Day 15 of Prayer, March 15
A Testimony of an Iranian Christian
As we continue to join in prayer with believers around the world in praying for our Muslim friends and neighbors during Ramadan, it’s important that we not forget the Christians living among them suffering persecution to some degree because Christianity is illegal in their country. Today we ask you to join us in praying for our persecuted brothers and sisters in Christ around the world. Many have chosen to persevere for the sake of their families and friends to hear about Isa (Jesus). Others have gotten to the point where they could endure no more and made the difficult decision to leave their home country in search of a better life. Following is a testimony of a dear Iranian brother that 24:14 Ministries has had the privilege to work with over the past 5 years.
Mahmood’s Story
Mahmood was invited by his college roommate to a student gathering in the north of Tehran over a school break. He was shocked to find out once there that his roommate and a few of the other students were Christian, a totally appalling and illegal choice in his country of Iran that could result in execution. His first thought was to leave immediately when he found out, but then he rationed with himself that he had never had an issue with his roommate before so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he stayed, but no one could ever find out.
Two years after Mahmood was introduced to Isa (Jesus) over this week he chose to forsake his Muslim practices and beliefs and chose wholeheartedly to follow Isa. This also meant accepting the fact that if his family ever found out, they could choose to declare him dead to the family or they could choose to turn him into the authorities where he would be jailed and tried for apostasy.
Mahmood found through a network a discipleship class called Ten Steps and, after being cleared for security purposes, started to attend. Over the next few months Mahmood fell deeply in love with his Savior, and realized that even though it was dangerous, he could not keep his Isa to himself. He was challenged to determine which one of his close relatives he thought he could share Isa with and they would not immediately turn him in to the authorities. After much prayer, he chose his sister as the first one to share with.
Mahmood struggled as to how to introduce his faith in Isa to his sister, so he came up with a plan. His sister woke each morning at 5am to start getting ready for school. He decided to wake at 03:30am, go to her bedside and read over her the Scriptures for one hour before she woke. He did this for 7 months, and one morning as he was closing his Bible after finished reading over her from the book of John she whispered to him, “Please read it again.” Every morning after that he had the privilege to wake her up and read to her the Scriptures.
Soon, his sister also chose to follow Isa, and after some time of discipleship the both agreed it was time to share with another family member. This time they chose to share with their cousin, but after the cousin found this out he became very afraid and went immediately to Mahmood’s parents and told about their becoming Christian.
Mahmood and his sister’s parents did not turn them into the authorities, but unfortunately they were both forced to leave their home. As hard as this was on Mahmoos and his sister, it did not cause their faith in Isa to falter. They both eventually became involved in an underground home church network where they were active in discipleship and evangelizing other Iranians. Mahmood became one of our closest brothers doing the Kingdom work for several years, traveling around all of Iran teaching and encouraging the underground church.
As Mahmood became more involved in the Christian church, his parents became more concerned that if the authorities caught him, they too would be blamed and they could lose everything they owned because of his Christian practice. So, as many other parents and family members do in Iran, they reported their only son and daughter to the authorities, after which both were arrested. Both he and his sister served several months in jail at Eveen Prison, the most notorious prison know throughout all of Iran for its’ severe interrogation practices. They were both eventually released on bond until their scheduled hearings.
Realizing they had no other options to stay in Iran, they chose to exit the country one night, passing through the treacherous mountain pass between north Iran and Turkey.
They both applied to the UN as religiously persecuted refugees, and after 18 months the sister was approved and has relocated to the US. Mahmood still is in the interview process with the UN, and is actively involved with a rather large home church of Iranian refugees in his city of assignment.
After months of unanswered calls, his father finally answered a call from Mahmood. Miraculously, over some time their relationship has been restored! Better yet, after months of begging Mahmood and his sister to recant their faith and return to Islam, Mahmood’s parents came to realize that what their son and daughter had was obviously something real. They told Mahmood that they had went and talked to one of his Christian friends, and had even gone to a home church meeting with him several times! To Mahmood and his sister, everything they had to deal with was worth the fact that their parents are now seekers!
Mahmood’s Story
Mahmood was invited by his college roommate to a student gathering in the north of Tehran over a school break. He was shocked to find out once there that his roommate and a few of the other students were Christian, a totally appalling and illegal choice in his country of Iran that could result in execution. His first thought was to leave immediately when he found out, but then he rationed with himself that he had never had an issue with his roommate before so maybe it wouldn’t be a bad thing if he stayed, but no one could ever find out.
Two years after Mahmood was introduced to Isa (Jesus) over this week he chose to forsake his Muslim practices and beliefs and chose wholeheartedly to follow Isa. This also meant accepting the fact that if his family ever found out, they could choose to declare him dead to the family or they could choose to turn him into the authorities where he would be jailed and tried for apostasy.
Mahmood found through a network a discipleship class called Ten Steps and, after being cleared for security purposes, started to attend. Over the next few months Mahmood fell deeply in love with his Savior, and realized that even though it was dangerous, he could not keep his Isa to himself. He was challenged to determine which one of his close relatives he thought he could share Isa with and they would not immediately turn him in to the authorities. After much prayer, he chose his sister as the first one to share with.
Mahmood struggled as to how to introduce his faith in Isa to his sister, so he came up with a plan. His sister woke each morning at 5am to start getting ready for school. He decided to wake at 03:30am, go to her bedside and read over her the Scriptures for one hour before she woke. He did this for 7 months, and one morning as he was closing his Bible after finished reading over her from the book of John she whispered to him, “Please read it again.” Every morning after that he had the privilege to wake her up and read to her the Scriptures.
Soon, his sister also chose to follow Isa, and after some time of discipleship the both agreed it was time to share with another family member. This time they chose to share with their cousin, but after the cousin found this out he became very afraid and went immediately to Mahmood’s parents and told about their becoming Christian.
Mahmood and his sister’s parents did not turn them into the authorities, but unfortunately they were both forced to leave their home. As hard as this was on Mahmoos and his sister, it did not cause their faith in Isa to falter. They both eventually became involved in an underground home church network where they were active in discipleship and evangelizing other Iranians. Mahmood became one of our closest brothers doing the Kingdom work for several years, traveling around all of Iran teaching and encouraging the underground church.
As Mahmood became more involved in the Christian church, his parents became more concerned that if the authorities caught him, they too would be blamed and they could lose everything they owned because of his Christian practice. So, as many other parents and family members do in Iran, they reported their only son and daughter to the authorities, after which both were arrested. Both he and his sister served several months in jail at Eveen Prison, the most notorious prison know throughout all of Iran for its’ severe interrogation practices. They were both eventually released on bond until their scheduled hearings.
Realizing they had no other options to stay in Iran, they chose to exit the country one night, passing through the treacherous mountain pass between north Iran and Turkey.
They both applied to the UN as religiously persecuted refugees, and after 18 months the sister was approved and has relocated to the US. Mahmood still is in the interview process with the UN, and is actively involved with a rather large home church of Iranian refugees in his city of assignment.
After months of unanswered calls, his father finally answered a call from Mahmood. Miraculously, over some time their relationship has been restored! Better yet, after months of begging Mahmood and his sister to recant their faith and return to Islam, Mahmood’s parents came to realize that what their son and daughter had was obviously something real. They told Mahmood that they had went and talked to one of his Christian friends, and had even gone to a home church meeting with him several times! To Mahmood and his sister, everything they had to deal with was worth the fact that their parents are now seekers!