Hearing the shocking news that soldiers indiscriminately opened fire on Iranian citizens and that the death toll had surpassed 30,000, I felt utterly dismayed. The thought of soldiers firing into the heads and chests of countless citizens crying out for freedom, and of citizens lying fallen on the streets, filled me with despair and a heavy heart. It was hard to fathom why innocent citizens had to be sacrificed, and what could possibly be in the hearts of those who fired upon and slaughtered them. It felt as if the ‘Lucifer fallen from heaven’ described in Isaiah’s prophecy of Babylon’s destruction had descended upon Iranian soil. Hearing President Trump’s words that “help is on the way,” Iranian citizens did not retreat but instead poured even more into the streets to continue their protests. Seeing footage spread on social media of a woman lighting a cigarette with paper bearing the image of dictator Khamenei made clear this was a massive protest involving women. Yet my heart sank upon hearing that many young people and even children had been sacrificed. A photo of a woman clutching a body bag conveyed the grief of the Iranian people.

Hearing that over a million people in Iran have converted to Christianity, I thought that perhaps many saved brothers and sisters were among the citizens who sacrificed their lives. They surely gave their lives protesting in the streets for Iran’s freedom. Meditating on the question, ‘If such a thing happened in South Korea, what would I have done?’, I asked myself whether my faith could match that of my Iranian brothers and sisters. Because I felt that South Korea itself is rapidly becoming communist and turning into a dictatorship. I also saw the silence of the church, and the media, bought off or submissive to power, failing to speak the truth or stand against injustice. Despite a film about election fraud being released, overwhelming evidence surfacing, and protests continuing every weekend, most people remained indifferent or still unaware of the situation. They remained silent even about the unjust events unfolding right before their eyes, and seemed even less concerned about the tragedy happening far away in Iran.

Meanwhile, as protests continued, the number of victims grew. Seeing their pure, peaceful daily lives through X only made my heart ache more. Thinking of those who cried out for freedom, fell bleeding from bullets fired from somewhere, and now lie as cold corpses, my heart broke. I found myself questioning and resentful: “Why does God stand by and allow such horrific things? Why permit such terrible events?” President Trump had clearly stated, “Help is on the way,” but I grew impatient, wondering when that help would actually arrive. It felt like the disappointment and emptiness I felt last year in South Korea when a fake president was elected through electoral fraud, and despite many people protesting, it couldn’t be stopped. It felt like the disappointment and emptiness I felt when President Yoon Suk-yeol was detained and faced trial for insurrection. Perhaps Iranian citizens have also lived with this frustration for the past 50 years, as their freedom and human rights were trampled upon. Venezuelan citizens too must have suffered in the disappointment and defeatism that fair elections don’t function. Ultimately, the Iranian situation made me realize anew that if electoral fraud remains unresolved and elections—the very foundation of a free democratic society—are not fair, everything inevitably collapses. And that pain and sacrifice fell entirely on the citizens.

Yet all I could do was call out their names on social media and pray that they would be with Jesus in heaven. I went out for dawn prayer, praying for the nameless Iranian Christians who fell before bullets, pleading for God’s intervention to come upon that land. While praying for Iran to recover and find freedom, I resolved that South Korea must swiftly eliminate electoral fraud to avoid such a process. I dream of the day when young people from both nations can worship together freely on Teheran-ro, singing songs of liberty. Resolved to pray even more fervently for God’s intervention and to spread the truth around me, I wrote my blog today and began the day with vigor.

“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” (Isaiah 43:19)