Christian ministry to Iran reports vibrant underground church amid persecution

By Diana Chandler - Posted at Baptist Press:

Published August 12, 2025

TEHRAN, Iran (BP) – Amir, an underground church leader in Iran, told Iran Alive Ministries of being stopped at a police checkpoint with dozens of Bibles in tow, a crime punishable by imprisonment and death.

Police confiscated the Bibles but let Amir go free. When he arrived the next evening at the house church that expected the Bibles, the books were already there, delivered by none other than the police official who had confiscated them.

“He (the police official) divulged that he is a Christian,” Iran Alive Ministries founder Hormoz Shariat told Baptist Press of the event that happened earlier this year. “And he said, ‘Look at the table. The books I got from you yesterday are on the table and they are being handed to the house church members.’”

Christians are often found in unexpected places in Iran, Shariat said, supporting his estimate of at least 2 million Christian converts from Islam there, more than twice as many estimated by others tracking such data.

“I give a number and I get criticized by both sides. But the number I give is about 2 million Muslim-background believers. I give this number in the West and some people say, ‘Really? Don’t you think you’re exaggerating? Maybe it’s not that much,’” Shariat said of the reactions he receives.

But house church leaders in Iran believe 2 million is too low.

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