IRAN: “What you intended for evil, God used for good”

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The Voice of the Martyrs

Christianity, Martyr, Vom, Persecution, Gospel, Pastor, Persecutedchurch, Apologetics, Islam, Christian, Church, Missions, Missionaries, Religion & Spirituality

4.9 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 July 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Neda was born in Iran to a Muslim family. She grew up as a Muslim and married a well-known Iranian athlete. But their marriage was on the rocks. At 22, feeling broken and empty, Neda called out to Allah for help. But she found no solace, and grew angry and disillusioned with a god that refused to answer her prayers.

As Neda’s heart continued searching, God supernaturally told a family member living in the Netherlands to go back to Iran and share the gospel of Jesus.

Neda came to faith in Christ through her relative’s witness and her life was radically transformed. Her husband, surprised and amazed by the change he saw in her, placed his trust in Jesus too. God faithfully restored their marriage and called them to ministry.

Neda drew strength from the stories of other persecuted Christians. She read a story in a book from The Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) about a girl who was assaulted and became pregnant. Yet she responded with remarkable faith by entrusting everything, even her body, to God. God used this story to teach Neda about the importance of obedience and sacrifice despite fear of persecution and threats of imprisonment and violence.

Over the next thirteen years, Neda and her husband faced increasing persecution from the Islamic government. In one incident, officials raided their home and threatened her husband at gunpoint. She and her husband ultimately decided to leave Iran, yet they continue to serve from abroad through Iran Alive Ministries.

Neda encourages every Christian to lay down their own desires and fully surrender to God's will—even when it means taking up their cross and enduring suffering and persecution. She also shares specific ways to pray for Christians in Iran during the current turmoil there.

The VOM App for your smartphone or tablet will help you pray daily for persecuted Christians—in Iran and other nations—throughout the year, as well as provide free access to e-books, audiobooks, video content and feature films. Download the VOM App for your iOS or Android device today.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Sister Neda used to live in the Islamic Republic of Iran, where she was wanted by the government for sharing the gospel of Jesus.
0:09.2	She knows what it means to suffer for her faith. She says that you and I may be called upon to suffer for the gospel as well, even if our situation doesn't look as outwardly dramatic.
0:23.6	Maybe God wants to forgive some person. This is obedience, this is to suffer because you hated them.
0:30.6	Maybe we need to be kind or maybe we need to be generosity and everything, you know, it's different.
0:37.5	I think if we wanted to be disciple of Jesus, we carry our cross and follow Jesus.
0:44.3	Jesus never promised his followers an easy path.
0:49.3	In fact, he told his disciples that the world would hate them.
0:52.3	He sent them out as sheep among wolves. Jesus's
0:56.1	words came true in the life of the apostles, and they're still coming true today in the lives
1:00.8	of his followers around the world. Join host Todd Nettleton as we hear their inspiring stories
1:05.8	and learn how we can help right now on the Voice of the Martyrs Radio Network. Welcome to the Voice of the Martyrs
1:11.6	Radio. My name is Todd Nettleton. I'm in the studio today in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, and you are
1:16.4	going to meet another of our one-name guests. Neda and her husband are leaders in the underground
1:22.7	church in Iran. They are now leading from outside the country. NATO and her team were doing ministry on the
1:29.0	streets of Tehran and other Iranian cities for years. It is such a critical time for us to be
1:35.9	talking about Iran. As we were recording with NATO, Israel had just started bombing Iran. Iran was
1:43.7	retaliating against Israel after we recorded this interview.
1:48.2	The United States got involved as well. Today we're going to focus on what is going on with the
1:54.2	underground church, with our brothers and sisters inside Iran and the need for the gospel among the Iranian people. I'm so grateful, Neda,
2:03.3	that you could join us here on the Voice of the Martyrs Radio. Thank you. I wanted to say
2:08.3	hi to all of our people that can hear our voice. And I'm so happy and I'm excited to, I can talk
2:14.2	about the hand of God, how the hand of God move in Iran.
	...

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