Meesha's Story
In the Republic of Iran, for the church to be planted, discipled, and grown, more than 60 people groups need a Bible translation in their own language.
May was Iran’s bloodiest month in the last five years. The Islamic government led the world in executions last year with 576— almost double the previous year—and is currently on pace to exceed that total.
Iranian Bible translators are risking their lives to fulfill the Great Commission and bring the Word of God to their people. Meesha is one of those translators.
“My father forced me to marry when I was 13 years old,” says Meesha. “At that age, my marriage was more like being raped. The fruit of that marriage was three children, one after the other. Within three years, the Islamic government of Iran had killed my dad, my younger brother, and my husband.”
Something deep inside Meesha was saying, “You need a Savior.” During that time she had a recurring dream. Jesus was in her room, saying, “Come, give me your hands. Hold my hand.” But she did not understand.
Later, as she knelt down to pray, it was as if something kept her from saying the daily ritual Islamic prayers. Instead of “Mohammad,” the name of Jesus filled her heart. It was at that moment, she said, “I surrender my heart to you, Jesus.”
That’s when the persecution started. Her family oppressed Messha. She could not read her Bible in their presence, so she read it in the bathroom. As she read, something changed inside her. Increasingly, she wanted to share the Bible with others.
Meesha knows the violent zeal of Islamic men. “It would cause my family to kill me.” Eventually, she migrated to another country. She hasn’t seen her family for 13 years, her youngest son for 12, her oldest for 7. “As a mother,” my heart aches,” she reflects, “if I miss my children this much, how much must God the Father miss his children?”
Eighty-three million people live in Iran. About half do not speak Farsi, the official national language, at home. Millions need the Bible in their own language. unfoldingWord’s church-planting and Bible translation partner, Transform Iran, completed the Farsi Open Bible Stories (OBS) translation in just six months. Meesha is part of that team. Then they used the Farsi version as a source for translating Open Bible Stories into 11 minority languages, spoken by millions, including Meesha’s heart language, Balochi. The response has been overwhelmingly positive. We asked Meesha what she would say if she could speak to our prayer and financial partners in person.
She replied, “I am delighted to have the privilege of translating God’s Word. I’m also eager to see the translated Bible and hold it in my hands. I dream that someday I will have translated all of it for my people in Balochistan. With all my heart, I thank you for making this unfoldingWord Bible translation system possible for us! Maybe you do not realize what BIG work you are doing, but I know what is happening. Because I’ve left hell, and I am now in God’s hands. I want you to join me in being a voice for the voiceless. So, I invite you to be on the journey with us!”
Transform Iran will use these translations to reach millions of ethnic language speakers in Iran and the Iranian diaspora. They’ve finished translating Open Bible Stories, 3rd John, Jonah, and Titus in the Farsi Gateway Language plus Arabic Khuzestani. Translation of the rest of the New Testament translation resources into Farsi, Khuzestani, and three other languages begins in July.
Visit unfoldingword.org/d/iran
Join the Movement
Your investment will help empower church networks worldwide to translate the whole Bible into their ethnic languages for the very first time.
Give NowIn the News
Stories From the Field
New Believers in Iran
- April 08, 2024
Thanks to the first-ever translation of unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories into another Iranian language, twenty people have come to Christ, and a new house church has been launched in Iran. While help...
Hope in harrowing times
- April 08, 2024
As the world worries over the horrific events in Israel and mullahs call for global jihad, a hopeful fact remains. The more Islamists promote jihad, the more average Muslims are open to the gospel. In...
Trust God and Get Going
- September 11, 2023
“God, this is your journey, your work. Please help us get out of here.” Let’s imagine that your family and close friends have a passing acquaintance with the message of Jesus, and some might even be b...
Critical Tools for Courageous Translators
- August 03, 2023
The global demand for Bible translation far exceeds the capacity of existing Bible translation agencies. Doing translation in dangerous places makes it doubly difficult. That’s why members of the illu...
Meesha's Story
- July 03, 2023
In the Republic of Iran, for the church to be planted, discipled, and grown, more than 60 people groups need a Bible translation in their own language. May was Iran’s bloodiest month in the last five...
UKRAINE: Bomb Shelter Bible Translation
- July 03, 2023
Ukrainian Great Commission partners are translating unfoldingWord’s suite of Bible translation tools to make God’s Word accessible to more than 540 languages spoken across the countries of the former ...
All 27 New Testament Book Packages Complete
- August 08, 2023
It used to take western experts at least 20 years to translate the New Testament into a Bible-less language. Now, every bilingual church-planting network has access to the open-license English tools t...
Making God's Word Accessible to Ordinary People
- September 11, 2023
Sofia Ivanov speaks on the impact of unfoldingWord’s Bible Translation tools Editor’s Note: Sofia Ivanov* is a project manager for unfoldingWord’s Eurasian Whole Bible, Whole Nation partner. Her thou...
Saved While Escaping
- October 02, 2023
“I was a terrible husband for the first fifteen years of our marriage. Every weekend, I would get drunk, abuse my wife, and ridicule her. We mistreated each other terribly,” said Siroos. “But God amaz...
Man on the Run
- July 03, 2023
Asim* serves on the Bible translation audio-video team for unfoldingWord’s Whole Bible, Whole Nation partner in Sudan. They use Bible translation as part of their church-planting strategy for 133 unre...
Ten Times Faster
- March 14, 2023
Imagine you are ordering a new internet connection or cable TV or maybe something new from Amazon and you get the message saying, “Your town is too remote and we can’t serve your area at this time. We...
Meet Amy & Priscilla
- March 14, 2023
unfoldingWord operates as a catalyst for the Church-Centric Bible Translation movement. We collaborate as part of the body of Christ to develop and implement strategies and unrestricted biblical resou...
Jeremiah and the Occult King
- May 04, 2023
When Jeremiah* first heard that his Chadian church-planting network needed his help translating unfoldingWord® Open Bible Stories (OBS), he was skeptical. “I thought Bible stories were for children, l...
The Exponential Journey
- April 10, 2023
Khartoum, Sudan, April 2021. I was sitting in a small hotel conference room with the leaders of Greater Reach Alliance and half a dozen representatives of unreached Sudanese people groups. We were ta...
Chad's Unreached Receive the Gospel with Joy!
- June 05, 2023
“Giving Jesus to any human being is the best gift you can give to that person. Only the gospel can change the ugliness of man,” says Jeremiah,* one of the Chadian leaders of CCGP,* unfoldingWord’s chu...
Iran: Bibles in every language
...
Escape from Kharkiv
- June 13, 2022
BAM! A rocket penetrates a building, shattering windows and shaking foundations. Clatter! Bomb debris splatters cars, building façades, and adjacent roofs. Bang-Bang-Bang! The jackhammer staccato of A...
Innovation in Bible Translation
- March 13, 2023
unfoldingWord catalyzes innovation in Bible translation. Your gifts and prayers are enabling remarkable new developments! One of those is happening in a state in Asia. It began with translationCore. ...
Breakthrough in Chad
- July 04, 2022
Three churches were birthed when a local chieftain, who formerly combined Islam and the occult, came to Christ. In the another community, new believers were baptized, and two new churches were planted...
OVERCOMING the ODDS for 300,000 PEOPLE
- April 06, 2022
The challenge Pastor Manish was facing seemed insurmountable. His 300,000-member South Asian mountain people group desperately needs Scripture in the language they understand best. Pastor Manish, an e...
