Iran 30 Discover, Pray, Transform » SOCIETY STRESSED

Drug war headlines in the press; headlines of restored lives in heaven

admin — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:13:14 +0000

Some say Iran has four million drug users. That’s an epidemic. And each drug user drags a whole family into the nightmare. In recent weeks there have been welcome headlines of success about police arrests of drug dealers. The Mehr news agency reports on January 3rd that the authorities broke nine major drug rings, killing four dealers, arresting 38, and confiscating 10 tons of narcotics. On January 8th the Tehran police arrested 250 criminals, including drug dealers. On January 9th there is a report from the border police, who have confiscated nine tons of narcotics. And there are also stories of government determination to deal with the new ‘psychoactive drugs’ with the death sentence. All Christians should pray for these ‘authorities who do not bear the sword in vain’.

There are no stories though in the press about drug addicts being set free and living a normal healthy life. Perhaps that is because so many have had an encounter with Jesus Christ. There are many such restored drug addicts in the Iranian church. Their stories are not in the papers, but they are certainly in heaven, and are known to ordinary Christians.

Jesus Christ is truly the One who can break the curse of drugs that is blighting the lives of so many in Iran. The need for the church to have experienced and trained counsellors who can deal with desperate addicts is great. As is the potential. For the drug addict of today, is the church pioneer of tomorrow. They tend to be the most passionate followers of Christ. They know He has truly lifted them out of hell.

Pray for:

• Authorities fighting drug barons
• Holy Spirit to bring conviction to those in drug trade
• For witness of ex drug addicts in the church

The toman, not doing very well

admin — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 10:08:01 +0000

The toman should be strong. The currency of a vast country awash with oil, natural gas, fertile soil, and a highly educated, internet savvy young population should be standing high in the money markets. But the toman has been slipping in its value against the dollar. And on Monday (2nd January 2012) its value sank another 13%. Experts in Tehran were quick to say that this had nothing to do with the sanctions, or the threat of an embargo on their oil. This puts pressure on President Ahmadinejad, seen by some as being somewhat lacking in finesse when it comes to the economy.
For ordinary people more economic instability is not good news. A weak currency is bound to mean there will be jumps in the prices of imports, but salaries won’t jump as well. Cold economic winds can often be the chilliest for Christians who often face job insecurity because of their faith.

Pray for

• Toman to stabilize
• Wisdom for economic ministers
• Christians to prove that ‘God supplies all our needs in Christ Jesus’

Sanctions, danger for air passengers

admin — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:33:42 +0000

Sanctions, danger in the air

Iran’s air safety record is not brilliant. Since 2002 at least 474 passengers have been killed in air crashes. As well as weather conditions another reason given is the lack of spare parts for maintaining the aeroplanes. With the new sanctions just passed by the West this is going to get a whole lot worse. So much so that one of Iran’s most famous pilots Captain Hooshang Shahbazi, has launched an international campaign demanding sanctions on spare parts for civilian planes are lifted. Captain Shahbazi shot to international fame when he safely landed an Iran Air Boeing 727 without its front landing gear at Tehran’s Mehrabad airport on October 18th. There were no casualties.

Pray for

• Spare parts for civilian aircraft so Iranians can have safety in the air
• Overall maintenance of civilian fleets
• Wisdom of officials to improve safety.

75 million: new population figures, new pressures for church and state

admin — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 10:22:38 +0000

The early findings of Iran’s National Population and Housing census show that the country’s population is now about 75 million. That’s five million more than it was five years ago. Part of the reason for the hike might be President Ahmadinejad. He has poured scorn on family planning as a Western, secular import and encouraged Iranians to have large families, saying the country could support another 50 million on top of the then 70 million. Last year he backed this call up with a promise to give a grant to every family that has a new child. It would seem there has been a response.
These new population figures will bring new pressures, especially in the economy. Unemployment runs at about 11%, but is up to 30% for teenagers and young adults. The rise in population will exacerbate this. To deal with this the government might enlarge the state sector even more, to provide jobs, but this might hamper the sort of investment that will create real employment.
The church has no argument with large families. They are a blessing. But these new population figures do bring a challenge. There are now five million more people to reach with the Gospel. This is a good reminder for church leaders to think big.

Pray for

• Wisdom for Iran’s planners
• Creation of jobs
• Expansion of evangelistic programmes to reach

Climate change: floods in the South West, dried up lake in the North West

admin — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 10:17:17 +0000

On Monday 21st November floods have killed eight people and made another 60,000 plus homeless in the SW provinces of Khuzestan and Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad. Iran’s major relief charity, the Iranian Red Crescent Society, has been involved giving out temporary shelters and medical help. In the North West of the country there is still intense anger over Lake Urmia which is fast drying up. This will destroy much of the agriculture the area depends on. Locals blame the building of a dam. To allay this anger the government have recently promised over $200 million to rectify the problem.
It is in desperate poverty that people genuinely turn to God in their hearts. May this be the case in these two tragedies.

Pray for

• The flood victims in the South West of Iran
• The farmers in the North West
• For all who are in desperate need to hear the Gospel

Banking scandal, injustice in the air

admin — Sat, 05 Nov 2011 14:04:15 +0000

Iran’s $2.8 billion banking scam is still very much in the headlines. This week President Ahmadinejad’s Economic’s Minister, Shamseddin Hosseini, faced an impeachment motion in parliament. He survived. There have also been calls for the President to present himself before the house to answer questions about the scandal. There is no indication he will go. Over in Canada the man at the centre of the scandal, Mahmoud Reza Khavari, has reportedly given a $3 million house to his daughter, and while some politicians there are calling for him to be stripped of his citizenship, and Iran is demanding his return – no flights are booked.
All of this is leaving a sense of injustice in the air. With this case continuing to get air time and print space, the feeling there is an elite controlling the economy who can get away with making vast fortunes at the expense of the ordinary man inevitably gets stronger. For Christians this is an opportunity to emphasize that Jesus Christ bluntly said you can either love God or money, and to demonstrate that a true believer lives a simple life.

Pray for

• Justice to be done in this case
• Christians to set an example regarding materialism
• Church to constantly favour the poor

2.8 billion dollar banking scandal, Iranians not impressed

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 16:32:49 +0000

As ordinary Iranians battle with rising inflation, they are not impressed that seven of their banks have lost 2.8 billion dollars in the worst banking scam Iran has known. Earlier this month, reports began to circulate that from June 2009 till August 2011, businessman Mah-Afarid Khosravi forged letters of credit from the country’s second largest bank, Bank Sederat, and passed these on to other banks, including the famous Bank Meli. The funds were then used to start about forty different companies. There has been widespread condemnation of the corruption, and the government has said it is determined to deal with the crime robustly. However, some are saying that a scam involving such large amounts of money could not have happened without the involvement of insiders. There are also questions as to why Mr Khosravi was so conveniently allowed to leave the country. The news will underline the impression in many minds that there is an elite in Iran whose financial dealings within the state are not open to enough public scrutiny. The rise and fall of Mr Khosravi and those who helped him provides the church with living example of the man in Jesus’ parable who greedily thought full barns was the only need for a happy life.

Pray for

Justice in this particular case
Wisdom to make Iran’s public finances more accountable
Church to preach Christ and poverty better than riches and hell

Salt Lake Protests

admin — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 09:05:14 +0000

Lake Urmia in the north west of Iran is drying up. Some blame drought. Others global warming; Others aggressive agricultural policies. The locals view the shrinking lake as a disaster, especially farmers and those who live off tourism, and whatever the cause, they believe the government should be able to do something. So last week there were protests in the region’s capital, Tabriz. They were put down fairly forcefully by the authorities who say its global warming – i.e. out of their hands. Behind the lake there is also race. Most of the people in this region are Azeri, Turks, and those who like fanciful conspiracy theories have been saying the dying lake is a part of some sinister plot to empty the area of Azeris.

Pray for

• Wisdom for experts to know how best to restore the lake
• Locals whose lives depend on the lake
• The racial element of the dispute to be eliminated

Crime rise, bit too easy to blame foreigners

admin — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 09:41:13 +0000

There has been some alarm over crime in recent months. There is the increase in knife attacks, particularly in Tehran. There were just over 1,000 last year according to the Chief Medical Examiner. And there have been some very lurid rape cases. Near Isfahan in Maya, a mixed gathering was attacked by intruders who locked up the men, and raped all the women. A week later a female student was gang raped in Mashad. These assaults were then kept in the news when a religious official said the victims were ‘not worthy’. Women were outraged.
With talk of crime in the press, now a police chief has issued a statement saying it is all the work of foreigners. Others have blamed the economy. Christians know that most crime has nothing to do with either foreigners or the economy – but the corruption of the human heart that can only be changed by an encounter with Jesus Christ. When the news fills up with crime stories, this is a call for believers to be more urgent in spreading the Gospel.

Pray for

• All those responsible for tackling crime
• The streets to be safe
• Christians to see criminals come to faith

IMF pleased with Iran’s cuts, but economic hardship could loom.

admin — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:41:40 +0000

Last week the International Monetary Fund praised Iran for cutting their thirty year policy of subsidizing basic goods which encouraged waste, skewed the market and cost the government about $60-100 a year. Observers have also been impressed with the way the government has eased the pain for consumers by providing cash grants for the ‘poor’, which presently amounts to about 19 million families who are getting monthly payments. With money control inflation has fallen from 20% in March, to 14% which is also good news for the public.
Like everyone else, Christians need the economy to do well, not least so its sluggish growth of just over 3% can increase to provide more jobs and bring the 15% unemployment rate down. If the grants continue, and that growth comes, the economic hardship, which so many complain about, could ease. If the opposite happens, there will be real suffering.

Pray for:

• Ministers responsible for economic policy
• More employment for the young
• Church to provide for genuine poor