The Spread of Christianity in the Middle East

Summary

Morning Wire Podcast Summary

Episode: The Spread of Christianity in the Middle East

Date: April 5, 2026
Hosts: John Bickley, Georgia Howe
Guest: Jacob Pursley, Missionary & Pastor, International Bible Church of Armenia

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Episode Overview

This special Easter edition of Morning Wire explores the complex and perilous landscape facing Christians in the Middle East, focusing particularly on Iranian Christians who have fled to Armenia. Host John Bickley interviews pastor and missionary Jacob Pursley about the surge in Christian conversions, the region's religious freedoms, and the geopolitical shifts affecting both the church and the broader Christian population.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Context: Persecution and Flight of Iranian Christians

• Christians in Iran face severe persecution, including capital punishment for converting from Islam and even for owning a Bible in Farsi.
• Many Iranian Christians flee to Armenia, which borders Iran and offers religious freedom.

  “Iranian Christians that flee persecution come up to Armenia as the only free and democratic nation in the region… they want to know what the Bible says, they want to be discipled… and we baptize them.”
  – Jacob Pursley [03:58]

2. Religious Freedoms in Armenia

• Armenia, the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion (301 AD), boasts a constitutionally protected freedom of religion.
• The country hosts a wide array of religious communities, allowing for public worship without persecution.

  “Armenia has freedom of religion… So we have a mosque in Yerevan. We have a Jewish community. We have Yazidi community, Baha'i community, and everybody’s worshipping freely with no persecution.”
  – Jacob Pursley [05:53]

3. Growth of Christianity in Iran

• Iran is witnessing what may be the fastest-growing Christian population in the world, driven by disillusionment with the Islamic regime and a spiritual search that often begins with atheism before turning to Christianity.

  “It’s a very risky thing to convert to Christianity in Iran. But we are seeing… the fastest growing Christian nation in the world right now.”
  – Jacob Pursley [05:22]

4. Geopolitical Shifts & International Attention

• U.S. and Western diplomatic moves, especially during and after the Trump administration, have boosted Christian morale among Iranian believers.
• Iranian Christians continue to look to the U.S. (and specifically to Trump-era promises of intervention) for help and protection.
• The presence of U.S. figures in Armenia, such as JD Vance, signals support for religious freedom and democracy.

  “Iranians that are Christians feel like they have hope for the first time… they’re looking to the United States as a world leader to come in and stop this persecution.”
  – Jacob Pursley [06:41]
  “It is sending us a clear signal that religious freedom is important, freedom and democracy is important. And it’s giving hope to a lot of Christians…”
  – Jacob Pursley [08:16]

5. Christian Ministry Dynamics in Armenia and Region

• Armenian Apostolic Church and Protestant/Catholic groups maintain close cooperation, focusing on shared doctrine and mutual support in the face of external threats.
• There is a strong sense of unity among Armenian Christians, transcending denominational differences in the face of outside persecution.

  “…we have one Jesus, one Bible, one faith, one baptism… when you face persecution from other nations that are not friendly to Christianity, it gives us another reason to come together as one body.”
  – Jacob Pursley [09:58]

6. Syrian and Kurdish Context

• Pursley also works with Kurdish populations in Syria, where ethnic Christian communities have survived immense pressures.
• Outreach to Kurds is difficult under Islamic law, and public expressions of Christian faith are punishable offenses; however, the Christian presence persists against all odds.

  “…wearing a public display of a cross in Iran or other Islamic countries is illegal… It is a miracle, though, that the ethnic Christians have survived this long, even under Islamic suppression.”
  – Jacob Pursley [12:18]

7. Hope Amid Conflict and Prophetic Perspective

• Despite persecution, growing numbers of Muslims in Iran are exploring Christianity, often drawn by the Bible’s message of love.
• Many local Christians anchor their hope in biblical prophecy (Jeremiah 49) and call for support from Western nations in their struggle for freedom.

  “There’s a lot of Christians that are looking at the Bible… seeing a move from Islam… most people become first atheists… then they hear about Jesus… This is the truth. This is a God of love. And so that’s why it’s growing fast.”
  – Jacob Pursley [14:09]
  “They’re also looking back to Donald Trump saying, you made this promise. We’re being massacred. When are you going to come and help us?”
  – Jacob Pursley [15:00]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Iran’s Christian Explosion:

  “Iran is… the fastest growing Christian nation in the world right now.”
  – Jacob Pursley [05:22]

• On Armenia’s Religious Tolerance:

  “We have a mosque in Yerevan. We have a Jewish community… and everybody’s worshipping freely with no persecution.”
  – Jacob Pursley [05:53]

• On the Cost of Evangelism:

  “If you’re very active in sharing your faith, it can be very dangerous for you. And it is a miracle, though, that the ethnic Christians have survived this long…”
  – Jacob Pursley [12:54]

• On Western Involvement:

  “They say that they need help and they need help from other Western Christian powers to help to set them free. Kind of like a Moses: set my people free…”
  – Jacob Pursley [15:10]

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Key Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:27] – Start of main discussion: Jacob Pursley on persecution and flight of Iranian Christians
• [04:53] – Religious freedom in Armenia and regional dynamics
• [05:22] – Iran as the fastest growing Christian nation
• [06:41] – International support and the impact of U.S. policy
• [08:16] – Significance of U.S. presence (JD Vance) in Armenia
• [09:58] – Church unity and dealing with denominational diversity
• [11:12] – Christian outreach to Kurds; realities in Syria
• [12:18] – Risks and miracles of ethnic Christian survival
• [14:09] – Regional hope, prophetic perspective, and call for international help

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Tone and Language

The episode remains factual, empathetic, and hopeful despite serious subject matter. Personal testimony and a focus on unity and perseverance undergird the conversation, with hosts and guest alike emphasizing faith and practical needs.

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Conclusion

This Morning Wire episode provides a sobering yet hopeful look into the lives of Christians in Iran and Armenia, revealing the region’s religious complexities and the promise of spiritual revival amid political and social turmoil. The guest, Jacob Pursley, underscores the necessity of international solidarity and practical support, offering an intimate understanding of what faith costs—and is building—on the world’s religious fault lines.

Transcript

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[Narrator / Host]

Amid the current conflict in Iran, the long running persecution of Christians under Islamic regimes has gained new attention. Christians in the Middle east have long faced harsh penalties including death for converting from Islam and even owning a Bible in their native language. Because of that persecution, many Christians in Iran and neighboring countries have fled to Armenia.

[John Bickley]

In this episode, we revisit our sit down with Jacob Pursley, a missionary and pastor of the International Bible Church of Armenia whose ministry has increasingly included Christians who have fled Iran. I'm Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley with Georgia Howe. This is an Easter weekend edition of Morning Wire.

[Narrator / Host]

A version of this interview aired previously on Morning Wire before the conflict with Iran began.

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[John Bickley]

Here to discuss the ongoing persecution of Iran's large Christian population is Jacob Pursley, a missionary and pastor of the International Bible Church of Armenia. Jacob, thank you so much for joining us. Wow.

[Jacob Pursley]

It's a privilege to be here. Thank you.

[John Bickley]

So you minister in part to Iranian Christians and can you give us some context? How did this happen? Where are you located in terms of your church and your ministry? And why are Iranians fleeing into Armenia

in the first place?

[Jacob Pursley]

Well, we have an English speaking international church in Yerevan, Armenia, and it caters to all the internationals that come in. And what is amazing is that Armenia borders Iran and so Iranian Christians that flee persecution come up to Armenia as the only free and democratic nation in the region. And so when they come up, they want to know what the Bible says, they want to be discipled. And so they come to our church and we baptize them. And so we have great ties and connections with the Christian community now within Armenia, but also in Iran.

[John Bickley]

Iran has an unbelievably rich history, obviously one of the most ancient countries on the planet. Same with Armenia. Armenia, the first Christian country. Do you get? I have too many questions for you, but do you get a lot of support from the Armenian government in terms of freedom to worship and freedom to minister to whoever you want, et cetera.

[Jacob Pursley]

Yes, Armenia has freedom of religion, and so they are. It's the First Christian Nation, 301 AD so they can continue to allow that within their country. And that is what brings the Armenians up to, excuse me, the Iranians up to Armenia, because they know that this is a Christian nation, and they want to have freedom of religion, religion which they do not have in their own country. They're not even allowed to have a Bible in their own language. It's illegal. And conversion from Islam to Christianity in Iran is capital punishment, death. So it's a very risky thing to convert to Christianity in Iran. But we are seeing Iran is the country in the world. When you look at missions and the church growth, it's the fastest growing Christian nation in the world right now.

[John Bickley]

Incredible.

Does this create tensions between Armenia and Iran? I imagine it definitely does. And does that not complicate it for the Iranian government to knowingly have churches that have a lot of people from Iran in them?

[Jacob Pursley]

Well, I can't answer from a political perspective because I'm working as a pastor, but I am sure that there are religious figures that are not happy about religious and Christian freedom. Now, I don't know how that's voiced or what's going on behind the scenes, but Armenia as a country allows for religious freedom no matter who that is. So we have a mosque in Yerevan. We have a Jewish community. We have Yazidi community, Baha' I community, and everybody's worshiping freely with no persecution.

[John Bickley]

The trade negotiations and the peace negotiations overseen by the Trump administration, or at least helped come into being by the Trump administration. How has that changed things on the ground for you? Have you seen any effect so far?

[Jacob Pursley]

The main change, I would say, is Iranians that are Christians feel like they have hope for the first time. They've been under great persecution, and specifically with the uprising and protest in Iran against the Islamic regime, they believe. And they've listened to Donald Trump, President Donald Trump, and he said that he would intervene if people were killed. And now we've had up to 60 to 80,000 civilian protesters murdered brutally by the Islamic regime. And so my Iranian Christian brothers and sisters are saying, please help. I mean, they're looking to the United States as a world leader to come in and stop this persecution.

[John Bickley]

That's a really high number you just gave. And there's, you know, there's a lot of conflicting reports because we don't know but that's what you're hearing. Oh yes, 60 to 80,000.

[Jacob Pursley]

Oh no, 100%. Now there are some now facts coming out where just on one day hospitals In Tehran reported 1800 deaths. That was just in one day. And so we do are now getting some hard statistics on the death, but it's probably greater than that. And they are targeting civilians.

[John Bickley]

There's people out there protesting the presence of J.D. vance in Armenia. That's symbolically, I think it probably means a lot right to that region. Have you seen renewed confidence that the US has the back of those people who are fighting against tyranny in the region? Have you seen that effect?

[Jacob Pursley]

So that's a good question. You know, Armenia has been really up until the prime minister, Nikol Pashinyan, up until he came to power, it's really been under a Russian influence. And with the new prime minister he's really done a lot to move away from not disconnecting from Russia, but moving away from that influence and trying to integrate with the West. And what I've seen now is that relationship is getting better with now JD Vance in the country of Armenia. It is sending us a clear signal that religious freedom is important, freedom and democracy is important. And it's giving hope to a lot of Christians that this connection is now being made.

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[John Bickley]

I don't know if this is too

complicated of a question to answer, but the flavor of Christianity in the region,

I mean, I imagine it's very diverse, very diverse backgrounds in terms of traditions, et cetera. How do you deal with that in terms of your ministries? How do you make it open enough that it's flexible enough in terms of traditions? What does that look like?

[Jacob Pursley]

That's a great question. So the Armenian Apostolic Church was founded in 301 AD so it's the largest state church, longest going state church in the world, which we have great respect for. I mean missionaries came to Armenia. Actually some of them had Persian ancestry and the oldest coming back from Jesus's disciples, Thaddeus and Bartholomew came to Armenia. So they're our brothers and sisters. I mean as Protestants or Catholics. We have one Jesus, one Bible, one faith, one baptism. And so I think what I've seen is I have great relationships within the Arminian Apostolic Church. We've worked together on projects. So I think if we're focusing on the majors, it's great. And specifically, when you face persecution from other nations that are not friendly to Christianity, it gives us another reason to come together as one body.

[John Bickley]

Obviously, the relationship between the US And Syria has been very complicated. And particularly Armenia and Syria's relationship. What elements of your ministry bleed over into that? I mean, how much does Syria impact what you do?

[Jacob Pursley]

So I've been doing ministry in Syria since 2005 when the Qamishli massacre took place, when Bashar Al Assad's soldiers came up to massacre the Kurdish population. This is before isis. So I've been very involved in Syria, hoping that the Kurds would not find their hope necessarily in a politician or an army, but in Jesus Christ. I'm a missionary. That's most important for me. And unfortunately, we've seen a lot of difficult things happen in the country of Syria up until now. And what I've seen is that there is a good relationship with Syria and Armenia based on Armenian population that has been native in Syria since the Armenian genocide. And they are. So there's. And there's good relationships among the peoples because of. There's Armenians in Syria and Armenians in Armenia. But it's really unfortunate what's happened to. Specifically my expertise is the Kurdish populations.

[John Bickley]

How much outreach is there from Christian communities to the Kurdish population?

[Jacob Pursley]

That is a very good question. Unfortunately, when you're under a Islamic regime, they have rules where you are not allowed to propagate your religion. And if you do, you can be communally punished. So, you know, wearing a public display of a cross in Iran in other Islamic countries is illegal. So there's been a pressure and an oppression on ethnic Christian communities to really just survive. And if they do try to reach out in their communities, which they have now, that happened in Iran with a man named Haikov Sepion, and he was one of those Armenians within Iran that did share his faith, but he was also murdered for that. So if you're very active in sharing your faith, it can be very dangerous for you. And it is a miracle, though, that the ethnic Christians have survived this long, even under Islamic suppression.

[John Bickley]

What we've witnessed over the last few years is Iran being systematically defanged by Israel and the US in ways that are rather incredible. A lot of their key militants that they used as their Proxies almost eliminated. If not, you know, at least really weakened. Is there a sense of growing hope in the region in general that there can be a larger lasting peace? And particularly for the Christian population, is there a sense that this is, this is a chance to grow in ways that we haven't seen before? You said Iran is the fastest growing, you know, in terms of percentage of Christians. Is there a region wide sense of that?

[Jacob Pursley]

Well, when we're looking at the, when I'm talking to the Christian populations, I think people are very hopeful for Iran at this moment. I mean, the Book of Jeremiah, chapter 49 talk, it has a promise for Iran that God will restore its fortunes after it's been destroyed. It's really interesting prophecy. And so there's a lot of Christians that are looking at the Bible and they're looking at what's happening internally in Iran and they're seeing a move from Islam. So most people become first atheists. They're atheists from a Muslim background. And then when they hear about Jesus and actually get a hold of a Bible, which is illegal, then they're like, this is the truth. This is a God of love. And so that's why it's growing fast. And the one thing I would say, even if I'm talking to my Christian brothers and sisters, they say that they need help and they need help from other Western Christian powers to help to set them free. Kind of like a Moses set my people free. They need somebody that can come in. And I know they're praying and their hope is in the Lord. But they're also looking back to Donald Trump saying, you made this promise. We're being massacred. When are you going to come and help us? Because we're dying. So please come and help and fulfill your promise.

[John Bickley]

Well, we really appreciate you coming on the show and everything that you do in that region. I'm sure that's a very hard job, but it seems like you love it. Thanks so much for coming on.

[Jacob Pursley]

You're welcome. Thank you so much.

[Narrator / Host]

That was Jacob Persley, a missionary and pastor of the International Bible Church of Armenia. And this has been an Easter weekend edition of Morning Wire.

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