Therefore, those also who suffer according to the will of
God shall entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. 1
Peter 4:19
This past Sunday Brother Van preached
on persecution. There are many
Christians around the world who are seriously persecuted for the stand they
take for Christ. Some are even
killed. The devotionals for the rest of
the week are going to focus on Christians who are imprisoned for their faith. Read their stories and pray for them and
their families.
URGENT PRAYER REQUEST
Saeed
Abedini is an Iranian American Christian pastor imprisoned in Iran. He has been
detained in Iran since the summer of 2012 and incarcerated in Evin Prison since
September 2012. On January 27, 2013, he was sentenced to eight years in prison,
reportedly on charges of undermining national security through his Christian
evangelical activities in Iran in the early 2000s.
Abedini is a former Muslim who converted to Christianity in
2000. While Christianity is recognized
as a minority religion under the Iranian constitution, Muslim converts to
Christianity suffer discrimination at the hands of Iranian authorities. In particular, such converts are disallowed
from worshipping with other Christians in established Christian churches, which
has led to the establishment of so-called "house" or
"underground" churches where these converts can worship together.
In 2002, Abedini met and married his wife Naghmeh, an
American citizen. In the early 2000s,
the Abedinis became prominent in the house church movement in Iran, at a time
when the movement was tolerated by the Iranian government. During this period, Abedini is credited with
establishing about 100 house churches in 30 Iranian cities with more than 2,000
members. With the election of Mahmoud
Ahmedinejad in 2005, however, the house church movement was subjected to a
crackdown by Iranian authorities and the Abedinis moved back to the United
States.
Abedini's first trip back to Iran was in 2009 to visit his
family, when government authorities detained him. According to Abedini, he was threatened with
death during his interrogation over his conversion to Christianity. Ultimately he was released after signing an
agreement in which he pledged to cease all house church activities in the
country.
In 2008, Abedini became an ordained minister in the U.S. and
in 2010, he was granted American citizenship, thus becoming a dual
Iranian-American citizen. Abedini had
been living the past several years with his family in Boise, Idaho, where his
wife grew up. The couple has two
children and they are members of the Calvary Chapel church
In July 2012, Abedini made his ninth trip to Iran since 2009
to visit his family and continue his work to build an orphanage in the city of
Rasht. While in the country, the Islamic
Revolutionary Guard Corps confiscated his passports and placed him under house
arrest. He was later transferred to Evin
Prison, where he has been incarcerated since late September.
In mid-January 2013, it was reported that Abedini would go
on trial on January 21, and could face the death penalty. He was charged with compromising national
security, though the specific allegations were not made public. His supporters said his arrest was due to his
conversion and efforts to spread Christianity in Iran. On January 21, 2013, Iranian state media
reported that Abedini would be released after posting a $116,000 bond. His wife, however, stated that the government
"has no intention of freeing him and that the announcement is 'a game to
silence' international media reports."
On January 27, 2013, Judge Pir-Abassi sentenced Abedini to
eight years in prison. According to Fox
News, Abedini was sentenced for having "undermined the Iranian government
by creating a network of Christian house churches and ... attempting to sway Iranian
youth away from Islam." The
evidence against Abedini was based primarily on his activities in the early
2000s.
UPDATE
After spending more than a year locked up in Tehran’s
notorious Evin prison, Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini was unexpectedly
transferred to an even more dangerous prison Sunday, according to lawyers at
the American Center for Law and Justice.
He was surrounded by political prisoners in Evin, but at the
Rajai Shahr Prison, he’s reportedly stuck in a 10x10 cell with five inmates who
were likely jailed for murder or rape. It’s the kind of place where prisoners
simply disappear forever, said ACLJ’s executive director Jordan Sekulow. “He could easily be killed not by formal
execution but by a fellow inmate,” Sekulow told The News. “That’s why we are so
concerned right now about his safety and survival.”
Pray for Iranian-American pastor
Saeed Abedini’s life and freedom.
Deliver those who are being taken away to
death, and those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. If you say,
"See, we did not know this," Does He not consider it who weighs the
hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to
man according to his work? Proverbs 24:11-12
(NASB)
