Watch: Persecuted in Iran… but finding hope

When Somayeh began to follow Jesus, she encountered brutal treatment. But God wasn’t done with her yet

When Somayeh* first heard about Jesus in her native country of Iran, she had one goal: to prove that Christianity wasn’t true and Islam was.

She and her husband were devout Muslims. Somayeh did everything she was supposed to as a faithful follower of Allah, including challenging Christianity, but still, something felt off.

“I prayed for hours, yet despite my enthusiasm, it always felt like I was speaking to a void,” she remembers. “I never got a response.”

So when her friend, a Christian, invited her to come to church with her, Somayeh decided to see what Christianity was all about.

But the moment she stepped foot into the church, Somayeh’s heart was transformed.

“The presence of God was overwhelming,” she says. “It was everything I had longed to feel in my prayers but never did.” That day, Somayeh opened her heart to Jesus—though she didn’t yet understand the full weight of what it would mean to follow Him.

But that decision came with a cost Somayeh could never have Not long after Somayeh embraced her newfound faith, pressure at home began. “My husband was furious when he found out I had become a Christian,” she says. She never knew when her husband would lash out.

“He hated my faith … I had to keep my Bible hidden in the house,” she says. “One day, he found my Bible and tore it up in front of me. Another time, he ripped up my birth certificate. It was as if my identity was torn apart. I cried so much that day.”

Incredibly, that’s when God reached out to comfort Somayeh: “But in the midst of those tears, I heard a voice say, ‘Your name is written in the Book of Life,’ she says.

Somayeh’s story is difficult—and powerful. Watch it below:
 

 Somayeh endured painful persecution from her family, but she would soon face an even more formidable force: the state. Iranian Christians know that a knock on the door can mean imprisonment.
A few days later, agents from Iran's National Security Agency visited Somayeh.

Despite the danger, Somayeh continued to share her faith—and God cultivated her efforts to bear fruit. “We started with just a few people meeting in secret, and shortly after, we grew into a house church with over 30 members,” she says. “On special nights like Christmas, we sometimes had as many as 50 people gathered together! … We experienced and saw miracles happening with us, and with people around us! Seeing the church grow was one of the greatest joys of my life.”

Her joy wouldn’t last. The day she dreaded finally came. “I received a call from the intelligence service, where they detailed all my information and said, ‘We will see you soon,’” she says. “I was terrified, both from the intelligence and my husband, who was also threatening me.”

Somayeh knew the time had come. She needed to flee Iran.Somayeh and her daughter escaped to another country, leaving everything she’d worked for. “We arrived with nothing—not even a suitcase,” she says. “For months, we lived in a friend’s warehouse. It was hardest on my daughter, but I kept reminding her, ‘God is with us.’”

Somayeh is grateful she found a Persian-speaking church where she can worship freely and connect with others who share her faith. She currently continues to serve Christians in Iran through an online ministry, sharing the gospel and supporting those living in secrecy under constant threats.

To help her as a ministry leader, Somayeh attends leadership training sessions organized by Open Doors partners, equipping her to better serve Iranian believers.

“I’ve learned so much from these trainings, deepening my understanding of God’s Word,” she says. “They also provide solutions we might not have discovered otherwise. I’m also able to share these insights with those God has entrusted to me, especially those who, for security reasons, can’t attend such trainings. I’m blessed to pass on what I’ve received and bless others in return. I am truly grateful from the bottom of my heart to those who support these seminars and make them possible. Thank you.”

*Names and some details in this story have been changed for security reasons.

Open Doors’ partners work in neighboring countries to help Iranian believers with training, discipleship, trauma care and online ministry. Through your gift today, you can empower Christians like Somayeh who risk so much to follow Jesus in Iran.