been about, I don't know, maybe six or seven years old, and my mum was uh sharing more of the gospel with me. I remember it really well. It was in their bedroom, she was ironing, I was sitting on the I can remember the pink bed spread, you know, those sort of those moments in your life that just sort of stick, and we were just chatting, and then she just suddenly about God, and then she just suddenly turned around and said, You know, Lana, God doesn't have any grandchildren, he just has children. So me and Dad are his children, and if you want to be in his family, you have to be his child, you don't get to be with him through us, kind of thing. Yeah, and it was such a sudden, oh, okay, well, let's fix this.

unknown 3:03

Like I remember that.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Oh, you should have told me that sooner. So um, you know, she just explained to me what salvation looked like, you know, the the full weight of what Jesus did on the cross and what it looked like to be a follower of him, and it was no question for me because I already loved him, I'd already experienced him. So it was just a kind of a sign-me up conversation, and she prayed with me, and that was my commitment to Christ.

SPEAKER_02 3:29

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:30

Uh, and a few times since then, you know, there've been moments where you, if you those of you, the listeners who have had young um commitments to Jesus might connect with this where you think, did it count? Like, was I too young? Did I really understand? Sure. Yeah. So I've had those moments where I've gone, okay, Lord, just so we're clear, yeah, I am following you. Um, but that's really where it all began.

SPEAKER_02 3:52

That's amazing. So give us a story behind your organization Transform Iran and tell us a little bit about your upbringing and you know how this really came into being.

SPEAKER_01 4:05

So Transform Iran is really a god idea. It was born out of his relationship with my parents and his love for Iran. Um, he has had a plan for Iran from much way longer than any of us have been around. That's right. Uh and he was, you know, it's been coming really increasing in intensity in the last 50 or so years. Sure. Uh really starting from the Iranian Revolution, what led to the Islamic Republic of Iran, even though, on the face of it, a lot of people, including my parents, were very confused by what happened there, having spent so many years praying and sewing and having a lot of um apathy that they were dealing with, closed doors. My dad went to prison twice during the Shah's time. So when technically there wasn't a problem with him talking about Jesus. Christianity was perfectly legal, and yet they would arrest him and put him in prison because they didn't like that he was talking about Jesus because of their Islamic heritage. What happened in 1979 with this um intensity of Islam that came into Iran was an unmasking of Islam at the same time, and with that a real openness in the hearts of Iranians who recognized what they thought they wanted wasn't, you know, what they what they asked for isn't what they really thought was they were getting. Yeah. And that led to a super dark, difficult, well, almost 50 years now, in Iran's story, but also with that, and uh such a great, unprecedented openness in Iranians and a full-blown revival that's happening. Many people will say that Iran is the fastest growing church in the world, even though it's one of the most persecuted churches in the world. So my parents have served through that time and seen those changes, and it was about 10 years into the Islamic Republic that the Lord called them out of Iran. Okay. And that's a whole other story, a lot of confusion, and like this can't be right, surely we're needed here. Uh, the Lord finally confirmed it in a dream through someone else, and we ended up leaving Iran as an act of obedience, only knowing that God had told us to leave, but not knowing why. Okay. And after we left, then God clarified his purposes and he said the church is about to be driven underground, and Iran is going to go through much greater persecution. And I'm gonna need you here to resource and strengthen and help nurture and grow what will be this very persecuted but thriving, fast-growing church. And that's what led to the sort of formal establishment of what is today Transform Iran, and I've been part of that from the very beginning.

SPEAKER_02 6:33

Yeah, that's absolutely amazing. Can you tell us a little bit about the story of your grandfather that we had chatted about? Um we did because it for it flows into yes, it's the forerunner really to this.

SPEAKER_01 6:46

So my grandfather was an Armenian nationalist, so very secular, really, maybe some sort of sense of traditional Orthodox Christianity, but definitely not a follower of Christ. He ended up in a Christian meeting. This is, of course, decades before Iran was an Islamic uh republic, and uh he he described that time as uh when he was in this meeting as really uncomfortable, like just under duress almost, but somehow pinned down and couldn't leave, but desperate for the meeting to end so he could get out. And then during that meeting, the Lord spoke to him and he said, Follow me, and through you I will change the course of a nation. Uh and years later, his children quizzed him on that, saying, Papa, but you weren't even a Krishna at that time. How did you know God was speaking to you? Sure. And he said, You know, when the Lord speaks to you, you know. Yeah, I guess it was pretty clear. So he left that meeting with a Bible and he ended up devouring the New Testament overnight, just couldn't put it down. And he called his fiance in the morning and he said, I have had a radical encounter with God, and I the course of my life is about to change. So I love you, but I cannot drag you into this uh without your full understanding of what's happening, and unless you want what is now gonna be what God is asking of me, then it's better that we don't get married. So she said, Okay, you know, send me send me the Bible, let me have a read and see what see what I make of it. So they were in different cities at the time, so he mailed her the Bible and she read it and she called him up and said, I'm I'm in, I want this. Amazing, yeah. So they started their relationship on that footing. Wow, and then uh so he and then he immediately made a decision that he was on his on a path of a very uh sort of rewarding career in the oil industry, but he made a decision then he was going to work for the Bible Society instead, and actually his family were pretty poor uh their whole lives, but it was a commitment to the the call, really, and part of that was this serving with the Bible Society. And years later, through that time, he came across uh an Oral Roberts magazine that talked about the Holy Spirit a little bit more. He thought, Oh, I'm still missing something. This isn't this isn't my full experience, and he went digging in the word again, and especially, of course, in Acts. Yep, and he he knew how to pray, he knew how to fast, and he knew what was missing. Uh, so he made a commitment to fast until God gave it to him, and he fasted for 42 days, just drank water, and just such a desperate desire for everything that God had for him. Wow. And he had such a powerful encounter that the family describe him coming home after that encounter and his face just being lit up. And you know, they knew something had happened, yeah, and he was physically marked by it, but he wouldn't talk about it for several days. He said later that it was just so precious that he somehow needed time to process that and hold that close for a little while before he shared it. Yeah, um, and then he shared it with the family. They had six children. My dad was number five, he was six years old, and the whole family was caught up in this excitement of what God was able to do and you know the fullness of that experience. So they began to meet every night to pray and worship, and it was in one of those early meetings that the Lord met the whole family, they were all slain in the spirit, all filled with the spirit, uh, and they started evangelizing people and inviting people to join these meetings, and the meetings ended up carrying on for over four years, and so many people came through those doors to the point there was no space that leave doors and windows open so people could stand outside and hear what was happening, and people were getting saved and healed, and there were so many miracles. I've interviewed the children myself to get their versions of these stories, and they're full of encounters of God doing New Testament things, you know, that very thing that was on Papa's heart that I want this, what I'm reading in Acts, I want that to happen. Yeah, and that's what started happening, and that was what the led to the the church that is in Iran today. They established it as a formal organization, got a building when they outgrew the home, and it was the predecessor to the church in Iran.

SPEAKER_02 11:04

That's amazing. Yeah, it's amazing what one obedient thing will do if we quickly obey what he can do through our lives. That is just a wild story. Um, can you tell us a little bit? I mean, that did tell us a little bit about the heart behind the organization and what you guys really stand for in terms of what you're trying to do in Iranian lives like now.

SPEAKER_01 11:27

Yes. So our vision is tied into wanting to ensure that every Iranian, man, woman, and child, regardless of their social standing, their background, their race, you know, there's so many different ethnic minorities in Iran, that they would all have access to the word of God in a way that they can understand it and respond to it. Okay. So we're busy making sure that we we preach the gospel well, clearly, cutting, overcoming all the barriers. You know, some of the barriers are costs, some are geography, some are access, some are literacy, some are language, making sure that we have overcome these barriers and given people access to the word because you know Jesus is really good at representing himself and drawing people to himself. All we need to do is connect, make that connection, bring them to the table, sure, and let God do the really cool part. And he is, he's doing dreams uh and visions and miracles through which he's really drawing people to himself, healing people. People come to us and say, Oh, I met Jesus in my dreams, he healed me of my cancer. What does that mean? What do I do? They don't know that he's God at that point, they just know that they're they adore him, they know they've experienced him, but they they need an explanation. So that's where if we're present and if we're uh accessible, then people are able to ask their questions and connect with us, and we do a whole range of things from using AI chatbots to answer their questions to satellite TV and radio and Bible translation, whatever it takes to make sure that they have access to the word. Then, of course, when they have encountered God and they know they want to follow Him, then it leads to other aspects of the ministry that help them grow. So we decide for them, we teach them the Word, we plant churches. Um, but all of that is an overflow of what God is doing in the first place and drawing people to Himself.

SPEAKER_02 13:12

That's crazy. I love it. I love it, I love it. So, I mean, speaking of some of that, you obviously have heard of different healing and deliverance testimonies from people that are over there.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

Are there any that you could share that you're like, wow, this really stood out to us as uh one of my favorites is uh a lady who, well, let me not, I was about to give you the ending, but I won't give it anyway. Um, a lady who was not a Christian, she was a businesswoman and landlady. Uh, she'd had an operation on her abdomen and she had a really difficult wound that was angry and sore, and she was healing up at home. And she heard the door bell ring, and this is an old-fashioned traditional Iranian home, so you'd have to come down the stairs across the courtyard to get to the gate to answer the door. Oh wow, okay. But it's one of my favorites because it's just so cool and it really demonstrates how God works. So she came, she well, firstly, she had to question whether she was physically able to get to the door, and then she thought to herself, well, maybe it's the nurse and I need some help. So she very carefully, slowly, you know, every step is agony, deliberate, gets herself down the stairs across the courtyard, opens the door, and there's a man standing there that she's never seen before. And she later described it as this the most captivating gaze she'd ever experienced that just this intensity of love and compassion and acceptance, and she was totally lost in it. And then for a moment, she was scared, she was she's thinking, I don't know who this person is. So she closes the door and split-second reaction, thinks, I'm crazy, I don't I don't want to close the door. She opens the door again and he's vanished. And she's totally surprised, of course. There was no time for him to have walked away. And so she closes the door again and starts trying to process what's just happened, still lost in that moment, the just the awesomeness of that moment that she'd experienced. Uh, she goes back up to the house up the stairs, and she gets to the top of the stairs, she realizes she's done that effortlessly. So she lifts her, she lifts her top, her shirt to look and see that her wound has completely disappeared. And now she's even more in shock, thinking, What is happening? Trying to process, you know, no context for it, doesn't hasn't been praying, hasn't been seeking Jesus, has no no just no understanding of what's happening in this moment. And in that moment, her phone rings. So she goes to answer the phone, and it's a young woman who is uh tenant of one of her properties, and she says, Madam, is it okay for me to come and see you? And the woman's puzzled, thinking, Well, Ren's not you, and never had a call like this from her before, but yeah, sure, coming up. So the woman makes her way to the landlady and comes to visit, and she has a parcel. And every time I'm looking for a tissue, every time I tell this story, I cry. Um, she has a parcel wrapped in paper with her, and you know, bear in mind there are the dangers, the risks associated with being identified as a Christian, let alone evangelizing. Yeah. And this young, so she's in her early 20s, this girl, and she says, Madam, I'm a Christian and I have been praying for you. And just now the Lord spoke to me. And I've told this story so many times, and I cry every time, because it's so beautiful, you know, just the tenderness and the timeliness of God's love. Um, and the way he invites us to be part of that story, you know. This girl, she has that testimony too. Yeah, so you know, just now the Lord spoke to me, and he told me to come and see you and to bring you this. And what she has wrapped in that parcel is a Bible, which again is illegal. And um, she ends up sharing the full gospel with her landlady and leads her to the Lord and disciples her, and the woman eventually becomes a pastor. So this is how God works in here on.

SPEAKER_02 17:05

So the landlady became a pastor. Yeah. Excuse me. Oh, I just got I'm caught up in emotion. You're caught up in a word. What's the point of wearing mascara when we talk about these things? Oh my gosh. Wow. So I can only imagine how many people the landlady led to Jesus just as a result of our own.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

I mean, it's a triple effect, and this is why Iran is such a fast-growing church, because you know, as each person is caught up in the fullness of who God is and the fullness of his call. You know, we talk a lot in the West about um what we should and shouldn't be doing as Christians and what it should and shouldn't be costing us, and how, you know, uh just whether we even go to church every week and you know how often we read our Bibles. Those aren't the questions on people's minds in a context like Iran. You know, there is a cost to even seeking, and there's definitely a cost to following. And when you choose to follow Jesus, you understand what it means to follow Jesus. And because you've experienced him in such a real intense way, you know what it is to be healed by him, you know what it is to be delivered by him, and you know how precious that relationship is, then you it just becomes an overflow, which is how it should be. You know, we're fruitful. Jesus says that when we're planted in him, we'll bear fruit.

SPEAKER_02 18:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

So, and and people do, they just naturally bear fruit, and of course, that's the church is gonna grow. If each person's leading five, ten, twenty, thirty people to the Lord, sure that's an exponential growth. Absolutely. Um, so and we have people in our ministry who led hundreds of people to the Lord, so it's um it's a constant challenge to us who live in a context that is free and comfortable, and our our enemies often is that comfort because we get to have it. People in Iran don't get to have that, so they're not facing that challenge. We have the option of a very comfortable Christianity, which by the way isn't really authentic Christianity. Amen. There's nothing about the New Testament that's comfortable, but we've made it comfortable and we've made it so it fits around our agenda and our lives, and we've somehow okayed it. And it's good to hear stories like this and remember that that's actually not okay, and we're the ones missing out. We miss out on such an exhilarating ride with Jesus because we've dumbed it down to as checkboxes and whether we've read our Bible today, and you know, oh, it's great, great I read my Bible today. I achieved, I'm a good Christian, and we miss out.

SPEAKER_02 19:27

It's uh we could go on a whole tangent with that. Maybe we will, but yes, I fully agree with what you just said. Um, so in light of all of that and what's currently going on in the Middle East, which is really unfortunate, can you give us a little bit of a status of how people are doing um in the underground church?

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Yeah, it is it's very tough in Iran today. One of the greatest enemies to uh us in our walk with God is isolation. You know, God has created us to be in relationship, He's grafted us into His body, and that's what it is. It's a body, it's an interconnected network of believers who rely on each other and build each other up in our walk. And when you're in such an intense time as people in Iran are today, the first thing that happens is they become disconnected, and that is really hard. It's really um they have to dig very deep into what they already have with Jesus and to draw that strength and that hope. And they do that and they're doing a great job, but that's their challenge because we have a lot existing from outside the country to support them. We have a digital church network, we have about 25,000 a month, at least. I mean, that's our conservative estimate. Wow, who connect to us as a as an international but very Iran-based body of believers. Sure. And it means that they're they're part of that, they they have that fellowship. You know, we have live meetings every day, they can come and join a prayer room, they can share, they can pray for others. But all of that gets taken away when there's no internet. So, right now, Iran has an internet blackout, and people are struggling to connect to any of those kinds of resources. And on top of that, in the last months, the Iranian government has been doing very intense, uh, unannounced sort of home raids. They pull people out across on the road and check their vehicles, their devices, pedestrians on the street have to hand over their devices, and then they check their social media history, their messaging history, the photos they've taken, the people they've contacted. So all that leads to a heightened caution and security. And we've had many believers in the country get in touch with us and say, nothing has changed in terms of my heart with you, like I'm with you, we're one body, but I'm I apologize, I'm deleting everything off my phone. Contact information, I'm removing myself from chat groups because I'm anticipating they're coming for me. So, you know, that all of that creates isolation. So that's the big struggle now for the church. There are, of course, very practical challenges that all Iranians are facing. Iran is in an economic crisis right now. People can't afford to eat, they can't pay their rent, many, many people have lost. businesses and uh employment so there is a huge humanitarian crisis that's happening um and then spiritually speaking this is what the church is dealing with on top of that wow so how do you guys resource them like or can you help from a resource standpoint we can we're OFAC certified so we are licensed to be able to send aid into the country okay uh we without when the internet is up and running and working as normal we resource them a lot digitally in terms of spiritual strengthening and you know we have discipleship programs that happen from outside the country so right now that's extremely limited we do air programming on satellite TV okay and that and radio we have 3247 radio stations so of course that's one directional yeah but at least it's something so they can listen and they can hear and we're actually just about to record a whole new series of programs are very in the moment on a response to the ceasefire war peace the Christian you know response how do we pray what do we make of our leaders how do we pray for our leaders um all those kinds of things how do we make sense of our current circumstances so that's a spiritual resource to them but practically also we send aid and really that's just a direct line the more we receive in terms of support and resource from um Western believers like your listeners as well as churches and foundations and organizations then we can channel that straight through to Iran and we've got a network to distribute aid uh which we do constantly yeah yeah I mean given the fact that they're losing all their resources you know just the ability to provide for your family is really important. It really is and it's so it's so important as Christians that we are not just talking the talk but we're also practically loving people. Jesus taught us that his love is practical and active and this is a way that we can really show that very practical active love that God has for them and we get to be conduits for that. Amen.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

So what would one message be that you would give to the American church um given the fact that you talked earlier about comfortable Christianity. Yes and I feel like that's something that a lot of Americans need to understand is is not in the Bible.

SPEAKER_01 24:24

It's true I would say that uh the suffering church is is a family it's part of our family. And when part of our our family suffers then the whole family suffers. That's how it that's how it should look we are an interconnected body and if there's a member of our body that's struggling you know if you have a toothache then that affects your whole body like it's only your tooth that's in has an issue your hand and your foot your stomach your head there's no issue there. The issue is in your tooth and yet that pain somehow affects your whole body yeah and I think that's how it should look that when there's a part of our body that is in pain that's gonna that's gonna affect us and we we need to carry that with them we carry that in our prayers we carry that in our awareness in taking a little bit of time to inform ourselves of what the situation really is. Uh and we carry it in the way it costs us it it might be costing people in Iran their lives their a bit of their nutrition you know their health but maybe it'll cost us in our wallet a little bit that we can dig and say you know what I won't have that Starbucks this week I'm gonna I'm gonna make sure somebody gets to you know it only costs a few hundred dollars a month to support a whole family in Iran. Think of what we could do with that Starbucks you know the difference that we could make so that's really the encouragement and in that is also an invitation to a blessing because the the suffering church is good for us. And if we get in relationship with the suffering church and we can do that through organizations like us you know where you get to hear the stories and you get to really pray you get to know what's going on and you get to make a contribution then then you hear what's the the the feedback from what we've sewed into that with our kingdom investment and our time our prayers our concerns and we're edified and we're reminded of what it looks like to follow Jesus completely. And honestly the the stories that I hear from our partners in the West the way it's been an awakening for them in their own walk with God the way it's strengthened their faith the way it's given them the audacity to believe for more in different areas of their lives and see God move it's that's really encouraging. That's I think how it should be that we're interdependent and we're good for each other.

SPEAKER_02 26:44

Amen. So what kind of dangers do you see coming to America as a result of just Islam infiltrating things?

SPEAKER_01 26:51

Well Islam is not a peaceful religion contrary to what many Muslims will tell us I think a lot of Muslims are peaceful people. Yeah so we have to be careful to separate those two things out. We're not anti-Muslims we're not anti-people uh and a lot of Muslims are very very genuine seekers of God and and they desire to do right by God except that they have they've been fed a lie. And I say that lovingly I've had Muslim friends and that you know you don't you don't lead with that but that's the reality and we need to understand that that there is a genuine pursuit of God in many ways they're a good challenge to us as Christians because Muslims are a lot more devout and disciplined in their faith than a lot of us Christians can be so you know we can have a really good friendship with Muslims and learn from their discipline but also start to just encourage them to explore the possibility that maybe God's nature is different to what they have been told it is. And many Muslims have never read the Quran and certainly not in a language that they understand. When you dig into the Quran and you understand what the Quran is really teaching yeah then even for Muslims that's very eye-opening. Islam is about submission and a lot of Muslims say that's just submission to God. Yeah but it's also you and I submitting to Islam. It's a forcible submission it's an overtake and so when Islam comes into country any any region it doesn't matter if it's America or Iran or any other country authentic Islam should take over that is their mandate okay they don't coexist they take over you have to submit in some cases they'll allow you just to pay a tax to be allowed to sit under their leadership under their domain but you pay tax or you die. Those are your three options that is the teaching of the Quran so when we sit here in the West and we in the name of tolerance and from I think a genuine desire just to be inclusive and loving towards people allow this kind of infiltration we are really being ignorant to what the end goal of that religion is and an inner core who fully understand that and follow it. And we only need to look at a country like Iran to see what that end goal ultimately becomes. Sure. Because you can accuse the Iranian government of a lot of things but you can't accuse them of a lack of integrity. They are genuine followers of the very nth degree of what Sharia law is and demands. And they don't care what you think about them. They don't care if you like them they are on a mission and as far as they're concerned it's a God-given mission and Khomeini himself when he established the Islamic republic he said we will export this revolution to the ends of the earth I mean he hasn't even tried to hide it yeah that the Islamic Republic of Sharia law that is why Iran sponsors terrorism all over the world that is why they're going after Israel they it is their religious duty to do this and they've said multiple times it doesn't matter what happens to the people of Iran who by the way oppose this doesn't matter what happens to the people of Iran even if a third of them should burn that was one person went on record saying that even if a third of Iranians should be set on fire it is fine as long as we need our religious duties and obligations. So that is what we're up against. And it would do us good to educate ourselves and there are a lot of great organizations and American organizations too that are doing a good job trying to educate the Western church and wake us up to this wow wow I mean yes we all need to be educated on what's really coming because of what's being implemented especially in the really large cities of the United States we very much need to be careful.

SPEAKER_02 30:31

In lieu of all the dangers and everything what kind of hope would you give to Americans or what would you tell young people? Because I feel like the whole tolerance agenda is just pushed on young people and they don't really understand it. I think I think they have a lot of social justice in them which can be good if channeled in the right direction. So what would you tell young people?

SPEAKER_01 30:52

I would say don't believe everything you read and everything you hear I mean really this generation should be a generation that understands that information can be extremely manipulated and misused and of course fake news is not new news anymore. So we need to do a little bit of work you know it takes effort. There was a time you turned the television on and you listened to what was on there and you could assume it was true. Now there are so many competing voices that masquerade is knowledgeable and and authoritative and everyone you know all you need is a good backdrop and you know a professional look and suddenly people could just assume that you know what you're talking about. There is so much nonsense out there that is just blatantly false. And it takes a lot of effort to dig further and really get yourself educated on what's right. So do that. You know do some research find organizations that know what they're talking about and learn from them. I mean for us we have a whole section on our website called learn and it is designed for that purpose because we need to learn we need to be informed and we have a lot of information of course our mission field is Iran so we have a lot of information on what's really going on in Iran what does the Islamic government look like how do they operate what what is censorship how are women treated in this culture so you know you can learn you can educate yourself and you know we talk about praying how important it is to pray which it is but it's even better to pray informed let's let's roll our sleeves up our spiritual muscles activate them and go okay right what are the real issues how do I add fuel to this to this fire to this effort you know read Ephesians learn about how powerful you are in your Christian warfare and get engaged use your power and get get engaged and be part of it and you can do a lot of good if you get yourself informed and get yourself engaged. So there's a lot that we can do and that ties also a little bit into hope because sometimes it's easy to become a little bit hopeless and think wow there's nothing I can do about this this is way beyond me. Yep but that's when we have to get back to the Bible and remember how powerful we are and how much we can do about it but we just need to get get in the fight. So don't lose hope remember that Jesus is on his throne get informed and get involved.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Amen so well said so if you could chase after Jesus and pursue redemption what would you say I would say you've got it all all of my time all of my energy all of my resources and just whatever it takes.

SPEAKER_01 33:24

You know he he told me he required that of me when I was baptized the day that I got baptized we had news of a dear friend being martyred and it was a real wake-up call to just realize that this isn't just some kind of religious ritual that this really is a commitment to follow Jesus to the end to pick up my cross and follow him and he reminded me that I at the same time I did get a sense that it's unlikely that he's asking me to die for him though I'm prepared to but there is so many different aspects of my life that do need to die for him. And I think sometimes we talk about death and we just think it's just a physical death but my pride needs to die on the foot of the cross my personal ambition my personal plans you know what I do with my all my resources not just money my time my talents my treasures what I do with all of that all that dies at the foot of the cross it belongs to him and he decides so that that is my joy and that's my prayer every morning Lord it's I have so many hours I have so much energy so much capacity mentally it's all yours. Help me use it well help me so well and use it for your glory.

SPEAKER_04 34:32

Amen well Lana thank you so much for coming on today we really enjoyed this and you know everyone go check out Transform Iran and see what they're all about thank you better closer here I am taking my bad cushion in the straw cushion here I am taking my battery cushion in the straw here I am closer in the shop and looking