WALNUT CREEK, Calif. (BP) – “What’s happening Dad? Why is the U.S. attacking Iran? Is it a good thing, or a bad thing?” Those are the questions Pastor Alireza “Yuna” Sabet’s three daughters put forth at the start of the U.S./Israeli war against Iran.
His daughters, all born in the U.S. after he and his wife Nastaran arrived here in 2011, have never experienced the religious persecution Christians face in Iran. But the persecution is palpable for Yuna and Nastaran. The two were imprisoned in late 2008 for three months because of their faith, said Yuna, bivocational founding pastor of Walnut Creek Persian Church in Walnut Creek, Calif.
Sabet describes himself as among perhaps 80 percent of Iranians in Iran and the diaspora who applaud U.S. and Israeli efforts to overthrow the current regime. Sabet explained to his daughters Iran’s historical persecution of Christians and denial of human rights since the establishment of the Islamic Republic and theocracy in 1979, as well as former good relations with the U.S.
“But still, there is a question in their mind,” Yuna said, “and I hope one day I can take them inside and show them why.”
Yuna describes a “mix of emotions” among Walnut Creek congregants as the war continues.
“This is the first time I’m experiencing these emotions (among) the members. And even when I’m talking to the network I have inside the country, they are happy and they appreciate all of the force the U.S. military and Israel’s military are doing to remove this regime,” Yuna said. “But at the same time, it’s a scary time and they are always praying and asking when is this going to end.”
Tears frequently flow from the 55 or so Walnut Creek congregants who worship in person on Sundays, weeping for family remaining in Iran who are sheltering in place or fleeing to safety. With the internet shut down, Iranians largely remain shut off, unable to update loved ones abroad on whether they are safe, or even alive.
“They don’t have any news. That’s the problem,” Yuna said of church members. “They don’t have any news where they are. Are they still alive or not?”
Estimates range from 7,000 to about 40,000 when activists and humanitarians count how many civilians the Iranian government killed during and since public protests in January.
“And one more thing is even if they are alive, it’s very scary for them to go outside and do grocery (shopping),” Yuna said. Family members here “don’t know how they buy necessary things for themselves. Is there still food available for them?”
Yuna also described something akin to survivor’s remorse among his members.
“One of the members said, ‘I wish I was there with them. I’m safe here in United States. I have freedom but my family, they don’t,’” Yuna recounted. “So that, I think, brings lots of tears in their eyes.”
Yuna’s parents converted to Christianity when he was 7, he told Baptist Press, under the ministry of the late Pentecostal evangelist Haik Hovsepian Mehr, martyred in 1994. Yuna’s parents fled Iran two years ago, he said, and are safe in the U.S.
But like his congregants, Yuna has Christian and Muslim relatives in Iran, who he believes are sheltering or moving frequently for safety.
“My uncle, my aunt, my cousins still,” Yuna said, “they are there and they are moving around. They live in Tehran but they had to leave (for) the north. I have lots of believers inside, lots of leader networks, which I’m completely disconnected (from) them.”
Before Yuna came to the U.S., he planted in Iran 10 churches that have grown to 20 congregations, he told Baptist Press. He knows that at least five of his church members or leaders were killed in the days following the public protests, he said.
Yuna is vice president and program manager of the IranSazan Foundation, a faith-based group working to rebuild Iran when the opportunity arises. The group markets itself as “a fellowship of Iranian Christian professionals dedicated to the advancement of Iran through a movement rooted in faith.”
Yuna eagerly awaits the day when Iran is led by a regime that ushers in religious freedom, allowing him to return to Iran, help rebuild the country and openly spread the Gospel.
“Pray for us,” he encourages other Southern Baptists. “Pray for Iranian Christians inside the country – mostly because they are there to be witnesses – to be bold, to stay strong in their faith, and for the future. And also for Iranians outside, for Iranian churches. Pray for the leaders, because this is a really unique moment and experience we have.
“We go every Sunday. We see people. They are nervous. They are sad. They are hopeless. Pray for the Iranian pastors and leaders to be faithful to the Gospel and bring hope out of that, through that, and share it with the congregation.”
He encourages Southern Baptists to look forward to the day when Iran will be open to Americans and the Iranian diaspora, when it will be an open mission field ripe for the Gospel.
“Be prepared for that, because it’s a huge opportunity ahead of us,” he said. “We can use that opportunity to not only build the facilities under the Baptist Convention to help Iranians to share the Gospel, but to also build the churches, to plant churches in different cities.
“Iran is a huge country and that’s a great mission field. For years and years, we can have projects to complete in Iran, planting churches, running lots of ministries. So we need to be prepared for that and raise more leaders.”