Source: FAI Publishing, via God Reports, October 19, 2020
Iran started the year with a bang [says an Iranian brother]. On January 3, [a US airstrike] killed General Solemani. A week later, Iran shot a commercial plane down—and millions of young Iranians filled our streets in protest. Then Iran shot 11 missiles into Iraq—pushing us even closer to the brink of war. Every man in the country waited for the word.
The whole nation spent 40 days in mourning, and right as we came out of that period, COVID-19 slammed—and I mean slammed—into us. As if that wasn’t enough, we had an infestation of locusts in the south, and it wasn’t small. Think biblical proportions. A couple months after that, Tehran experienced a strong earthquake. And then we had over 13 mysterious bombings—and this only catches us up to July!
My nation has upwards of 82 million people in it. COVID-19 hit us early, and hard. All I can say is the figures the Iranian government has reported (450,000 total cases and 26,000 total deaths) are significantly low balling the toll the virus took and is taking.
As soon as the wave of the coronavirus began sweeping across our country, we in the Iranian underground church fasted as a body for 42 days. We needed to hear from God.
As I’ve met with pastors and leaders of the US church through Zoom over the course of the year, everyone is staring slack-jawed at their nation’s social upheaval, civil unrest, and medical crisis of 2020.
I can tell you firsthand after years and years of seeing the gospel take root in the Islamic Republic of Iran: the Holy Spirit will sort the secondary things out. They’re important. They matter. And He’ll give you the power to forgive your enemies. He can heal your land.
» Also read: Iran’s Covid Death Toll May be Four Times the Government’s Official Tally, Says Top Doctor (NBC News).