At a church in the south-west of England, a young Iranian receives an easy-to-read Bible in modern Persian. He can't believe it. 'If they see you holding a Bible like this in Iran,' he says, 'they kill you.'
Bible Society is known for international Bible translation and distribution, but the story that inspired its founding 220 years ago (Mary Jones and her Welsh Bible) involved providing Scriptures within Britain in a non-English language. Today, while Bible Society remains the main publisher of the Scriptures resources in Welsh, multilingual domestic outreach also means putting the Bible in the hands of refugees.
Not everyone is enthusiastic about new arrivals in this country. Increasing numbers in recent years are remarkable at least statistically, and at the General Election, various parties (including the one that won) promised they'd make the numbers fall. But for the Church, more people within reach is more to reach, so you'll find churches at the forefront of welcoming new arrivals – wherever they've come from.
The charity Welcome Churches, a Bible Society partner that now has more than 1,300 member congregations, has since been working 2018 (very much in the context of the huge increase in what the Government calls 'irregular arrivals') to see every refugee welcomed by a church.
A great example of a welcoming church is a small congregation in the south-west of England who have found newly arrived Iranians very receptive to their outreach. The church asked us not to name them because they're concerned for the safety of their Iranian members; the British Government's latest sanctions against Iran were introduced in response to violence and threats against Iranians in Britain and their families in Iran. More than two-thirds of people in their pews on a Sunday are now Iranian.
'Hotels round here filled up with refugees,' the church's minister said. 'Word got round that this was a place that was welcoming in an otherwise hostile environment. And we've gone from 30 to a hundred people. We've tripled in three years.'
What turns visitors into members? It would seem to be the Bible. If refugees are coming for the welcome, they're staying for the word. Chantelle Baker is Bible Society's Community Engagement Manager. She says: 'We believe that the Church offers an invaluable haven of community and support for refugees and asylum seekers. We work with churches and detention centres to make sure that Bibles are supplied, free of charge, to those who need them.'
'We want to disciple these people,' a member of the church says, 'and you need a Bible for that. We could just be a lovely welcoming community, but we have something else to offer; the good news of Jesus, expressed in God's word. If we couldn't give people a Bible, we are only offering them half the package. The Bible makes it complete.'
Bible Society supports the work of churches like this one by providing the Bible in a range of languages. For a refugee to read the word of God is one thing, but for God to speak the language they grew up with means everything.
'It's so wonderful to read and pray in my own language,' said an Iranian at the church. He'd been curious about the Bible and read bits online, eventually receiving an easy-to-read Bible in modern Persian (a much-needed resource at the heart of Bible Society's current appeal). 'If they see you holding a Bible like this in Iran, they kill you.'
The Iranian government prohibits the printing and distribution of Christian resources in Persian, Iran's native and official language. The American think tank Freedom House considers Iran extremely unfree and finds religion one of the most especially oppressive areas of life there.
Iran has been an Islamic Republic since a popular revolution overthrew the pro-western monarchy in 1979 and surprisingly resulted in an apocalyptic religious group gaining power. A new constitution, based on the Guardianship of the Islamic Jurist (a concept within the Shia denomination of Islam followed by the vast majority of Iran's population) was approved by 99 per cent of voters in an referendum. Since then democracy is permitted only within that tight religious framework where the elected president and his cabinet answer to a clerical Supreme Leader.
Beyond Islam, the government recognises only a few tiny ethnoreligious minorities, including non-Persian Christianity. Census figures have the sum of all these tolerated groups at less than one per cent of the population. But foreign surveys are starting to show something different. GAMAAN, a polling company based in the Netherlands and focused on Iran, has data showing Iranians losing their native faith at a remarkable rate.
Research published in 2020 shows only a third of Iranians identifying with Shia Islam (when asked securely). This is an exceptionally religious people secularising at an extraordinary rate, driven at least partly by reaction against the country's theocratic regime. Iran's citizens are depressed (desperate, perhaps) – even government figures show six in ten people are unhappy. And they're leaving. Iran is said to be experiencing the world's worst brain drain as its most educated citizens leave with no intention of returning.
That's the picture you get from Iranians you meet in Britain, where for years they've been the largest group among small boat arrivals. They're also currently the second largest group claiming asylum, after Afghans. A lot of the refugees Bible Society has met are professionals, people who at least economically had relatively comfortable lives. Yet they've risked everything to get out.
'When I was at university,' an Iranian told us, 'they hit people.' Prayer, fasting and wearing head-coverings are enforced by violence. 'You want religion to improve your life, but in Iran, religion is about punishing people.'
The obvious place for struggling Iranians to go is atheism, and GAAMAN's surveys suggest up to one in ten Iranians are now atheist (with more identified as agnostic or irreligious). But his rebellion against religion didn't make this young man happy. 'I drank alcohol, I had a girlfriend, but I felt empty inside.' He attempted suicide several times.
These painfully discontented Iranians are turning in all sorts of directions, including the country's ancient religion of Zoroastrianism, which is officially tolerated. But they're also curious about Persian-language Christianity, despite the prohibition. GAAMAN interprets its own findings as showing Iran's Christians 'growing beyond a million', which would be about ten times government figures for the tolerated Churches.
Our Iranian convert, now freely worshipping at a church over here (though afraid for his family in Iran), first experienced Christianity back home. 'My father had a stroke and one of my best friends came to the hospital,' he says. 'He prayed and my father got better. I said, "Are you a Christian?" He said, "Yes".
'It's really dangerous to introduce someone to Christianity. He only mentioned it because he's a life-long friend. He invited me to his class in his home, but he had to assess me because the security services try to infiltrate these meetings.'
Not only is Christianity restricted in Iran based on language and denomination, people have been sentenced to death for converting. But this Iranian was judged by his friend to be safe.
'There was a person there to teach us. I had started to question things I'd been brought up with, but I didn't accept new things easily. I only went to watch. But they said God is love. I thought in religion there was a lot of war, but Jesus says when somebody hits you, turn the other cheek. For me that's really amazing. Instead of taking revenge, you forgive.
'Love your God; love your neighbour. It really touched my heart. I started watching videos, reading a book, seeking and following Jesus. At the class one day, I told them I want to be Christian. They said, "We don't baptise in this country, but read this prayer." I prayed, became a Christian. I'd searched lots of religions; my life felt meaningless. Now I felt calm, serene.'
But if he thought he could practise his new faith safely as long as he stayed quiet, he quickly realised that wouldn't be possible. 'They found things in my home about the Bible classes,' he said. 'So I can't go back to Iran now. I'd be arrested, and they will use me to track down the Bible class.'
In Britain, he can freely participate in Christian community and he has unrestricted access to Christian resources, including his Persian Bible provided by supporters of Bible Society. Will he be able to stay? We don't know. 'Irregular arrivals' and asylum claims may have increased enormously, but the asylum application process is still extremely hard on the individual applicant.
'The fastest I've known a claim be processed is a year,' a member of the church said. 'One guy has been here 15 years.'
Although the British government recognises the danger Iranian Christians are in, claiming conversion isn't a way to jump the queue. Anti-immigration voices have made a lot out of one or two horrifying cases that can't be taken as normal. Someone seeking asylum on the basis of conversion will be required to prove they are now practising Christianity to an extent that would be extraordinary and offensive to almost any Christian in Britain.
The director of Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Migrant Action has described the process as an interrogation that most applicants fail. She told the Christian charity Article 18 last year that because there are claims other than conversion to Christianity that have a much higher success rate, a Muslim from the same country could have a better chance of getting asylum here than a Christian.
And should momentary political controversy affect the Great Commission? In a response back in February to the issue being raised at Prime Minister's Questions, the Archbishop of Canterbury reminded us that Bibles teaches we should care for the stranger. That, and not an abuse of the asylum system, is what's happening when churches welcome those in most need and share the Bible.
'The Bible is so precious to them,' a church member said of the Iranians in her congregation, who are becoming integral members. 'Many of them had never held a Bible before. It's wonderful to give them one. You can see the joy in their eyes. One Iranian woman recently brought to church a Moroccan woman she'd met at the hotel. We had an Arabic Bible for her. Now she wants to get baptised. These Iranians are reaching beyond their group.'
Bible Society is currently raising funds to share the Bible with refugees in England and Wales. With the help of supporters and through our work with Welcome Churches, we're able to provide Bibles to refugees free of charge.
James Howard-Smith is a writer for Bible Society.
