From the Mosque to the Church in Iran

One of the most unexpected things I stumbled across during a visit to Strasbourg, France, was a group of Protestant Christians meeting in the basement of a Catholic Church. Most of them were from Iran. And almost all of them were former Muslims.

Muslims in France aren’t a surprise. They make up an estimated 10 percent of the country’s population, and ongoing migration remains the biggest factor driving Muslim growth. But Muslims becoming Christians in France? That was something I hadn’t heard about.

So I traveled to Strasbourg to meet an American missionary reaching Muslim immigrants by planting a French church. “We came here with the idea that our goal wasn’t to reach Muslims,” Justin Dodson said. “Our goal was to help French people reach Muslims.”

It’s a lofty goal, considering the number of evangelical Christians in France is about 1 percent. In the city of Strasbourg, there are actually more mosques than evangelical churches. 

But, so far, the church that Justin leads has seen progress. In the back room of a cozy coffee shop, a few dozen people meet for worship on Sundays. About 60 percent are French, and 40 percent are from other nations and backgrounds—including Muslim backgrounds.

But they’re not the only church in town. In fact, Justin told me about the Iranian believers meeting in a Catholic Church basement—and he introduced me to Mohammed.

A CHRISTIAN NAMED MOHAMMED

Mohammed isn’t a name you’d expect for a Christian. But this particular Mohammed didn’t expect to end up following Jesus. Before he became pastor of the small church gathering in Strasbourg, Mohammed was a Muslim, ignoring a Bible sitting on his shelf in Iran.

His cousin had given him a copy of the Bible in 2014, but Mohammed didn’t pick it up for two years. When he finally did, he opened to the book of John, and God opened his heart to Jesus. And Mohammed knew what that meant in a country where conversion is prohibited.

“Iranian Christians are often stopped, arrested, and detained,” he told me. “They’re subjected to really worrisome trials and sentenced to really long stays in prison.”

One of our own global strategists here at Radical reports that Christians in Iran “face threats of harassment and arrest from the outside, and even dangers of exposure inside the church.”

None of that stopped Mohammed. He couldn’t help but tell others about Jesus. And that did bring trouble. Mohammed eventually fled Iran because of persecution, and he eventually found himself in France. 

It could have seemed like a dead end. Why would God lead Mohammed out of a restricted country that desperately needs to hear the gospel, and into a free nation that often seems to ignore it? 

It turns out, not everyone is unwilling to listen—even among those who might seem least likely to hear. 

NATIONS IN THE NEIGHBORHOODS 

Strasbourg has a long history as a city of refugees. 

During the Protestant Reformation, when Strasbourg was still in Germany, the French Reformer John Calvin moved here from France, fleeing persecution by the Catholic Church. He became a pastor to other French-speaking refugees.

These days, most refugees in Strasbourg have fled Africa or the Middle East. Often, they attend one of the city’s numerous mosques. 

But sometimes they find one of the city’s few evangelical churches. 

Mohammed started meeting believers like Justin when he moved to France, and they helped him connect with theological training. They also helped him start a church for Iranians. People find out about the group mostly by word-of-mouth, and each year their numbers grow. 

In 2023, they baptized their first member from Afghanistan. Now they do outreach to Afghan migrants in Strasbourg as well. Mohammed is thankful for how the Holy Spirit is working in unexpected ways: “Hearts are certainly being changed for Jesus Christ.”

Still, he also remembers the believers who remain in Iran. “Despite all the difficulties, the good news of Jesus Christ continues to be preached,” he says. “Any door can be closed, but no power is able to close the door of one’s heart to Jesus Christ.”

OPENING DIGITAL DOORS 

With Christian persecution an ongoing reality in Iran, sometimes the first doors that open are digital. That’s what we’ve found in our own work in the region. Radical is partnering with gospel workers to evangelize and disciple Iranians from Muslim backgrounds through online platforms.

For those who have fled Iran, we’re training church leaders to plant Reformed, Farsi-speaking churches in Turkey. We long for the day when believers in Iran can worship openly and freely. And we pray for their courage to continue gathering until then.

Our strategist who works in the region says “every Sunday when I gather with my local church, I think about them and pray for them to have the courage and conviction to gather in local churches. We must remember them in their struggles.”