Lana Silk Audio

[00:00:00] The Missional Life Podcast, inspiring Kingdom-minded believers around the world to live the mission of God in their lives.

Dan: All right. Welcome back to Mission Light Podcast. Today we have Lana Silk on the show. Lana is the CEO of Transform Iran, a bold and visionary ministry, bringing the gospel to the people of Iran Through underground church planning, leadership training, and humanitarian outreach, she carries the legacy of her parents, Lazarus.

And Maggie Yar, who founded the ministry after fleeing Iran under God's call. Lana, welcome to the show.

Amanda: Welcome. Thank you both.

Dan: Hey, it's so good to see you again. We are excited to hear an update of what's going on in Iran and just the impact that your ministry is having there in the nation of Iran.

But first, take us back. For the listener [00:01:00] who hasn't heard. Tell us a little bit more about your journey and that unique intersection of legacy and leadership and calling on your life. And just tell us how transforming Iran has progressed over the years from your parents leading the organization and now you yourself, Lana?

Lana: Yes. It really has been God's story, I've got to say. You know, sometimes when we look at the big picture, when we step back and look at the decades since you got at work, we. Realize what a genius mastermind he is and how kind he is in, how he invites us into journey with him doing things that he really can do better without us, but he lets us be part of it.

And it's an exhilarating journey being part of that with him. I was born right at the cusp of Iran turning from a monarchy. To a theocracy. So I was born on the day that Iranians will call Germania, which is Black Friday, which is the day in September 78, where Iran took the greatest [00:02:00] casualties in the revolution that led to the Islamic Republic being established.

So that's all I've ever known. I went to school in Islamic, Iran. And church at that time when we lived in Iran, church was technically legal but very heavily monitored. There was a lot of uncertainty in knowing what the government was gonna do about the Christians, the problem of the Christians in their country.

But we didn't meet in a regular church building at that time. And then, and all the way through my childhood, we were at war with Iraq. There was that. Sort of 78 through to 88 was the sort of 10 year period, eight years of war we had with Iraq. And so I remember my childhood was mixed in with that, with the bomb sirens going off and us having to take shelter and that kind of atmosphere.

then in 1988, the Lord spoke to my parents separately in their own devotions and told them that they needed to leave the country and it was. Not news. They wanted to hear. They were coming outta [00:03:00] war with Iraq. There was increased persecution for Christians. Now, the government had been slightly distracted.

Now there was focus internally. Again, Christians were fleeing and they really felt the need to be there and be with their flock. They were in senior leadership in the church and they wanted to be with their church. But the Lord was very clear when he spoke to them. They spent a month praying and fasting and checking and rechecking and knew that they'd heard clearly.

They took it to the overseeing pastor who questioned it just like they did, knowing that they were needed in the country. And then the Lord confirmed it to him in a dream and said, no, you need to send them out. And pretty quick. So I was coming up to my 10th birthday when all this happened and it was very, very quick.

I remember the. Intensity and urgency of it. We left within a few months of having the confirmation from the Lord. You can't take anything out with you. It was a case of give it all away and leave, and leave without knowing exactly why. Just, just that the Lord had said to, and you know, from my incredible parents.

[00:04:00] was enough. And that's the legacy in which I've been raised really to. Have it be enough. When God says Jump, you jump and you don't need to know why necessarily. You just trust that he knows why. So we did and we left and after we left and God spoke to them and said, the church is about to be driven underground and you are gonna be needing here to support strength and resource really, and help grow and nurture what will become a, a very heavily persecuted but thriving and growing church in Iran.

And that's what they've been doing ever since then.

Dan: Wow. That's amazing. I love how when the Lord says Go, you go and you sell things. You just make it happen. You obey. And I think that's just such an amazing legacy that your parents have done and they've passed on to you and you are, that out. And now, transforming Iran you guys aren't necessarily there in the country yourselves, but you're having a huge impact.

In fact, you guys are literally transforming a nation. So tell us what does that look like to be transforming a nation, but actually be doing it from [00:05:00] the outside?

Lana: Well, we aren't personally in the country, but our network is, so we have hundreds of churches in 53 towns and cities in Iran.

And so there is this partnership between what is happening Sure. Inside that as well as outside in, and they, need each other because of the security sets up in Iran and the, yeah. The constant surveillance and monitoring from the government into the church. We have to keep the church very discreet.

The house churches dunno each other. They dunno who the other believers are. So that sort of in-person community. And with that, the strengthening and the encouragement that comes with it is not possible within the country. And that's where it really becomes important to have something set up from outside that can fill in those gaps.

And we rely a lot on media and you know, we live in an incredible time today where we have access to media. Of course, what you do is testament to it as well. We can use media in so many ways to get the word out to share, to strengthen people. Sometimes [00:06:00] I think, imagine the apostles in the New Testament if they had access to the kind of media that we have access to, you know, they must be watching from heaven.

So jealous of the kind of tools that I just. Disposable disposal that we can use for the kingdom. And so we do, we try to use everything we have satellite, tv, radio, social media, websites, an app interactive sites where people can come and learn a bible college, an apologetic center, a digital church network.

We have 20, 25,000 Iranians that will connect to us every month through various meetings through the week, as well as live Sunday and Friday meetings for our Persian community Church. So all of these are really set up to connect the body in a way that can't be done physically in the country. And with that, to strengthen and grow the church.

And lots of people coming to know the Lord, either through the evangelism that is done outta this media, or quite normally without any of that, just directly from God, you know, where Jesus would appear to them in a dream or a vision, and [00:07:00] they will have encountered him in their life and encountered some form of transformation, whether it's a healing or a freedom from a depression or an addiction, or a relationship being restored.

They know the fruit of the touch of God in their lives. But they don't really know who he is yet, so they go looking, and that can often be how they connect with us as well. They've already encountered him. Now they want to know more. So it's already set up to make sure that seekers and early Christians and converts have a connection point to the wider body and are rooted in their faith and grow quickly.

And they do. They grow very, very quickly. You know, it's a hot or cold kind of setup in Iran. You don't mess around with it. It's gonna cost you even at the point of seeking. So they go in with their eyes open. They know that deviation from Islam is going to be costly, but they know they don't want Islam.

They know the fruit of it in their lives. begin to taste the life-giving water that, Jesus offers. And they know they want it so we can be there too. [00:08:00] Help them, lead them down that journey and to really introduce to them all of who Jesus is, what he asks of them, what it means to follow him, the surrender, the sacrifice, and then walk with them as they grow, as they share their faith with others and see churches born in their homes.

Dan: I think it's just amazing, and I'm just wondering if you could. Explain and kind of detail for our listeners that maybe hear Iran and they're thinking, well, I thought that was a Muslim country. What is going on? And it's mind blowing what God is doing in and throughout that country. Can you share some of the data and just some of the stats of how fast the church is growing within the nation.

Lana: So if we go back to before 1979 when Iran was technically free, and you could go and evangelize and talk about Jesus in the streets, technically with no consequence, at that point my father was arrested and imprison twice for evangelism in the streets when you should have been allowed to do it. But the people of Iran were so hardened [00:09:00] towards it and were so pro-ISIS, Islam, that they would turn him in to their authorities and say, this man is defiling our streets with the name of Jesus.

Get rid of him. There was no appetite for the gospel at all. My parents talk about how, you know, if there was two, three people that came to the Lord in one year that would consider that a great harvest. There was just no interest at all. Really hard ground. And if you total through the country, we estimate that three, four, maybe 500 Muslim background believers would've been.

In Iran before the revolution, and then the revolution happened. And what happened was Islam was completely unmasked and all that had promised, and, you know, Khomeini came in with a promise of, of purity, of justice and mercy that he was going to address the issues of. Fraud and poverty and injustice in the country, that the people were gonna go back to their roots and live good lives again and be honorable and please God.

And there was so much hope and excitement for what he was bringing back to their country. [00:10:00] And within a few years it, it was obvious what it really was, which was, you know, control, oppression and a real darkness descendant on the country. And my dad will often say, you know, the, were some of the best evangelists we ever had because they really just pushed people.

To Jesus. People started to take the fullness of what the Islamic Republic was giving them, offering them, and they didn't want it, and their appetite for Jesus really began to grow. And now we're about 46 years in from that. And some research was done a few years ago, which puts us at one, maybe one and a half million Muslim background believers in Iran today.

It's been a huge growth curve. Lots of organizations will say it's the fastest growing church in the world today. The appetite for the gospel is insatiable. Really. We just we're struggling to keep up. You know that scripture where the Jesus sends the apostles back out to fish again? They've caught nothing, so go, go, [00:11:00] go do it again, but do it this way.

Do it here. And they catch so much fish that the, the scripture tells us their nets were breaking under the strain of what they'd caught. They had to call the others to come and help them. And really that's the closest scripture to master how it feels to be in ministry in Iran today. We are just, just overwhelmed by the appetite for God and really just trying to keep up with what God is doing.

Amanda: So with Transform My Run, what are some practical ways that. The church around the globe can become involved in essentially bring nets to help out with this massive harvest that is going on in Iran today.

Lana: I. I always say prayer has to be first. You know, we know this is spiritual warfare. We know the significance of what we're doing in the spiritual realm and how dangerous that is and how it rattles the enemy.

And he does come after us. Just this week, we've been dealing with some very pressing things that have been happening that are a direct result of the war that we've been engaging in. [00:12:00] Spiritually. So we really invite people to pray for us. We need the spiritual backing and the strengthening that comes with it.

We invite people to pray, informed, you know, we can pray. Very good general prayers. There's a lot in the scripture that we can declare with authority and faith over the situation, but it's really helpful to come and get into the weeds with us and pray into specifics. So we send a prayer letter out by email once a month, first of the month, and you can sign up to that through our website.

Very easy to find, and it's free just on email so that way you can really find out what's happening and get into that prayer partnership with us. So that's the first way that you can help. And what that will also do for our partners is encouragement, because we always share, t always share what God is doing, and I think it really helps all of us in our own situations when we see what God is doing in other difficult terrain and what, the victories that he's winning and a reminder.

Of the power of God, the mercy of God, the creativity of God. Just last [00:13:00] week we were sharing with our partners about this lady who'd been in our prayer rooms who'd been carrying this heavy load and struggling, and finally she opened up the prayer counselor and said, look. actually need prayer for something.

It's my son. We haven't spoken to him for 10 years. He left in a fight 10 years ago. No matter what we've done to re-engage him, he doesn't want any communication with us. And we feel that we've lost him. And the believers in that room, you know, this is all digital. Our digital church, the would've been maybe five, 10 people prayed together in that room with that lady that God would intervene.

And that very night, that boy was combing his hair looking in a mirror. And heard a voice speak to him outta the mirror and said, what are you doing? You have a mother and a father and you have a home. Go. And so the next morning he went back home and I just think, wow, isn't God just so creative?

It's like the minute you think you've heard it all in terms of the different ways in which you can, you know, I know you can do it. I know he [00:14:00] restores families. We all, we've heard stories and yet every story has a different flavor. Like he just, it's like you're showing off. Look how else I can do this. So I think it's encouragement as well when we hear all these stories and see what God does.

It breeds faith for whatever we're believing for in our own lives. So prayer first, and then I would say help us spread the word. You know, we want the world to know what God is doing, Iran, to encourage the church. To educate the church. I feel like there are a lot of people have written Iran off as a place that is totally dark and lost and there's no hope there.

And it's great for us to know that actually God is doing amazing things that brings God glory and it encourages people to get involved and we need to help. We need those net strengthening. So prayer supporting financially whatever way God leads is great.

Dan: One of the things that struck me, what was interesting is that you're talking about that the appetite and the hunger of people for the gospel, and then what also struck me, just it shocked me, [00:15:00] was that.

When people come to the gospel, they're, disciples and, but they're also discipling others. And so that's what's really amazing is when we think about somebody coming to Christ, we think, oh wow, they've converted, they followed Jesus. But that's not necessarily the understanding them.

They understand this, that, hey, now I to go disciple others as well, even as I'm being discipled. So would love for you to share about that, share with us about the model and just. How people are taking that on as a responsibility. 'cause many of us feel like, oh, I'm not prepared to share.

I'm not mature enough to share. But that's not the case of the Iranian believers.

Lana: Yes. I think that's a bit of a presupposition that we have in the West where we have this sort of, assumption that you have to qualify to the next stage in Christianity. Like you do something and then you get good at it, and then you have to put a few more years in and have earned your stripes, and then you get upgraded and then you have an increased sphere of influence.

And it's sort of. Goes from there. But I see that that's how Jesus worked. And actually when we look at this word, discipleship, you know, we [00:16:00] use leadership development as a, as a phrase a lot in c in the Christian world, you know, we're developing leaders, we have seasoned leaders in this kind of language that we use.

But when you get digging around in the New Testament, I don't see that kind of terminology. It's discipleship. It's lifelong discipleship. And disciples are fruitful. So the bedrock of our. Ministry, really the foundational verses two Timothy two, two, and it says the things that you've heard me say.

So you're hearing something, you're being discipled in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. So you yourself are hearing something, you are entrusting you to someone else. The first qualification is reliability. It's not older men or men who've done the years of service, who've proven themselves.

They've gotta just have character. And you entrust that to them. And then we will also be qualified. So then there's a training that happens, then you're investing in them, then you're equipping them and giving them the tools and resources they need to be increasingly fruitful. But that journey immediately [00:17:00] begins just by relationship.

The fact that you're receiving something and passing it on. So we really have that as a key on our minds, on in everything that we do, that as people come through. We are looking to entrust the gospel to them, and we're looking to help them be fruitful in their faith and that discipleship journey that they go on with us right from the beginning.

What that's teaching them is that fruitfulness is health, healthy things grow and reproduce. So if you have a healthy relationship with Jesus, you will automatically be fruitful. And it doesn't mean you have to go to a seminary and you have to teach a class. It means you have to be a light on a hill and you, the natural expression of Jesus's work in your life will be captivating to the people around you, and they will want to know what you have.

And then just as we hear in the other scripture, not always be prepared to give a defense of your faith. Just be ready to talk about it. Be ready just to share what you already know. And that's a starting point. So we have a lot of people in Iran [00:18:00] who are technically pastors, but weren't probably even a Christian a year ago.

Now, they come to know the Lord. They have a transformation. They tell others, the others get saved. Now there's a church in their home. So, you know, we help them, we resource them, but they don't need to pass any exams to get to that point. They just need to be a light on a hill. And it happens very organically.

Dan: When we share the gospel here in the west or in the states, or just wherever that is, sometimes we're excited. There's a lot of people that would say, oh, they have the gift of evangelism. They just go boldly into situation and they'll just, profess the gospel. But most of.

US don't have that gift and most of us want to share the gospel, but sometimes we have a little bit of timidity and that's not necessarily the case over there. I'm sure there's a little bit of timidity, I'm sure there's a little bit of understanding the wr, but I'm just wondering how do you that an organization to equip Iranians every day to boldly share the gospel, especially knowing that it could cost them everything.

Lana: Oh, we have the opposite problem in Iran. We [00:19:00] have to help them calm down because.

They do crazy things, you know, and we're on the phone to them going, you're no good to God dead. Let's just be smart about this. This is not the way to come about. They're so excited. I think the key here. You know, we talk about , the gift of evangelism as you reminded us, you know, this fivefold ministry, when we read that passage, it talks about how those offices, those.

Functions are given to the, prophet, the pastor, the evangelist, et cetera, to equip the saints for the ministry. It's not that that tiny minority are the ones that get to do it and get to do it well. They have an increased anointing and responsibility to equip the entire church to do all of it. We should all be prophetic and pastoral and evangelistic.

You know, that should just be flowing out of us. Some of us have an increased anointing in this areas that allows the church to grow in the giftings and to learn how to do these things well. But it's for all of us to walk in. And I think the difference between the Iranian Christian and the, in this [00:20:00] case, the American Christians sometimes of course can't generalize, is that the Iranian Christian.

Hasn't been educated in it is, you know, there's not been any sort of context. All they know is what Jesus has done for them. And what a phenomenal differences make in their lives, and they want to talk about it. We have so much resource and information here in the West and everything has a flip side.

It can be crippling because then we're thinking, oh, but there's a better way. Maybe I should do this course and maybe I should sit under this person's teaching for a bit. And it's a good motivation. We want to get good at things and we want to excel. But I would say the key is to have such a. An overwhelming personal encounter with Jesus that we just want to talk about what he's done in our lives, and we don't need to have the whole gospel wrapped up.

We can just talk about our own experience. And that often is the most exciting thing for people to hear.

Dan: When we talk about reaching Iran, we talk about evangelizing. Yeah. One interesting stat [00:21:00] that I saw that 60% of the Iranian population is under the age of 30. And so there's a lot of people, and there's a lot of listeners that have a heart for reaching generation Z, that younger generation.

And I'm just wondering how are you reaching that generation and those who are listening what kind of tactics can they employ to better engage that generation?

Lana: So we have different programs depending on the age within that. Obviously those 30 years cover a very wide range of academic ability as well as sort of relationally and socially for those who are a little bit older.

So I would say maybe 14, 15 plus, you know, I was brought up. In a world where you roll your sleeves off and you get involved, like you're part of it, we're not waiting for you to grow into it. You have something to bring to the table. So our older youth and certainly those in their twenties, are engaged in ministry.

Some of them are pastoring churches. They are engaged in social media evangelism. Those of them that can do it, that are out [00:22:00] of the country, and then they. Bring people in and then they disciple them or they pass them on, depending on who has made the connection to someone that might be more equipped to build that relationship.

The messaging generally is that you, have a relationship with Jesus, therefore you have something to say and what you have to say is worthwhile. We want you to be part of what we're doing. We're not waiting for you to get to a certain point where you'll then qualify or be old enough.

For the younger sort of. 12, 13, 14, and younger. There are different dynamics there at play, particularly those who are in the region who are in school. Islamic education can be very confusing to Christian children because they have to do a lot of religious study. Koranic study, they have to learn to pray the namas, and it's not that it's completely different.

It's that it's sort of confusingly different because there'll be a lot of the same characters, Noah, Moses, Abraham, Jesus, even. But different narratives and, you know, different things are said about what they did, [00:23:00] who they were, their significance. And so these kids will go to school. They can't say that they're Christians.

So they have to sort of tow the line and. Pretend to be accepting of everything that's being taught them. Learn the nama, you know, learn, recite quranic verses and then come home and be told, well, actually no, this is what Moses did and this is what God said to him. So that confusion is, very difficult for them.

have programs in place that help create safe spaces at the weekends for these kids to get together and. Be with other Christian children. Talk about Christian things with their peers. Of course, they do that with their families, but with their peers. Grow up in, have an environment in which they can.

Be a Christian openly and learn about the Bible stories in the truth and what they really were and help them navigate this very confusing system until they're old enough to separate themselves from it. we've got a lot of going on. We're creating media right now. Audiovisual. We've got resources that were [00:24:00] got on our website for parents and teachers and pastors where their children in their churches to help these kids get through these years in a way that doesn't completely confuse their worldview.

Amanda: speaking of children in schools over there in Iran what would be the repercussions if it is found out that they are in fact Christians, that their family is believers? What does that look like for them in their system?

Lana: Their parents would be arrested and depending on what the government thought they could lead them to, they could be tortured and imprisoned to give up more information.

Other Christians, yeah, it's illegal. It's illegal and they act on it. They raid house churches, they're. Really constantly just trying to flush out the Christians and get rid of them. They really don't want or need the publicity of martyring more Christians. There was a period where they began to really Marty quite a few big name Christians in Iran.

One of them was our dear brother who was the one who [00:25:00] had the dream that ended up confirming that we had to leave the country. I think the government are in a position now where they don't want that negative publicity, but they want the Christians gone, so they want. To apply as much pressure as they can to expose who the Christians are and force them outta the country.

So yeah, it's dangerous

Amanda: now and then, we heard a stat maybe two, three years ago at this point, that far as the government goes, the current regime that about 10% of Iranians really approve of the current system. Does that still look the same as it did back then, or has there been even a bigger shift in that?

Lana: There's a constant movement to increase dissatisfaction and also an audacity in voicing that dissatisfaction. There was a time where people were so afraid of what the government would do, that even if they had issue with some of the decisions, they would keep quiet. I spoke to a friend a couple years ago who was visiting who lives in the States, and he was just visiting for a while.

And I asked him, you know, tell me what it was like. We were similar age [00:26:00] and you know, I know the Rwanda I grew up in. And he said, the biggest difference that I noticed was that everyone, taxi, drivers, shopkeepers, you know, just regular random people would openly speak against the government and talk about all the negative feelings that they had towards the government.

And that's something that. Wasn't the norm before. So there's a brazenness to it now, I think. Really A mass army and her death and the protest that happened a couple years ago in September, and then for many months after that was a real shift in the atmosphere in Iran where people had a sense of community.

In their dissatisfaction, they realized that it wasn't just them, but thousands upon thousands of other people were not only also dissatisfied, but prepared to die for it, because that's what it was. You march in the streets, you're protesting, you know, the consequences are real. They killed hundreds of them.

They imprisoned and tortured, maimed thousands more and people still continue to protest. So there is a sense of [00:27:00] solidarity now with the people that they think, oh, okay. There's a lot of us now that are prepared to take the next step to do something about this.

Amanda: Wow. It's amazing just having that boldness too. you mentioned solidarity. I think, again, going back to. That house churches can't necessarily, communicate with each other within country, but you have the online immediate tools where they can connect with others via, online Zoom, et cetera. And just the importance of having that connection where you feel like you are not the only one.

You're not Elijah thinking, oh my gosh, I'm the only one here. And God says, no, I actually have more prophets, but you don't know about them right now, so you're not the only one. I think there's such power in that unity and that solidarity. That's such a good word. Last time we had the opportunity to speak with you.

We mentioned about the mosque situation over there just to give us an update on what does that look like. I know before they were some were quite empty at this point. What [00:28:00] is that looking like now?

Lana: Yeah, still the same. Do people are less and less inclined to toe the line. You know, there was a time that people would go to the mosque just because that's what they did, but I think they're just so jaded now and really just fed up that, you know, it's not just that they don't believe it anymore, but actually it's caused harm to them.

This Islamic rhetoric that's come out of the government, you know, the whole thing is one and the same. It's an intensely Islamic government. It's the sort of the mecca, if you will, of Shia Islam in the world. You know, Iran has this, open agenda that they want to, in khomeini's words, export this revolution to the rest of the world.

And they're so busy with this intense propaganda that comes with the Islam that they're pushing, the Shia Islam, that they're that the people in Iran are connecting those things together and they say, well, this is the fruit of Islam in our lives today. You know, Iran is a crisis point on so many.

Normal factors on mental health, on poverty, on, [00:29:00] you know the child marriage abuse, addiction. It's just all the numbers are off the charts. People are really, really struggling and traumatized. There's, there's no other word for it really. So, and for them, the source of all of that is when everything changed in 1979 and this Islamic Republic started and the Islamic regime.

Started controlling every decision they made and tried to make it succumb to Islamic ideology.

Dan: Wow. We've talked and kind of skirted the idea of the digital media platforms and just the different technology that you're using, but this is really quite innovative stuff. I mean, you guys have a far CTV channel.

You have a digital church. You're doing a lot of. Creative and innovative things because you've needed to. And so I'm just wondering if you could share a little bit about that. Especially for a lot of Christian organizations, they're wanting to do more ministry in closed spaces, and you are doing that and you're having success in that.

I'm just [00:30:00] wondering if there's ability for you to share some of that and that could potentially be duplicated in other areas that are more sensitive.

Lana: Yes, of course. I think really the bottom line is to stay up to date with technology and to innovate with it, and then you mix the Holy Spirit in with that and you've got this explosive partnership.

And I see people such a gift of pioneering, you know, they were the first to think of Farsi Christian tv. They set up the first Farsi Christian channel. They innovated apologetics in the Farsi world. They innovated digital church. You know, we were using Zoom. Long before Zoom was used by the world in COVID.

In fact, during COVID, some of our team consulted with Zoom to help them iron out some of their bugs because we had been speaking to them before saying, we are using it for much bigger context. You know, we using it with hundreds in a room. These are the bugs that we're finding. And so we work with them to, to address some of these issues.

So we, it's just being early on the curve, you know, and really seeing. [00:31:00] What there is that there are now there new things that we're pursuing and not all of them first I can share now, the government's always trying to stop our development, our innovation in the ways that which we're getting into the country.

But we have some really exciting new projects that are being developed where we'll be able to, again, break new ground and make use of new and developing technology that will help us get even deeper into that space without having to physically be there.

Dan: Incredible.

You mentioned.

led being spirit led. And so I'm just wondering, those that don't know, Iani, you have business background. You worked in London a period of time and you're very, business savvy. You, very strategic. And so I'm just wondering how do you balance personally and maybe other ministry as well being strategic?

Spirit led in your approach do you have a, decision making grid or how does that work for you, especially operating such a high risk and high impact environment?

Lana: Yeah, that's a very great, a good question, Dan, and I think it's [00:32:00] one that I, I hope that us as a whole team are asking ourselves the whole time and making sure that we are keeping these two things together in a happy marriage.

I would say that, if we want to be led by the spirit, then he doesn't become a tool in our toolkit. He has to infuse everything. And if he's not already part of our lives mm-hmm. And part of our daily experience, it's not like I can draw up plan and then mix in a consultation with the Holy Spirit as part of my process and say, right, what do you think?

You know that. I don't know that that would work. The Holy Spirit has to be so infused in my thinking and in the way I approach things, that he would even be infusing it from conception to the how that whole process is building, and yes, absolutely, I would have the conversation with him as well and say, right, God, is this the way to go?

But that is really just the icing on the cake at the end. He, he should have been part of my whole process all the way to that point. And by God's grace, that is how we work as a whole. Team. Prayer is a very important part of the ministry. Of course, we talked about it earlier for [00:33:00] partnership and how we rely on prayer.

From our partners, and it's the same internally. We pray together multiple times through the week. We have core meetings couple times a month where the whole leadership will come together and pray. And God has to be front and center in our thinking and in our approach to all the problems that we're solving.

So I struggle to separate it all out, I guess, is my long-winded answer to that. Now he's trained us in different ways. I'm so grateful for the professional background that I bring to the table. You know, when I went down that path, I questioned it. I knew my whole life, my core was Iran and I wanted to serve my country, and God took me down to study engineering and then marketing and, you know, went into consulting and.

Every step. I was thinking, this isn't making any sense. But also every step I was praying and asking the Lord to tell me which job I I should take and where I should live. And God was telling me specifically and clearly. So I stepped into each [00:34:00] of these roles in confidence, knowing that's where he was taking me.

You know, your word is a lamp onto my feet and the light to my path, just that step that I'm about to take, he lit it, right? Go this way. So I obeyed the example my parents gave me coming out of Iran. You hear the word you obey, you don't need to understand where it's leading. You just take that step and then, you know, 20 years into that journey, then God calls me outta that world and takes me into this.

And then I think, oh, okay, he was training me. But that's great because now I feel that there's skills that he's brought to the table that I can use. But he still gets to infuse all those decisions.

Dan: That's all good. You have a really unique position, Lana. You live and kind of work in the western world, but when you, so to speak, clock in, you're almost working. You may be physically in the western world, but a lot of your heart and a lot of what you do is over there Iran, even if you're not physically there yourself.

And so I'm just wondering, like as [00:35:00] somebody who is up. Living a Western life right now, but so involved there. This is a twofold question. What is something Western Christians should maybe pay attention to now that's happening in Iran, spiritually and politically?

And I'm just wondering too, what have Iranian believers taught you about Jesus that you think maybe the Western Church urgently needs to learn right now?

Lana: Yes, my heart is still very much Iran for sure. And thank God every day that I get to do what I do that keeps me connected and somehow invested in that country that I love so very much.

I think when you are in a persecuted environment, it forces you to prioritize well. And to understand the concept of cost and sacrifice and passion and commitment as part of our Christian walk, that's a difficult thing to emulate when you're in a free context. So living in the West where I have so much immediate comfort and so much choice and I can [00:36:00] go to church if I want to.

If I don't want to, I can read my Bible or maybe a different translation or go buy another one. And, you know, there are all these things that, these choices and these freedoms, which are gifts, they come with a. A challenge because something, that thing that is so precious that people are willing to die for, I don't have to die for, and I don't have to pay a price for.

And so I have to be careful that it still maintains its high value to me in the way that it does for my Iranian brothers and sisters who are dying for it. So I think, okay, what am I remembering when I read my Bible in the morning? Am I remembering. What a high price people are paying just to have access to this thing that just sits on my bedside table and I've got a couple more on the shelf and this, you know, it's like, it just, just remembering the value of it and then it coming together with believers, you know, at church, I, I don't feel like going today.

Well. In Iran, if they got to go, it'd be such a big deal, you know, and I've been in meetings where we've brought people out, leaders that we're developing, where [00:37:00] we've for the first time they've been in a community, in a context where they could worship out loud and, you know, not have to hide and be careful.

And just the raw emotion, the joy to be in that community, in that space where. God really is central and you just think, yeah, this is precious. Let's not forget. So that's what I learn from them every day. The preciousness of the gifts of God that we have in the West that can lose their value if we're not careful.

Dan: Wow. Now, for you personally, is there a story that's really present in your mind right now that you kind of keep. Close to you, close to your heart. That helps keep you going. I know you love the country and know you are impassioned to really make an impact there, but is there story that has been recent story that you could share with us, so that has motivated you to just keep going and keep the fire lit.

Lana: Yes, it does. It changes all the time, to be honest. I'll get new stories every day and I think, oh my goodness, God did. But one that we recently [00:38:00] wrote our partners about was a fruit of our work in the gki language. So we're now translating the Bible and creating resources in the ethnic languages of Iran because.

They are still largely unreached these communities. This fast growing church is really happening in the Farsi speaking community, and that's less than half the population, the 55 ish percent. Rest of the country don't speak Farsi at home. And there are many languages, dozens of languages, depends how you count.

Half of the country that still don't have scriptures and certainly no established churches. So that's a real sort of focus for us right now, and Gila is a great example of where that's really beginning to take traction. We translated the New Testament in just over a year, overdramatized it.

There's a lot of literacy in these ethnic communities, so they need an audio version of the Bible to really be able to grasp it. We've done most of the Old Testament now and we've established a gki language digital church that is just at the infancy now beginning to get traction. [00:39:00] And a couple of the Bible translators who worked on the new Testament and Old Testament share their testimonies with me recently, both men about their mothers.

And how these men have both been Christians for a long time. One of them said that he'd never had the. Courage to share the gospel with his mother. She was a staunch Muslim and he just didn't feel that he could make any inroads with her. Of course he would have to share any scripture with her in Farsi at that point.

You know, Farsi blocks in people's minds in these ethnic communities because it's the language of the country, the government, and a lot of control and oppression comes out from it. not kind to the ethnic minorities, so it, it had made him even more nervous to give this Farsi Bible to his giy mother and share, and he'd never been able to until the scripture came out and he shared it with her and she was so impacted by it that she would play the Giy Psalms in audio in her house and talk about how it gave peace to her heart and she began her journey towards Jesus.

Mm-hmm. The other one was [00:40:00] sharing about how he had been sharing with his giy mother for years and years. He's also a pastor and she'd always shut him down. I don't need your God, I already have a God. I'm fine. And then she went to visit him one time. He doesn't in Iran. She went to visit him one time and he tried to invite her to a gki prayers time meeting.

No interest back and forth. Kept pushing it back until finally she was sick. She had a cancer diagnosis, and he invited her to come into a Gila prayer room as part of these, this early digital church set up and received prayer. So she did, and as the church prayed for her she was healed. So it's a slightly longer story than that, but.

Within a few months, she was healed and his gki sister would say, only Jesus could have done what happened in mom's life. So she began her journey of openness to God. He sense her gki scriptures, mom, look, it's all in our language. Read it. She reads it. She listens to the audio, visits him [00:41:00] again. And then right there in his church, she says, I think I'm ready.

Pray for me. And so he leads his mother to the Lord and he baptizes her and she goes back and starts sharing with the wider family what God's done for her. So the power of God's word in your own language.

Amanda: Wow.

Dan: Amazing. God has done something miraculous, to go from 500 believers

40 some years ago to, yeah. What it is now. I mean, I think 500,000 is a number that I've seen. Does sound about right?

Lana: No, it's more than that. There was a of research done by Gamon, a Dutch research organization a few years ago, and it was done, you know, with all of the. Accepted measures of pooling and extrapolating and at that point they estimated just over a million Christians in Iran.

So with the church growth as it's, and many will say 19.6%, I dunno how that was calculated, but that's the number I keep hearing is the growth rate of the church in Iran. You know, we're looking at easily one and a half million Christians in Iran today.

Dan: Wow. I mean, that's [00:42:00] exceptional.

I'm just wondering, with all that momentum, what are some of the biggest hindrances that still remain? I mean obviously there's government, there's a lot, but I'm just wondering from your perspective, what are some of the biggest challenges that need to be overcome listeners can be praying for, to help empower your ministry and those other believers there within Iran?

How can we help be praying to move those mountains, so to speak?

Lana: Yes. So the government is a challenge and the government of other countries that have a role to play in the lives of Iranian Christians and Iranian refugees. We pray that God would blind eyes that need to be blinded, bring favor, mercy, and allow the Christian work to continue.

Of course, if the government was to. Figure out all of the operations and arrest everyone and furthermore, in jail, then that would be a significant problem then not an insurmountable one. But that is a challenge and definitely something worth praying for. The other thing is the technical security, so it hacking [00:43:00] cybersecurity.

A lot of the work we do is done for media and the government is. Constantly trying to hack into our systems and break our networks down. So praying that we would stay ahead of the curve. We have some excellent people working with us, just making sure that we can keep our systems secure and through that also data, you know, people's names.

Careful how we source store things. But still a security related. And then a couple more things. I would say leadership. The church in Iran is young. We have some excellent people who are leading with grace and real maturity despite the, you know, number of months even that they've been Christians.

But the growth rate is quick, but we're always in need of more leaders. So praying that God will bring to the surface the Daniels and the Esters and the ne Mays that we can really pour into and position. To have a great impact on our country. And then finally, finances. We're a nonprofit and there are so many ideas brewing and so many things we could do.

And sometimes the only limiting factor is funds. So pray that God would [00:44:00] open doors really throw the flood of its provision so that we can run with some of these projects that we're awaiting to launch.

Dan: Wow. I wanna be conscious of your time here. How can listeners connect with your ministry and follow what is going on in Iran and follow what the impact transform Iran is having in the nation?

Lana: So three things. One, pray. So get on our website, transform iran.com. You can sign up, try a newsletter. It's at the bottom of every page and engage in prayer. Really pray for us and be encouraged as you do the second advocacy. Share with others, your friends, your social media network. Find us on social media.

Share the work on there, like follow, you know, all the users just to get traction and increase exposure for what God is doing. That helps us, and I really believe that it brings God glory as people see what he's doing in the country. And then thirdly, if you're looking to. Sow finances in Christian work, sometimes my [00:45:00] business mind comes back and I think about all the work I did in ROI in a return on investment.

If you talking about Christian return on investment, I'm gotta tell you there's no better soil to invest in Iran Today. People are turning to Jesus. You will see what God is doing with what you are sowing your fish and your bread, and you'll be encouraged. So if you're looking somewhere to do something with what God's blessed you with, we would welcome that partnership too.

Dan: Amen. Alana, what an honor to have you on the show again today. We are so excited for how God is using you and using your ministry and just the amazing impact and like you said, the ROI that is happening from those who are sowing into your ministry. And so listeners, we'll make sure we have those. those in the show note. Lana, we just speak blessing over everything you put your hand to in your ministry. We speak protection and just divine ideas to continue to innovate and effective in the country that you're serving. Thank you so much.

Lana: Thank you. Thank you, Amanda.

Appreciate it. Really do.

Dan: Amen.

Thanks guys.

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