Welcome to another episode in the “Prison Pulpit” series on the Fight Laugh Feast network’s China Compass podcast! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben, still trying to get settled here in Malaysia.

Follow and/or message me on Twitter/X (@chinaadventures) where I post (among other things) daily reminders to pray for China.You can also email me @ bfwesten at gmail dot com. Lastly, to learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of my missionary biographies, visit PrayGiveGo.us!

Why did I begin this weekly Prison Pulpit series? 

To remind us all to pray for persecuted pastors and believers (such as Pastor Wang Yi) as Hebrews 13:3 teaches us to do (“as bound with them”), by sharing from his own published writings in China, as well as more prison stories and sermons from others like the late Richard Wurmbrand.

Today we’re going to deviate a little bit from China and talk about the ongoing persecution of Christians in Iran. Believe it or not, I just got access to my show’s analytics, and I happened to notice that we have a handful of downloads from Iran of all places. If you’re out there, please know that we are praying for you! And I hope that many more will be praying for you after today’s episode!

BTW, I’ve always been fascinated with Iran and I’m excited to know that the church is growing there! If there wasn’t an extremely high risk of getting arrested, I would love to visit personally. (I almost got a Peruvian passport for that very reason.) But the closest I have come is flying over the heart of the country (at least once) on a Europe to Asia flight, swimming in the Persian Gulf (across from Iran) with my son in 2009, and flying along the Iranian border with Iraq on a flight from Oman to London in May. 

Over 300 Prosecuted in Tehran, Nearly 100 Sentenced to Long Prison Terms for Practicing Faith

https://iranhumanrights.org/2025/04/imprisonment-of-christians-jumps-six-fold-in-iran-as-persecution-intensifies/

Harsh punishments meted out to two Iranian believers who have already escaped the country

https://www.opendoorsuk.org/news/latest-news/iran-christians-exile/

New Attacks in Nigeria Leave 200+ Dead

https://www.opendoorsus.org/en-US/stories/new-attacks-in-nigeria-leave-200-dead/

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