IRAN: The plight of imprisoned pastors like Saeed Abedini make headlines, but the world's No. 9 persecutor of Christians is also seeing record conversions. Last year, 228 former Muslims participated in what Elam Ministries calls the Iranian church's largest baptism in centuries. Elam expects thousands more as the Islamic government's crackdown on Christianity backfires, making the faith more intriguing to Iranians disillusioned with theocracy. In other words, Jesus—the enemy of their enemy—is becoming their friend.

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