Pastor and Family Arrested

02 June 2004

Iranian police arrested a Protestant Christian pastor, his wife and two teenage children in northern Iran on May 23 according to a May 26 report by Compass Direct. Pastor Khosroo Yusefi and his wife Nasrin were arrested in Chalous, a town along the Caspian Sea coast together with their 18-year-old son and 15-year-old daughter. Their whereabouts remain unknown. An Iranian Christian told Compass Direct that their arrest was due to authorities learning that people were coming to Christ in the city. According to Compass Direct, "dozens of believers from two of Yusefi's church groups were jailed in the first week of May and later released. However, Sunday's arrest marks the first time that the entire family of a Christian leader has been taken into custody. The majority of Christians meeting in secret house-church groups in Iran are former Muslims."

Please pray for the safety of this family. Pray that the location of their imprisonment might become known. Pray that they would be faithful witnesses for Christ where they are.

For more information on persecution facing Christians in Iran, click here.

Current Ministry Fund
By funding television broadcasts, VOMC is making it possible for a vast audience of viewers to be reached throughout Iran with the "Good News" of Jesus' love via satellite.

Project Fund: Underground Church
Country Information
Designation
Persecuted

Population
87,590,873 (2023 est.)

Ethnicity
Persian, Azeri, Kurd, Lur, Baloch, Arab, Turkmen and Turkic tribes

Religion (%)
Islam (98.5), Christian (0.7), Baha'i (0.3), agnostic (0.3), other (0.2)

Leader
Ayatollah Ali Hoseini-Khamenei (1989)

Government type
Theocratic republic

Legal system
Religious legal system based on secular and Islamic law

Source: CIA World Factbook
Pray for Iran
As the Gospel message goes forth over the airwaves, may the growth of the church continue to multiply despite persecution. Pray that the Iranian government will be open to change, allowing full rights and protection for its non-Muslim citizens as well. In the meantime, may those who are forced to flee the country find safe refuge and help so they can live in peace and worship the Lord with freedom.