“All believers should partner together to share the gospel of Jesus. We need to all partner together as the body of Christ in order to make that happen.”
Joseph, USA – Episode 9
“What I get the most out of interacting with the underground church is joy, because of the fact that I don’t necessarily see them as people across the world, I see them as my brothers and sisters in Christ.”
Zara, USA – Episode 40
“It’s hard to put into words.. I definitely sense the holy spirit among us as we talk and learn together. It inspires me to be bolder here in the United States, because the consequences for me are much less. So why can’t I be bold?”
Julie, USA – Episode 51
“Gradually I started to understand how wrong my thinking was in the past. I had told her I don’t want to be how I was… I wanted to be a Christian. After this everything changed gradually. Respect and kindness took place over the hatred in my heart.”
Mina Testimony, Iran – Episode 15
“Following the Christ is not always easy, and we cannot accept without any hardships. The only one you always can trust, and the only one that never leaves you is Jesus Christ.”
Nima Testimony, Iran – Episode 5 & 6
“I was not living.. I guess I was just breathing. Everybody had forgotten me, and I did not receive any kindness from my mother or father… gradually I learned that I needed to talk to God and tell Him about my wants and needs. And He heard me. My God is the God of broken hearts.”
Underground observations shares the thoughts and experiences of persecuted Christians in Iran. These observations of watchers were shared with more than 200 underground house churches in Iranand confirmed before publication.
Essay 1 - So What About Those Bibles?
So What About Those Bibles?
A few times, we have considered adding a column to our webpage that gives further insight into who Go and Do is and what makes us different from other ministries into Iran. It looks like today is finally the day when we do that! So welcome to Underground Observations. If you stick with us over the course of several of our essays, you’ll see a different voice emerging with each one. One thing will remain the same, however: we hope to be so thought provoking that you find us a bit offensive. Since we first met the underground church in Iran, they have provoked our thoughts to the point of offending us at times, yet we have found it was always the truth that offended us for our good. Look around you and ask yourself, “Who isn’t playing an angle somewhere? Who has the courage to speak 100% percent truth to me and western Christianity?” Thankfully, if you listen, you’ll hear loads of truth coming straight out of the underground church in Iran.
The Iranian underground church is not the same from border to border; that’s because much of it has a western understanding of the Bible influencing its beliefs. But some of the underground church in Iran is not like the others; some of it has dared to come into the United States and make disciples here. That’s who Go and Do is. Go and Do is not a western-originated ministry. The underground church in Iran has planted Go and Do in the US, and we turn around and reach back into Iran, supporting the disciples there as they work to find and make more disciples. Therefore, the Iranian underground church teaches us. The Iranian underground church is our model. In what way, you might ask, is this so? Well, get ready for it because here comes the offensive part—they don’t ask for money for Bibles, so we don’t ask for money for Bibles to send them.
True, there aren’t nearly enough Bibles to go around in Iran, but that’s not entirely a bad thing. Here in the US, there are Bibles galore; in many homes, there are multiple Bibles per person. There are Bibles in churches, on bookstore shelves and library shelves, in hotels and hospitals, in online stores, on phone apps—you get the idea. And how well are these Bibles valued? Not nearly enough. If people read their Bibles the way they catch up on their social media accounts every day, they’d know those red-letter words spoken by Yeshuah inside out. My own personal experience tells me that we’re finally meeting a generation of college students who have never seen a Bible in their homes while growing up; they are not familiar with the creation account; they have no idea who Noah is; and they have never heard of a “baby Jesus lying in the manger”. Too many Bibles in the US have been wasted, but you can bet someone paid a pretty penny for each one. So the lesson is this: a bounty of Bibles does not necessarily produce disciples. Good grief, that bounty apparently doesn’t even keep a nation free of pornography and abortion, western Christianity’s top two fights.
In Iran, the underground church can’t risk having too many Bibles lying around which need to be hidden. Bibles do not sit on kitchen tables and nightstands in every home. They are not on bookstore and library shelves, nor in hospitals and hotels. They are nowhere to be found in online stores, and there are certainly no Bible apps for phones. American churches say, “How sad!” But you know what? It’s really ok because it turns out Yeshuah has a way of showing Himself to people even if they don’t have Bibles. The “Man in White” appears to the ones He chooses; He plants verses in their minds that they’ve never even read in a Bible. Don’t worry—if they are searching for truth, Yeshuah will give it to them.
I saw an advertisement recently. It asked for donations totaling $3,000,000 to cover the cost of 300,000 Bibles for Iran. Maybe you even saw it come to your mailbox. You can see the ad here for yourself. Let’s talk about the cost of Bibles. Why spend $10 on a lovely, printed Bible when you can buy one Bible, photocopy machine, paper, and ink—and then print copies of the Bible for roughly $1.60 per copy? “Why, that shouldn’t be done,” you say! “That’s illegal—there are copyright laws! That would be the same thing as the underground church stealing from another Christian publisher!” Well, guess what—once you’re guilty of apostasy and crimes against the state, (see paragraph 4here),you might as well go all the way!
And let’s talk about how those nice $10 Bibles get distributed in Iran. Go back and take a look at the deceiving photos here. Remember, this is Iran we’re talking about. The Gideons don’t stand on college campuses once a year passing them out. And the prudent underground church doesn’t pass them out in the park giving them away to strangers; the prudent underground church doesn’t randomly place them in mailboxes (see here)where they will likely be ill-received and thrown in the trash. Now that would be a waste of a Bible! And worse—it would be a disregard for the lives that were risked in the photocopying of that Bible. You’d be better to just stick it on the shelf in some random American home.
What about the part of the ad that says you can help smuggle Bibles into Iran? It makes me wonder what kind of responsible marketing appeals to our fantastical dangerous side, you know—the side of us that dreamed of risking our necks when we were kids in Sunday School. But seriously, I don’t get it. Isn’t that kind of like telling the Iranian government, “Hey Guys! Get ready, because here it comes! $3,000,000 worth of Bibles crossing your borders real soon. And since the risk to the smugglers is only a fleeting thought as we “help” him with this job, we’re sure you won’t really be killing any of them, right?” Don’t be deceived. Writing a check for fifty bucks, or even ten thousand, only means you’re adding to the smuggler’s risk. You are not helping any smuggler unless you offer to pack his load for him, walk through the snowy mountains, avoid gunfire or falling to your death (Vaughn and Joshua, Becoming Joshua: His First Two Lives, Ch.6),and then give him the cash for this dangerous task you just did in his place. But, of course, the ad didn’t mention any of this, did it? It didn’t mention that many smugglers are not even Christian, they just need a job; so, they smuggle Bibles (Vaughn and Joshua, Becoming Joshua: His First Two Lives, Ch.6). And you know what, if you’re going to pay $10 per Bible plus a smuggler’s fee (or benefit of a doubt, maybe that includes the smuggler’s fee) and risk their lives, why not just invest in that photocopy machine, paper, and ink? It’s much more cost efficient and it cuts down on the number of lives which take risks as well. I mean, we’re going all the way here, right? Which sin is greater? An illegal underground church that photocopies thousands and thousands of Bibles from one copyrighted Bible, or an illegal underground church that hires a smuggler to carry in illegal Bibles? What a dilemma. I think I remember hearing something about all sins looking the same in God’s eyes. Wait, what? Sin, you say? I’ll trade you one photocopy machine for a smuggle.
I say, what’s the catch? Look at the photos. Read the text. It’s kind of hard to believe someone was paid to come up with this ad. Look here for proof of employing marketers. Are Bibles really placed into the hands of unbelieving Iranians in the park on a beautiful day? Are most of the Iranians who are coming to Yeshuah so clean and shiny? Dressed and coiffed beautifully? Take a look again at the ad here. These are the people who can read the Bible if it’s given to them, so I’m sure some of them are meeting Yeshuah in that way. But what about the ones who can’t even read the $1.60 photocopied Bible, let alone the $10 fancy one. They are living in poverty—the homeless, the widows and orphans who have no way to care for themselves. These are the people whom Go and Do introduces to Yeshuah in large numbers because they are the ones who have been left alone and hopeless. They are looking for Love, and they are promised they will fnd it.
I’m taking a risk here. You may think I’m not being nice. I’ve attacked one of western Christianity’s favorite mission organizations. And I’ve even disparaged American Christians in general. What can I say? I don’t like to embarrass Christian America. But I do need to shine the light on the truth. And when I saw this ad, I decided it’s time to let you all know there’s more to the story. Investigate. Research. Just open your eyes and examine what is being placed in front of you. There are people in Iran who feel hopeless. They are desperate to find out there is a God who loves them and will give them peace in their hearts and the promise of eternity with Him. They are searching for the truth, and they are promised they will find it in Yeshuah. We need to be seeking the truth also. We cannot afford to be deceived by flashy advertising just because we aren’t hopeless enough to seek the truth. Christian America needs to do so much more than buy $10 Bibles for underground churches in Iran; we need to do the work of finding out why the Iranian underground church is growing at lightning speed without enough Bibles.
Go and Do will never ask you for money to pay for Bibles for the people of Iran. Why not? Because God has it covered. He doesn’t want our money. He doesn’t need our money. Don’t trust anyone who tells you that God’s Word must be bought and sold—not for the Iranian underground church, nor for all the shelves in our homes. God wants our hearts and our time, and that’s the only thing Go and Do will ask for.
At a major city in the southeastern portion of the United States, more than 20,000 people attended a convention. These Southern Baptist messengers crisscrossed the country by driving, bussing and flying into the capital city of Tennessee–Nashville. The conference was held in a beautiful convention center. Attendees were greeted by booths providing giveaways. A GoFundMe account was set up to help ensure some pastors and church delegates, unable to attend due to financial difficulty, were in fact able to make the journey.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in non-disclosed locations, believers in Yeshuah travelled to attend a leadership conference. Upon arrival, their phones were taken and connection to their homes, families and loved ones cut off. It was for security purposes. The conference wasn’t held in a plush hotel. There weren’t booths with giveaways. The people met in homes. And unlike their American counterparts, these believers had to make the trip in secret. At any time, they could be found out and immediately face jail, prison or death.
At the SBC Convention, attendees were busy snapping selfies with each other and posting to one of their social media accounts.
One pastor tweeted out his displeasure at not receiving the breakfast his hotel advertised: “Our hotel is the (name of hotel), walking distance from the SBC annual meeting. They say on their website they serve breakfast every day. We’re now told they won’t be serving breakfast until Thursday (it was Tuesday). Do (hotel chain) *they* not want to serve Southern Baptists breakfast?”
In a country far from the United States, where oppression reigns supreme, attendees at the leadership conference for two days ate sandwiches for lunch. It would bring unnecessary and potentially harmful attention if people brought in pots and pans just to cook a hot meal.
The SBC convention is annual–yes, annual. This year it was held in Anaheim, California, home of the original Disneyland and Los Angeles Angels major league baseball team.
At last year’s convention in Music City, messengers voted on a variety of topics, people and positions. Judging from social media posts, half of the convention-goers left the home of the Grand ‘Ole Opry, unhappy.
Believers at the leadership conference were instructed on how to show Yeshuah, without mentioning the name of Yeshuah. How to change, so that in every moment of your life, you have to make a change for the benefit of others and how genuine kindness comes from the heart.
This is not to say the SBC Convention was primarily a party. Those attending messengers were tasked with the responsibility to vote on a new president, other offices, bylaws, and more. The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is the world’s largest Baptist denomination–more than 47,000 churches representing 14 million-plus members.
The Leadership Conference across the ocean did not vote on any bylaws or even a new president. Believers were taught all-day sessions, with the eventual outcome being how to “Go and Make Disciples,” as Yeshuah commanded in Matthew 28:19-20.
At the conference in Nashville, a speaker stepped up to the microphone and asked for the air conditioning to be turned on in the building. A majority of the messengers laughed and gave him a loud ovation.
At the other conference in a secret location, believers were meeting without air conditioning, where the temperature was 100 degrees Fahrenheit.
This is a tale of two conferences.
This is also a tale of sacrifice. How much or how little are you as a believer willing to give up or give to another? How comfortable do you really have to feel in order to serve Yeshuah? How high of a temperature does it take to get you out of your comfort zone? Do you need a complimentary breakfast from a fancy hotel to get you motivated to serve the King? Or will not having a hot waffle totally ruin your day, your outlook, your service and make you think you are truly suffering?
There is a huge difference between American believers and those believers who attend underground house churches in persecuted countries. It’s a difference of degree–to what degree will people walk away from the money, position and power in order to follow the King of Kings.
Following Yeshuah takes on a whole new meaning when a person gets a slight tap on the shoulder or there is a knock on the door.
For one group, it won’t be room service.
Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville, Tennessee. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File
Ex. 1 out of over 200 groups leadership Conference in Iran.
Essay 3 - We Stand With Israel
We Stand With Israel.
Go and Do, as a ministry of Yeshuah, is called to follow and be a disciple of Him. And in doing this, We Stand With Israel.
The Bible tells us to do this.
Genesis 12:1-3
Now the LORD said to Abram,“Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
Notice the words “I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse.”
Go and Do, in Iran and the United States, chooses to bless your nation, O God.
We Stand With Israel.
Many people today say they support Palestine and the Palestinians, and that Israel unlawfully took their land.
The Bible—the book of Truth, says the land where the current state of Israel resides, was given to them by the God of the Bible.
The terrorist group Hamas attacks Your people—with murder and rape, and yet there are those who support such evil against Your people.
According to the Daily Mail in London, “Israeli girls ‘were raped over their friends’ bodies’ by Hamas terrorists who carried out ‘a second Holocaust,’ British relatives reveal as they condemn those who celebrated the atrocities in Gaza, Iran and London.” (link to article https://tinyurl.com/36cycxsu) People in the United States support these atrocities. (link to article https://tinyurl.com/mr3ptnvn)
We Stand With Israel.
Believers in Iran stand shoulder to shoulder with Your people, the nation of Israel, O God. Protect Israel.
Psalms 83:1-4
O God, do not remain quiet; Do not be silent and, O God, do not be still. For behold, Your enemies make an uproar, And those who hate You have exalted themselves. They make shrewd plans against Your people, And conspire together against Your treasured ones. They have said, “Come, and let us wipe them out as a nation, That the name of Israel be remembered no more.”
We Stand With Israel.
O God, You have promised destruction to everyone who attacks Your people Israel.
Zechariah 2:8
For thus said the Lord of hosts, after his glory sent me to the nations who plundered you, for he who touches you touches the apple of his eye:
Please remember Your people in their time of need, O God. Take notice of everyone who wants to cause harm to Israel.
Believers in the United States say that they “support” Israel. How do we really know? They put avatars of “I support Israel” on their social media accounts. Some believers are silent, hoping no one will ask them their opinion on the subject of Hamas attacking Israel. Believers who are silent will face the wrath of Yeshuah.
When the time comes to stand up with conviction and defend Your people Israel to the death, we pray that believers will find the courage to do so. For in doing so, the believer will find a blessing from You.
Go and Do chooses to Stand With Israel, not because we desire a blessing, but because we are a part of You, Yeshuah. And in being a part of Yeshuah… We Stand With Israel.
10/15/2023
We “Iranian underground house churches with Go and Do” Stand With Israel
Essay 4 - No Middle Ground
No Middle Ground
“Your country will be gone in two years! Israel will be gone in two years! My god Allah will make sure that all the Jews are killed!”
My ears are still ringing from those hate-filled words that were meant to intimidate me just two days ago when a Palestinian Muslim approached me at the college where I work in Lansing, Michigan. I’ve known Amal for several years; I’ve helped her learn English and pursue an American college education. Long ago, she forced a conversation between us in which she established herself as a Palestinian Muslim who hates Israel and all Jews, so I established myself as a Christian who is a friend to Israel and loves the Jewish people. There was no middle ground to be had then, and there still wasn’t any two days ago. Fear for my personal safety didn’t cross my mind then, and it didn’t cross my mind two days ago. According to her Qur’an, Amal must hate and kill as it says in Surah 3:151: “We shall cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve (all non-Muslims) …” and Surah 9:5: “Then kill the disbelievers (non-Muslims) wherever you find them, capture them and besiege them, and lie in wait for them in each and every ambush …”; according to my Yeshuah, I must love (Matthew 5:44) and not be afraid (Joshua 1:9).
Now before you start thinking this is just another piece that pits Islam against Christianity with, of course, Christianity coming out on top, I’ve got to say I’ve spent the last 48 hours considering this conversation from every angle I could imagine. And that’s not where I’m going with this. Instead, I’m wondering how resolute are we Christians in our claim to stand with Israel? At what uncomfortable point will some Christians decide that standing with Israel isn’t really that necessary?
So let’s begin here. How familiar are we with the situation, or should I say the murderously antisemitic attack, that began October 7, 2023, when Hamas brutally killed Israeli citizens at a music festival near the Re ‘im kibbutz near the Gaza Strip? Probably most of us have kept up with the number of those killed, wounded, and kidnapped. There’s been no shortage of news outlets giving account of those numbers daily. Maybe we’ve even read reports of the tortures, rapes, and beheadings. But how many of us have had the stomach to watch the videos of these atrocities? I’ve watched. I’ve been sickened. I’ve cried my broken heart out and asked God to be merciful to them. Any of us can go to YouTube and do a simple search that will lead us to rather short videos released by Hamas terrorists, documenting these gruesome horrors. I’d link to them here, but I’m afraid they’ll be removed at some point in the near future. Thanks to some political commentators such as Ben Shapiro at The Daily Wire, we can watch a collection of these same videos at his podcast The Ben Shapiro Show, episode 1824, “The Face of Absolute Evil.” The podcast is lengthy; the horrifying videos begin at the 14:30 mark. (link to podcast: https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1824-the-face-of-absolute-evil3). You stand with Israel? Then you must watch these videos. But I will warn you: they are disturbing. And if you watch the first fourteen minutes, you’ll hear what Ben Shapiro, a Jew, expects of us. He leaves us with no middle ground. He demands we watch his people be slaughtered. Here’s where we have to get tough with ourselves and recognize that maybe standing with Israel means more than saying it on social media. Maybe at the very least it means giving the Jewish people the honor of watching their suffering—their last moments on earth—and mourning them.
According to multiple news outlets, antisemitism is on the rise. Same old story. Has there ever been a headline like, Surveys Indicate a New-Found Love for Israel and the Jews? The Anti-Defamation League states there was a 36% increase in antisemitism in 2022, with a 41% increase on college and university campuses (link to article: https://www.adl.org/resources/press-release/us-antisemitic-incidents-hit-highest-level-ever-recorded-adl-audit-finds). Since the recent Hamas attack on Israel, however, tensions are especially high. Jewish students on college campuses in the United States are fearing for their lives. On October 25, 2023, at Cooper Union, a New York City college, Jewish students were locked inside the library as a pro-Palestinian (don’t be fooled….that’s pro-Hamas) rally pursued them (link to article: https://www.foxnews.com/us/nyc-colleges-jewish-students-seen-locked-inside-library-anti-israel-protest-moves-building). It was reported that even the police were afraid to get involved. Despicable. Cowards. Earlier on October 13, 2023, tearful Jewish students at the University of Washington had to explain to college administrators, “They want us killed!” in response to a pro-Hamas rally on that campus (link to article: https://nypost.com/2023/10/13/jewish-uw-students-in-tears-at-rally-for-palestine/).
Now ask yourself—what if you were on either of those campuses? Maybe as Christian staff or faculty; maybe as a Christian student. What would your options be? Call the police and hope they aren’t too afraid to get involved? Protest the protest? Quit your job? Drop out of school? Do nothing? There are always choices; we are never left without any options to do the right thing. But doing the right thing will likely come with a cost when there is no middle ground.
Do you know why it will be too hard for some Christians in the United States to take a stand with Israel when the going gets tough? It’s because we aren’t already living under persecution. Consider our Iranian brothers and sisters. They know what it’s like to be hated, targeted, persecuted. That’s how they know they can stand with Israel. What’s the difference between them and us? Persecution. What if standing with Israel doesn’t mean supporting them with our words from afar? What if standing with Israel means accepting persecution with them? If standing with Israel in perilous times is our first experience with risking anything as a Christian, then yes, it will be difficult. But it comes with a blessing as promised in Genesis 12:3, “I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse.” There is no middle ground.
11/01/2023
You can say it but not me, even in my own country!!
