Persecution

One year ago today an American citizen was imprisoned in Iran.  Saeed Abedini is currently being kept in Evin Prison. In this letter to his wife Saeed describes the conditions he has been experiencing.  Pastor Saeed has been sentenced to 8 years in Evin.

Saeed is a father with young children he has not seen in over a year.  Recently Saeed's daughter received a letter from her dad that has been made public.

Saeed's plight has been a topic of conversation in our home many times in the past year.  Saeed's name is on one of the sticks we pick each night to pray for at the dinner table.  My daughter has been praying for Saeed nightly, just before I tuck her into bed.  Every night she prays, "God help Saeed to get out of jail and help the polices be nicer in Iran."

Today Christians are gathering all over the world for a prayer vigil where they will be praying for Saeed's release.

Saeed is not the only Christian in the world who is being persecuted for his faith.  www.persecution.org is a wealth of information about the ways Christians all over the world are being arrested, tortured and murdered for their faith in Jesus.

Since the earliest days of the Christian church there has been persecution.  Stephen was the first martyr and his murder is described in Acts 7:54-8:3.  In a move only God can do, a Pharisee by the name of Saul was present at Stephen's stoning.  Saul met Jesus on the road to Damascus and his conversion was so dramatic that God changed his name to Paul.   Paul went on to write most of the New Testament and wrote of his own persecution for his faith.

I can't think of Saeed without thinking of the parallels to Paul, including the fact they both came to faith in Christ as adults and have spent their adult lives preaching the Gospel.

As I pray for Saeed I'm reminded of Paul's letter to the church in Philippi.  "Now, I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel.  As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ." Philippians 1: 12-13

Really, I could copy Philippians 1:12-30 as a guidebook on how to handle persecution.   Just as Paul continued to preach the gospel to his captors (a captive audience!) so has Saeed.

As the global church gathers today to pray for Saeed I'm praying for his release and also praying for him to have the strength to endure the conditions he's currently experiencing, knowing God is using his life even in Evin prison.