Excerpts from an article on cbn.com
What if I told you that the greatest Christian missionary in the history of Iran was a devout Muslim? You’d think I was crazy, right? Or, at the very least, a liar.
But I’ve heard from more than one Iranian Christian over the past 20 years that the greatest missionary in the history of Iran — a history that predates Daniel in the Lions’ Den — is the Grand Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, leader of the 1979 Islamic Revolution that ended 2,500 years of Persian monarchy in Iran.
How is it, you may ask, that a radical Shiite Muslim would be Iran’s greatest missionary for Christ?
The Islamic government promised, and still claims, to run the country according to Islamic principles. The Supreme Leader says he gets instructions directly from Allah. But after 40 years, Iranians can see very clearly that the government Khomeini established doesn’t work. So it’s no great leap for Iranians to move from “Islamic government doesn’t work” to a correlated truth: Islam doesn’t work.
By some estimates, 70 percent of Iran’s people have rejected Islam. If following the rules laid out by Muhammad doesn’t work for a country, why would it work for an individual? Why should anyone continue to follow his teachings? Many Iranians have become atheists, rejecting the idea of any god. And thousands have tried to fill the void with drugs, sex or money.
The spiritual hunger in Iran has not been satisfied by 40 years of following Khomeini’s path. And yet Khomeini prepared the way for the current revival. The Lord’s promise in Jeremiah 49, that He would “set my throne in Elam,” is coming true in our day.
Our Persian Christian brothers and sisters have found a Bread of Life that truly satisfies, and they are determined to share Him with their countrymen. The cost of their work is high, but the need is great. And so they continue to reach out, to share their faith, to pray for healing in Jesus’ name or offer a Bible to a curious coworker.