- [Todd] Do you ever get
nervous when you're about to share your faith in Jesus with someone? Our sister Benesh lives in
the Islamic Republic of Iran. Benesh has good reason to be cautious when sharing her faith;
she could go to jail, but she boldly shares anyway. - [Benesh] That person that I want to share Christ with maybe
is working with the police. We have hidden secret
police, so sharing the gospel with secret police
would be very dangerous. (uplifting music) - [Announcer] Jesus never
promised His followers an easy path. In fact, He told his disciples that the world would hate them. He sent them out as sheep among wolves. Jesus' words came true in
the life of the apostles, and they're still coming true today in the lives of His
followers around the world. Join host Todd Nettleton as we
hear their inspiring stories and learn how we can help right now on The Voice of the Martyrs Radio network. - [Todd] Welcome again to The
Voice of the Martyrs Radio. My name is Todd Nettleton
and I'm in the studio in Bartlesville, Oklahoma this week, but what you're gonna hear
is a little bit different than our normal VOMRadio episode. A few months ago I was in the Middle East and I had the chance to interview a woman, I'm gonna call her Benesh,
that's not her real name, but we are gonna call her Benesh today. She lives in the nation of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Iran. And so we are going to
recreate that conversation for you this week on Voice
of the Martyrs Radio. Benesh has been following
Jesus for less than five years, but she's already planted
more than 30 house churches. Let me say that again: Benesh has been following
Jesus less than five years, but she's already planted
30 house churches. When I had the chance to meet her, I did not have a good
microphone or a studio setup to record the conversation and, honestly, even if I did, we couldn't
play Benesh's voice because that would be too
dangerous, too risky for her. So we've gotten some help
from our friends at Mohabat TV and we have recreated the conversation. And so what you're going
to hear is taken directly from the transcripts of
the interview with Benesh. It's not her real voice,
but it is her real story, it is her real words, and I
know you're gonna be challenged by her example this week on
Voice of the Martyrs Radio. It's an honor for us to meet you, Benesh, and to be able to hear your story. Thank you for coming. Thank you for being willing
to have this conversation. Before you met Jesus,
what was your faith like? Were you a devout Muslim,
kind of pray five times a day, very devout, or were you kind
of a lackadaisical Muslim? What was your faith like
before you met Jesus? - [Benesh] Before coming to Christ I was in an Islamic family,
normal Islamic family. We do all the praying like the Koran says. We did it all. - [Todd] But there was something missing that would make you want to
leave Islam and follow Christ. What was missing? - [Benesh] We do praying,
the Islamic Namaz prayers, five times a day, but I was
thinking, "Something is wrong. "Why does God need me praying five times?" And also sometimes I would go to my father and ask questions, "Father, "why should we be praying like this?" My father said, "Try
to think in your heart, "what does your heart want? "You can talk to Allah
with your language." Because these things happen, I was starting to doubt about my faith. - [Todd] "You can talk to
Allah in your language," meaning Farsi, not in Arabic? What did he mean by talk
to Allah in your language? - [Benesh] My father would tell me, "Some people they are not educated, "they cannot read Arabic language. "Because of that, you can, "by your own language, talk to Allah." - [Todd] So when you heard
the gospel, when you heard about Jesus, what was it that
made you wanna follow Him? What drew you to following Jesus? - [Benesh] I found out, in
Islam, that Allah was killing or cutting the hands of the thieves and other kinds of violence. But when I find out about Christ, He never talked about these things. Jesus talked about peace. He talked about love. Because of these things, I'm
interested to follow Him. - [Todd] How did you
first hear about Christ? Who was it that shared
the gospel with you? - [Benesh] When I was a teenager, I find out the Christian,
the women are more free. They don't have to wear a head scarf and find out their life is better. They have more peace and
sometimes they see Jesus in their dreams, a special light. - [Todd] So you found out that women are more free in Christianity. Did someone tell you that? Did you read that somewhere? Did you see that online? How did you hear that? - [Benesh] In my
neighborhood some people come from the big city and some women talk about the life in Christianity. I was just a teenager
listening to their conversation and it made me interested to know more. - [Todd] So then at what point
did you make the decision to actually follow Christ? Who brought you to that point? - [Benesh] After I go to the
college, my father was sick, very sick; my mother always
praying to Allah, always praying for my father to get well,
but nothing happened. I was thinking, "Why Allah
doesn't answer her prayers?" I tried to search about praying
in Islam and Christianity and then I found in Christianity prayer is different and powerful. - [Todd] You searched on line? - [Benesh] The Internet, yes. At that time I was looking
to find the real praying to help my family. I tried to find some Christian believer and here in Iran is so
dangerous, it is not easy. But in the college I met a friend and she was born in Christian family. She was a good friend. I find out that she is different and it makes me more
interested in being Christian. But she couldn't help me too much. After finishing college, I moved to a different city for a job. In my job there is a guy who
brought me to a church meeting. Sitting in the meeting I
felt like it was God's plan, "God wants me to be here in this meeting." Then through that meeting
I met other believers who have helped me grow and discipled me. - [Todd] When you made the
decision to follow Christ, tell me about that experience. What happened inside of you? What was that like? - [Benesh] When I became a
Christian, I got baptized. It was around that time my
parents died, in a short time. So I was in a bad
situation, feeling so bad. I was also a little
scared to be Christian, like, maybe when I go back to
my home people know about me and know I'm Christian. When I started praying, some
special peace come to me. I was feeling better, and
because of that feeling I knew this is a real thing,
what I'm looking for. I was in Iran and I was thinking, "Should I share it with someone else?" I was scared. I knew it is important to share,
but should I do it or not? - [Todd] So let me ask,
when you made the decision to follow Christ, did you think
that was dangerous for you? Was there any fear of
what might happen to you or just peace? - [Beresh] When I become
a Christian, peace come, personally, peace come, but
when I go back to my family, I was scared to tell the
family, maybe aunt, uncle, what they will think about it. They are Muslim, maybe
they will reject me. - [Todd] So you were more afraid of your family rejecting you than of the government arresting
you or something like that? - [Benesh] First, scared from my family, but something tell me, "Go
and talk to your family." Then I started to talk to my
sister and she accepted it. I was feeling better. The second fear is from the regime. My family was okay with my faith, but still there is fear from the regime. - [Todd] So when you told your family, they did not reject you;
they were interested? - [Benesh] Yes, at that time
my parents had passed away and my sister, yes, accepted it. - [Todd] Did they see
something different in you? Did they see that you had changed? - [Benesh] Yes, they came to me and asked, "Something has changed in you. "We want to know what it is." - [Todd] What did they see
that was different about you? - [Benesh] They see, because at that time my parents had
died and my sisters find out that even with our parents'
loss, I have peace, and also they think my face changed. - [Todd] Your face? - [Benesh] Yes, they asked,
"What changed with you?" And also my cousin asked me, because my parents had
died usually I was crying, I was sad and crying,
but after finding Christ, I was never crying. Then they asked me why I changed. My mind changed a lot
about life and about dying and they asked me questions
about these things. - [Todd] You're listening to
The Voice of the Martyrs Radio. This week we are listening
to a recreated conversation with an Iranian lady named Benesh. I interviewed her several
months ago in the Middle East. We can't play her actual voice for you, so we have recreated this conversation for this week's episode of
Voice of the Martyrs Radio. They wanted to know what had changed. So, you were at first nervous
about talking to your family, but they were very accepting. Then you were nervous about talking to other people outside your family because of the police and the regime. How did you get involved with talking to other people about Jesus? - [Benesh] I was thinking about how to share with other people. I found out that I was able to reach out to people through my job,
people I met because of my job, and I started using these opportunities. Sometimes I meet people
who are having trouble and I try to help them. Also, I read some books
talking about Jesus. I started using these things
and sharing them with people. - [Todd] If someone comes to
you and they're having trouble and they wanna talk to you, how do you lead them towards
Jesus in that conversation? - [Benesh] When I'm talking with a woman, I find out usually, with
women, we are tired with Islam. When I find out they are tired with Islam, I started suggesting they
can try other prophets, they might like other religion. Then I find out if they are interested. Usually people who come to me
have some pain, some trouble, and I can ask, "Do you
know Jesus heals people?" I started with this, step-by-step, if they are interested in sharing. - [Todd] Do you have any fear
in having those conversations that you will get in trouble or that they could make trouble for you? Or because they have pain in their lives, they're open to whatever
will help with that pain? - [Benesh] Fortunately,
at that time I was blind. I didn't see the Islamic regime. I just want to help
people take the pain out and help them know Christ. I didn't think about anything else. Later, I was thinking,
"Wow, this is dangerous! "How did I do it?" (chuckles) - [Todd] So, in the moment,
you don't worry about it, but then afterwards you were thinking, "Wow, that was kind of dangerous!" - [Benesh] The time I was most scared was about distributing Bibles. Always I was praying
with God and 100% knowing that God will take care
of me and then peace come. - [Todd] Do you think
about worse case scenarios? How do you prepare yourself for the idea that you could be persecuted,
you could be arrested, things could go badly? - [Benesh] I decided don't
think about these things because I know there was danger. I was thinking that Jesus on
the cross sacrificed Himself, "I want to do this." - [Todd] How difficult is
it to bring new believers into a fellowship? Because you have to be concerned about security, you have to be concerned about how sincere they are. What is the process
once you talk to someone and they choose to follow Christ to then bring them into a
group with other believers? - [Benesh] To start, I was in college and I would find close friends. Also, I started with my sisters. First, I just shared a little to see, "Are they are interested?" If they like it, then,
if they are interested, I start sharing exactly and
tell them I also am a Christian. In Iran it is a hard thing
to bring them to a group, but I started out with
people who were close to me. - [Todd] So you started with people that you already had
close relationships with? - [Benesh] Yes, first
I started to tell them, "Let's have a group gathering
caring about each other, "praying for each other." As a group, praying, it is powerful, and we also ask some
giving for needs around us. I started with this. I didn't tell them this is a church until after we were already meeting. - [Todd] We are hearing that the people in Iran are very open to the gospel. They are frustrated with the government. They're frustrated with Islam. They are very open. Is that your experience
that people are open to hearing about something
else, about other options? - [Benesh] Before I started
sharing with people, I didn't know this, but it
is exactly like you said, it is like this. People are all so tired, so
tired, especially with Islam. They are looking for something special. When I started sharing with
people, most often they said, "God sent you. "We are looking for something like this." - [Todd] So you feel like God
is preparing the way ahead of you? - [Benesh] Yes, I think that. When I went to start multiple churches, I thought, "Everything is going so well." - [Todd] Can you tell me a
story of someone recently who came to faith who you felt
like God had prepared them to meet you? - [Benesh] For example,
there was a family living in some house where I was
staying in other rooms. One of them came to me and
said, "I was reading a book "and it was talking about Jesus' miracles. "I'm looking to find out about Jesus. "The book also talked about Jesus is God. "How is that possible? "I'm looking for someone
to talk about this for me." They came to me and asked me
to talk to them about Jesus. Of course I was happy to do that. - [Todd] We are talking today on Voice of the Martyrs Radio with Benesh. She is a lady from Iran who has planted more
than 30 house churches in less than five years. We have recreated this conversation from a conversation I had
with her in the Middle East. We are using a different voice. We're using a different name in order to protect her security; working for the gospel inside of Iran. How should people outside of Iran pray for the people inside Iran? How can we pray for you
and for Iran as a whole? - [Benesh] The first thing is the regime, that God will blind the regime
so they don't see believers. And also, some of the believers are afraid because the regime ask God
to give them a boldness for doing more and for
God prepare more people to hear the gospel. - [Todd] When you are talking
to someone about faith, what is the most dangerous
part of the process? What is the point that
could most cause problems? - [Benesh] That person that
I want to share Christ with maybe is working with the police. We have hidden secret
police, so sharing the gospel with secret police
would be very dangerous. Now we have a lot of experience
how to share with people. For example, I talk to my leaders, and when you want to share,
before you share about Jesus, try to have a good relationship,
knowing the person well. Then try to start with
a story about Bible, story about Jesus. If they are interested, at first, we don't tell them we are Christian, we just share some story from Bible. - [Todd] Do you say, "Hey,
this a story from the Bible," or do you just tell the story and then kind of see how they respond? - [Benesh] First I just
say this is a story. I didn't tell where the story came from. If there is a good response, then I will say the
story is from Christians, from the Bible. - [Todd] When you give someone a Bible, how do you do that or how does that work? - [Benesh] For example,
I am teaching a friend, I tell them, "I have books that
talk about all the prophets "in your language, in Farsi." Through this introduction,
I give them a Bible. Also, usually, with people
from the older generation, usually, I talk about prophet, for example, David, or Solomon. I can tell them these
stories are in this book when I give the Bible to them. - [Todd] So you said that you will often just
tell someone a story, but not necessarily say that
the story is from the Bible. Is there like one or two
stories that you often use or is it a different story depending on what that person's situation is? - [Benesh] It's up to the situation. For example, for a lady in
the gym, we were talking about how Islam is judging
women and harsh toward women. I shared with her the story
of Jesus and the woman caught in adultery, of Jesus
forgiving that woman. - [Todd] So what's the biggest
challenge you're facing in your ministry right now? - [Benesh] The first thing is security. Also, we send a lot of
reports to our leaders and this makes some of
the believers nervous. Like, why you want to
take pictures of people? Also, we always need
more teaching resources, and, also, time problem. - [Todd] Time management? - [Benesh] Yes, usually the
leaders have a busy job, a full-time job. Sometimes when I go,
they are not available, not in touch for me to
train them or update them. - [Todd] Because they are
working a full-time job plus doing the ministry? - [Benesh] Yes. - [Todd] So just being able
to have time to connect with leaders and to carry
out the ministry work? - [Benesh] Yes. - [Todd] What would you say to Christians who don't share their
faith, they don't talk to other people, whether they are in Iran or whether they're in America
or wherever they live, but they don't share
their faith with people, how would you challenge them? - [Benesh] First, I think
if people are believers, they cannot not share. I will tell them, "You
have experienced the joy "and the peace of Christ, "but other people also
need to experience this." - [Todd] Amen. Is there anything else that
you would like us to know about your ministry or about you? - [Benesh] As you know,
the situation for Christian in Iran is so dangerous; the
leaders they have a face, they are real people,
and we need you to pray. We feel good that there
are people praying for us and care about us. - [Todd] There are people
who are praying and do care. Part of our ministry at
Voice of the Martyrs, and especially with Voice
of the Martyrs Radio, is to equip those people to pray for you, to pray for the nation of Iran. That's why we wanna share your stories, to help them pray with knowledge. Thank you for coming to meet with us. Thank you for sharing your story. - [Benesh] Merci, merci. (uplifting music) - [Todd] You've been listening to The Voice of the Martyrs Radio, where we have recreated a
conversation with an Iranian lady, we're calling her Benesh. As I mentioned earlier, we recreated this from a conversation I
had and recorded with her in the Middle East. We can't share her real name. We can't broadcast her real voice, so we have recreated that
conversation to encourage you, to help you pray for the nation of Iran. I wanna challenge you not
only to pray for Iran, I wanna challenge you to
share this conversation with a Christian friend this week. Send them a link; have them subscribe to the VOMRadio podcast, connect with them and help them to understand
what's happening in Iran. I was incredibly challenged by
the conversation with Benesh and by the fact that this
Iranian lady has planted more than 30 house churches in
less than five years simply by being a witness for
Jesus in every conversation, looking for opportunities
to pray with someone, to share a Bible story with someone, and I thought, "I need
to be more like Benesh. "I need to live that way in my own life "and keep my own eyes
open for every opportunity "to be light and salt and
plant seeds of the gospel "into the lives of people around us." So share this conversation. You can find links at
vomradio.net to subscribe to all the different podcast services. Share those podcast links, share links to this particular episode; help your Christian
friends know how to pray for the nation of Iran. And while you're at the
website vomradio.net, take a moment and write us a note. Share how God is using
Voice of the Martyrs Radio in your life. I love every single one of these letters, like hearing from Isaac, who is listening all the
way over in New Zealand. Isaac says, "Thank you
so much for your podcast. "It has truly greatly inspired me "to seek a deeper relationship with Jesus "and also given me a passion
for the persecuted church "and to support them in prayer." Julie wrote in to say, and by the way, Julie is a mother of nine. She said, "Recently, an
episode spurred me on "to connect with some foreign
families who live near me, "and the Lord opened the door wide "to start up English classes for them." Julie says, "Praise the
Lord, we've already talked "about the gospel in our English class. "Three Muslims are a part of this class." Julie, thank you so much for your letter. Thank you for the work you're
doing to carry this out, to make it a part of your life, the stories that we hear
about witnessing to Muslims. I'm so excited to see you take that and put it into practice
in your own neighborhood. We also got a note from Hannah, and this is one of my
favorite kinds of notes. Hannah says, "VOMRadio
is one of the reasons "I feel called to missions." Hannah, that makes my heart
so happy to hear that. She says, "Hearing about
the work God is doing "around the world is the thing "I look forward to every weekend." Again, Hannah, thank you, bless
you as you pursue that call. Go to vomradio.net, send us a note. There's a box right at
the bottom of the page. You can just type in
your note, hit "Send." I would love to hear from you. I do read every single one of these notes. Also, be sure that you're
back with us next week. You know, one of the
things that we wonder about in our free world churches is, "What if persecution is gonna come here? "What if I'm gonna have
to endure the things "that our brothers and
sisters in Iran and China "and other nations are already enduring?" We're gonna share some thoughts
on how to prepare our hearts and our minds for the day when
persecution may come to us. I want you to be a part
of that conversation, so be sure that you're back
with us next week right here on The Voice of the Martyrs Radio network.
