Well, you thought I only was up to date on missions in the Arab world....wrong.
I have been spending a good amount of time lately with people connected to ministry to Iranians, both in country and in the huge Iranian diaspora. You get juicy tidbits of news from time to time. For example:
+Iranians are more and more using traditional Persian names for their kids (Cyrus, Darius), rather than the Arab names you hear in the news (Mahmood, Aali, etc.)
+One lay minister estimated to me that 70% of Iranians don't believe in Islam. maybe half of those are secularists, the other half are looking for some other way to live in God's presence.
+Some young Iranians are trying to purge their language of Arabicisms. So rather than using the Arabic greeting 'salam' they will use Persian phrases.
+One man told me he used the phrase 'in sha' allah' (Arabic, but commonly used by Muslims all around the world), and she corrected him, you must say God willing (in Farsi, not Arabic).
+Some people ask, are you Iranian or Muslim?
+I have a pretty good idea of the number of MBB's in Iran, it is sizable. But sometimes it is best not to publish such numbers on the internet.
