“Deny Christ or you will die.” Most of us never hear those words, but Naghmeh Panahi did.

When Naghmeh Panahi returned to Iran as a missionary – soon after September 11 – she faced a monumental risk. There was the possibility of jail, persecution, and even death. She wondered, ‘Was it worth it?’ ‘Am I really the one for the job?’ ‘Is this my death sentence?’ ‘Why me?’

A few hundred years before Christ, the same worries ricocheted in the head of Jonah as he reluctantly headed to the same region of the world: ‘Is this really what you want me to do, Lord?’ ‘Why not someone else?’ ‘Am I going to die?’ ‘Is this really worth it?’ ‘Have you made a mistake?’

Getting Jonah from Point A to Point B was not a straight short line. It wasn’t for Naghmeh Panahi either. Tough times were in-between for both of them.

In hindsight, historians admit that Jonah was the human agent behind the greatest single revival in human history. Jonah -albeit, reluctantly – eventually made himself available to God, but the bigger point is God had already prepared hearts to receive what Jonah had to say. Jonah’s worries were unfounded.

Naghmeh’s story is not much different. She was mortally afraid, and she had no idea that God was sending her to Iran at the very beginning of a great revival. She had no idea she would become part of leading one of the largest house church movements in the nation. But God knew that – – and He had already prepared hearts, just like He had done with Jonah. And just like Jonah, all Naghmeh had to do was trust God and take ‘the next step.’