John Bickley

Obviously, the relationship between the U.S.

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?

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

What we've witnessed over the last few years is Iran being systematically defanged by Israel and the U.S.

in ways that are rather incredible.

A lot of their key militants that they used as their proxies almost eliminated, if not 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 a chance to grow in ways that we haven't seen before?

You said Iran is the fastest growing country.

in terms of percentage of Christians.

Is there a region-wide sense of that?

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.

You're welcome.

Thank you so much.

That was Jacob Persley, a missionary and pastor of the International Bible Church of Armenia.

This has been a weekend edition of We Mind.