Vox Lucens

A week and a half ago, I woke up earlier than normal for a Saturday morning, glanced at my Blackberry, and knew that my day was not going to be ordinary.

“God bless you, my brother is among the persons arrested, how can you help?”

This was a direct message from a man I met via Twitter, and knew to be a Christian living in the Middle East.  And I knew instantly what story he was referring to - a story of the arrest of multiple Christian pastors in the country of Iran.

My first thought was to want to help, but how?  I indicated my willingness, waited, and prayed.  I received a phone call from Turkey, from my Twitter friend, updating me on the situation, on his brother, Pastor Behrouz, being held in an undisclosed location, for an undisclosed amount of time, for “crimes” that were undisclosed but easily guessed - evangelization and apostasy.

A couple of days later another direct message came:

“They have been sentenced Thursday for apostasy, it means to death according the shariah”

I will admit that I had no idea what to do.  One thinks of these things in theory, but when they arrive - what is the right course of action?  And yet, though I did not know what to do, I knew that I needed to do something.  So I began to e-mail - advocacy groups, news organizations, anyone I could think of.

And the amazing thing is this - when there’s a need, people respond.  I was, frankly, amazed at the response I got.  Now, I wish I could tell you that the story was over, but it is not.  Wheels are turning, but Pastor Behrouz remains in prison, subjected to immense suffering, and not to mention the threat of death.

I was asked to write an article for Assist News, which was published last night, and I share for you here.  What struck me as I wrote, though, was the hope embodied by this situation.  Hope not necessarily in staying alive, though there is hope for that - no, the deeper hope comes from the chance to die.  Philippians 1:21 drove this home, where Paul says, “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.“

I ask not, friends, that you read this and weep.  I ask that you read it, and pray.

Fear Not them which Kill the Body

*****

Update:  This just in from Compass Direct News.

Iran Detains Christians without Legal Counsel

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 27th, 2010 at 11:34 am and is filed under Inspirational, Persecuted Church. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.