{"id":4524,"date":"2023-07-01T17:09:01","date_gmt":"2023-07-01T17:09:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/"},"modified":"2023-07-01T17:09:01","modified_gmt":"2023-07-01T17:09:01","slug":"iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/","title":{"rendered":"IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The first time he went to a Christian church, during the time of the Islamic revolution in Iran, Mansour Khajehpour was a teenager. He went only to determine the best way to burn down the church building. But the woman who opened to door was caring and kind\u2014and her Christlike kindness altered the direction of Mansour\u2019s life.<\/p>\n<p>The woman pointed Mansour to a Farsi-speaking pastor. Over the months to come, that pastor answered Mansour\u2019s many questions\u2014but only one question per week\u2014and gave him a Bible. At first, Mansour\u2019s heart was hard, but over time God softened him until the day he found himself closing his eyes, praying in a loud voice and committing his life to Christ.<\/p>\n<p>Today, Mansour is the pastor of a church in Seattle and a leader in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.iranianbiblesociety.org\/\">Iranian Bible Society<\/a>, working to get God\u2019s Word into the Islamic Republic of Iran and to Farsi-speaking people in other nations as well.<\/p>\n<p>Listen as Mansour shares how three older missionaries made an impact on his life for the Lord and how he became involved\u2014through his future wife, Nahid, who is now the Executive Director\u2014in the Iranian Bible Society. Together they both experienced persecution for their Christian faith.<\/p>\n<p>Friends and pastors Mansour and Nahid knew well were martyred. Listen to Mansour tell how their examples were an inspiration, especially Pastor Hossein Soodmand\u2019s deep love and respect for God\u2019s Word. You can listen to past VOM Radio episodes with <a href= \"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/rashin\">Rashin Soodmand<\/a> and <a href= \"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/episodes\/detail\/iran-from-misery-to-ministry\"> Gilbert Hovsepian<\/a>, the children of Pastor Soodmand and Pastor Haik Hovsepian who were both martyred for their faith in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Mansour will encourage listeners to memorize scripture and spiritual songs\u2014which provided him great help and hope in prison for his faith. Pray for Mansour and Nahid\u2019s continued work providing Bibles for our Iranian brothers and sisters, and for the persecuted church inside Iran.<\/p>\n<p>Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! <a href= \"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/subscribe\">Subscribe to the podcast.<\/a> Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders\u2014in the <a href= \"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/app\/?_source_code=VOMRadio\">new VOM App<\/a> for your smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vomradio.net\/episodes\/detail\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Listen to this episode on VOMRadio.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The first time he went to a Christian church, during the time of the Islamic revolution in Iran, Mansour Khajehpour was a teenager. He went only to determine the best way to burn down the church building. But the woman who opened to door was caring and kind\u2014and her Christlike kindness altered the direction of Mansour\u2019s life. The woman pointed Mansour to a Farsi-speaking pastor. Over the months to come, that pastor answered Mansour\u2019s many questions\u2014but only one question per week\u2014and gave him a Bible. At first, Mansour\u2019s heart was hard, but over time God softened him until the day he found himself closing his eyes, praying in a loud voice and committing his life to Christ. Today, Mansour is the pastor of a church in Seattle and a leader in the Iranian Bible Society, working to get God\u2019s Word into the Islamic Republic of Iran and to Farsi-speaking people in other nations as well. Listen as Mansour shares how three older missionaries made an impact on his life for the Lord and how he became involved\u2014through his future wife, Nahid, who is now the Executive Director\u2014in the Iranian Bible Society. Together they both experienced persecution for their Christian faith. Friends and pastors Mansour and Nahid knew well were martyred. Listen to Mansour tell how their examples were an inspiration, especially Pastor Hossein Soodmand\u2019s deep love and respect for God\u2019s Word. You can listen to past VOM Radio episodes with Rashin Soodmand and  Gilbert Hovsepian, the children of Pastor Soodmand and Pastor Haik Hovsepian who were both martyred for their faith in Iran. Mansour will encourage listeners to memorize scripture and spiritual songs\u2014which provided him great help and hope in prison for his faith. Pray for Mansour and Nahid\u2019s continued work providing Bibles for our Iranian brothers and sisters, and for the persecuted church inside Iran. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders\u2014in the new VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-4524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vom-radio","tag-iran","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire - Stories<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire - Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The first time he went to a Christian church, during the time of the Islamic revolution in Iran, Mansour Khajehpour was a teenager. He went only to determine the best way to burn down the church building. But the woman who opened to door was caring and kind\u2014and her Christlike kindness altered the direction of Mansour\u2019s life. The woman pointed Mansour to a Farsi-speaking pastor. Over the months to come, that pastor answered Mansour\u2019s many questions\u2014but only one question per week\u2014and gave him a Bible. At first, Mansour\u2019s heart was hard, but over time God softened him until the day he found himself closing his eyes, praying in a loud voice and committing his life to Christ. Today, Mansour is the pastor of a church in Seattle and a leader in the Iranian Bible Society, working to get God\u2019s Word into the Islamic Republic of Iran and to Farsi-speaking people in other nations as well. Listen as Mansour shares how three older missionaries made an impact on his life for the Lord and how he became involved\u2014through his future wife, Nahid, who is now the Executive Director\u2014in the Iranian Bible Society. Together they both experienced persecution for their Christian faith. Friends and pastors Mansour and Nahid knew well were martyred. Listen to Mansour tell how their examples were an inspiration, especially Pastor Hossein Soodmand\u2019s deep love and respect for God\u2019s Word. You can listen to past VOM Radio episodes with Rashin Soodmand and Gilbert Hovsepian, the children of Pastor Soodmand and Pastor Haik Hovsepian who were both martyred for their faith in Iran. Mansour will encourage listeners to memorize scripture and spiritual songs\u2014which provided him great help and hope in prison for his faith. Pray for Mansour and Nahid\u2019s continued work providing Bibles for our Iranian brothers and sisters, and for the persecuted church inside Iran. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders\u2014in the new VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Stories\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-07-01T17:09:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"vomtechsupport\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"vomtechsupport\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216\"},\"headline\":\"IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-07-01T17:09:01+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/\"},\"wordCount\":368,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Iran\"],\"articleSection\":[\"VOM Radio\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/\",\"name\":\"IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire - 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Listen as Mansour shares how three older missionaries made an impact on his life for the Lord and how he became involved\u2014through his future wife, Nahid, who is now the Executive Director\u2014in the Iranian Bible Society. Together they both experienced persecution for their Christian faith. Friends and pastors Mansour and Nahid knew well were martyred. Listen to Mansour tell how their examples were an inspiration, especially Pastor Hossein Soodmand\u2019s deep love and respect for God\u2019s Word. You can listen to past VOM Radio episodes with Rashin Soodmand and Gilbert Hovsepian, the children of Pastor Soodmand and Pastor Haik Hovsepian who were both martyred for their faith in Iran. Mansour will encourage listeners to memorize scripture and spiritual songs\u2014which provided him great help and hope in prison for his faith. Pray for Mansour and Nahid\u2019s continued work providing Bibles for our Iranian brothers and sisters, and for the persecuted church inside Iran. Never miss an episode of VOM Radio! Subscribe to the podcast. Or you can listen each week\u2014and get daily prayer reminders\u2014in the new VOM App for your smartphone or tablet.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/","og_site_name":"Stories","article_published_time":"2023-07-01T17:09:01+00:00","author":"vomtechsupport","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"vomtechsupport","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/"},"author":{"name":"vomtechsupport","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/#\/schema\/person\/5ff286fd5505fccd2d5ebfd9d4203216"},"headline":"IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire","datePublished":"2023-07-01T17:09:01+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/"},"wordCount":368,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/assets.persecution.com\/stories\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/VOM-Stories-VOMRadio-Placeholder.jpg","keywords":["Iran"],"articleSection":["VOM Radio"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/","url":"https:\/\/www.persecution.com\/stories\/iran-from-burning-churches-to-burning-with-holy-spirit-fire\/","name":"IRAN: From Burning Churches to Burning With Holy Spirit Fire - 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