Iran (MNN) — Iran’s government may be hostile to Christianity and the Gospel message, but Iran’s people are hungry for truth.
However, only five of Iran’s 39 languages have any Scripture, leaving millions without any access to God’s Word. Transform Iran is translating the Bible into Iran’s ethnic ‘heart’ languages, with help from groups like unfoldingWord and SRG.
Transform Iran’s Lana Silk says, “There’s an ethnic minority group in Iran – we won’t name for safety reasons – where we’ve been working on the Open Bible Stories. That’s complete, and now we’re setting our sights on the New Testament.”
Three of the five people involved in the translation work were Muslim. “It’s very easy to have a Christian filter in the phrases that we use to explain things” in the Open Bible Stories, Silk explains.
(Graphic courtesy of Transform Iran)
“We want Iranian Muslims, who’ve never heard any of these terms before, to understand them and engage with them. So that’s why we make sure there are Muslims on the team,” she continues.
“They help us get these accurate translations [going], and often, they get saved through that process.”
Today, those three formerly-Muslim team members are on fire for Christ. Shortly after turning to Jesus, “They began evangelizing other people in their communities with this Word that completely changed their lives,” Silk says.
“Within a small matter of weeks, those three became 15. Five months in, there are more than 50 Muslim converts in this previously unreached people group.”
You can support Bible translation work like this by partnering with Transform Iran.
“A lot of these people have heard Scripture in Farsi, and they’ve not been that interested because it’s been this foreign ‘thing’” that didn’t connect with their heart, Silk says.
“But when you go to them in their language, and you engage them in the process, it’s impacting their lives, and they’re getting saved.”
Header and story images courtesy of Transform Iran.
