Tales of Persia: Missionary Stories from Islamic Iran Book

Today there are 80,000,000 people in Iran, 98% are Muslim; only about 450,000 are Christians. Christians in Iran are under attack. Families are persecuted due to the extreme Islam which exists there.

In 1919 William McElwee Miller, a Presbyterian missionary, set out from America to Iran. He didn't know God would allow him to work there for the next 42 years. His book, intended for children (actually written for his grandchildren), tells twenty-three stories of the people he met along the way, many who became believers in Jesus Christ. As Christianity spread, so did the persecution--the two go hand-in-hand.

In the 1960's Iran underwent a modern period--the Ayatollah Khomeini was exiled, women regained some freedom, American businesses, and some foreign ones, poured into the country. The old existed with the new. Until 1978 when the revolution occurred and plunged Iran back into the dark ages.



Tales of Persia is a gentle, heartwarming book, suitable for reading to children seven to ten years old. He begins a few of the chapters with "Once upon a time", which is too bad since it gives it a made up feeling, even though the stories are genuine (Of course the title is Tales of Persia). It would also have been nice if he had added a bit more suspense and danger to liven up the accounts. He alludes to danger, but the stories never build to a crescendo--I think children appreciate that so long as it is not too graphic. Another profitable feature in the book is the author gives background information on the religion of Islam and compares it with Christianity, which is helpful for children to see the truth vs. error.

The book is worth reading to children, but also is profitable for an adult to pick up and read. It is encouraging to read about missionaries who gave their lives for lost souls, in Iran's case millions upon millions.