Iran (MNN) — Contrary to what you might think from recent decades and especially the past year, Jewish and Persian people have not always been sworn enemies.
The day before Iran’s October 1 missile attack on Israel, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered a three-minute address with a message of solidarity for the Iranian people. (Watch the video here.)
“[In the message, Netanyahu is] very specific that he’s trying to say to the Persian people that [their] regime that is not really, truly chosen by the Persian people, by the Iranians, is [Israel’s] enemy, not the people of Iran,” says Denise Godwin with International Media Ministries.
The team at IMM is struck by the timeliness of their upcoming dramatic film on the life of Esther.
(Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries via Facebook)
“We are preparing the story of Esther from a Persian historical perspective, with believers who’ve come to Christ from Iran and [who are] trying to take their perspective to the story in the Bible that’s about their people and about Israeli people as well, the way we see it today,” says Godwin.
IMM glimpses that God is up to something in the midst of this politically charged climate.
“To find this theme of a small person, Esther, standing up for many people; a small country [Israel], standing up for freedom or peace or the right to not be oppressed; or the Iranian people standing up because they don’t like the corruption. There [are] all these repeated aspects of this theme in our everyday lives right now going on around the world,” Godwin says.
“God is definitely at work in this region. It’s messy, like most of our lives, but God is doing something really dramatic, and we are living on the edge of watching perhaps the world change.”
Esther: Queen of Hope (Photo courtesy of International Media Ministries)
Pray for the team at IMM as they finish Esther: Queen of Hope, but most of all pray for the people of Israel and Iran who are suffering in the conflict between the nations.
“Pray for them (persecuted Iranian Christians) to stand strong. I’m amazed that these people never say, ‘Pray I don’t get arrested. Pray I don’t have any kind of persecution.’ No, they say, ‘Pray that I will stay strong,’” Godwin says.
“Pray for those that get released from prison. We kind of think the prison is the worst part, but they’ve lived through trauma, and so there’s a life consequence to how they’ve been faithful to Jesus Christ that they’re probably always going to carry. Pray for healing for the trauma that they experience.”
Click to learn more about IMM and their mission to use media to reach the world for Christ.
Header photo of Tehran, Iran courtesy of Hamid Mohammad Hossein Zadeh Hashemi via Unsplash.
