{"id":2939,"date":"2013-04-13T22:01:00","date_gmt":"2013-04-13T22:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.catholicnewsagency.com\/news\/at-dc-event-christian-converts-recount-captivity-in-iran\/"},"modified":"2013-04-13T22:01:00","modified_gmt":"2013-04-13T22:01:00","slug":"at-dc-event-christian-converts-recount-captivity-in-iran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/04\/at-dc-event-christian-converts-recount-captivity-in-iran\/","title":{"rendered":"At DC event, Christian converts recount captivity in Iran"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News<\/a>).- Two Iranian converts to Christianity recently spoke of their experiences facing persecution and imprisonment in their country for their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s not just about religion,\u201d said Maryam Rostampour, one of the two women who spoke at a panel in Washington, D.C., of her home country\u2019s treatment of religious minorities.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cIt\u2019s about government power,\u201d she noted during her address at the Hudson Institute on April 9.<\/p>\n

\tRostampour and Christian convert Marziyeh Amirizadeh were both born into Muslim families, and converted as young women to Christianity. Both went to Turkey in order to study theology, where they met one another.<\/p>\n

\tThey returned to Iran, where they began evangelizing around the country. They decided to distribute the Christian New Testament in Farsi \u2013 Iran\u2019s official language \u2013 and between the two of them, Rostampour and Amirizadeh handed out over 20,000 bibles throughout the country.<\/p>\n

\tThe women also formed two house churches, one for young people and another for prostitutes. They said that while the Christian community was small during this time period in the early 2000s, the Iranian people were receptive to hearing the Christian faith.<\/p>\n

\tBased on stories they have heard since, Rostampour said that now, \u201cwe believe that there are many many churches\u201d in Iran.<\/p>\n

\tIn 2009, the women were arrested and charged with of apostasy, anti-government activity, and blasphemy. While imprisoned in the local Evin prison, they faced beatings, mental torture and threats.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cMental torture in any prison is worse than physical torture,\u201d Rostampour said.<\/p>\n

\tShe noted that there were others imprisoned for intellectual crimes and the arbitrary will of the government \u2013 including mothers with their children, who were often taken away after their third birthday<\/p>\n

\tRostampour and Amirizadeh explained that they continued their evangelization while in prison, and Amirizadeh expressed that most prisoners were open to hearing about God \u201cbecause they were hopeless.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAmirizadeh noted that letters from individuals had a particularly strong impact upon their experience in prison: guards would read and open them, prompting conversations on the Christian faith, and eventually contributing to their release alongside letters from the Vatican, United States, and non-profit organizations.<\/p>\n

\tThrough the experience, the women kept their faith, despite pressures to deny Christianity. Rostampour praised God for supporting them through their trials, crediting \u201cGod\u2019s grace and God\u2019s will\u201d for their release.<\/p>\n

\tRostampour and Amirizadeh have since left Iran and moved to the United States.<\/p>\n

\tThe women also referenced the detention of Iranian-American pastor Saeed Abedini, also a convert to Christianity, for charges of threatening national security. The pastor helped run several house-churches throughout the country, though following pressure from the government, he stopped his work with the churches in 2009 and focused instead on supporting orphanages throughout Iran.<\/p>\n

\tAbedini became a United States citizen in 2010, following his marriage to an American wife. He is also being held at Evin prison.<\/p>\n

\n<\/a>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Two Iranian converts to Christianity recently spoke of their experiences facing persecution and imprisonment in their country for their religious beliefs.<\/p>\n

\t“It’s not just about re…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1031,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2939","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-us"],"yoast_head":"\nAt DC event, Christian converts recount captivity in Iran<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Washington D.C., Apr 13, 2013 \/ 04:01 pm (CNA\/EWTN News).- Two Iranian converts to Christianity recently spoke of their experiences facing persecution and imprisonment in their country for their religious beliefs. “It’s not just about re...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/catholicnews\/2013\/04\/at-dc-event-christian-converts-recount-captivity-in-iran\/\" \/>\n<meta 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