Iranian prisons like Evin are designed to cause visible signs of decline in their victims. Yet Farshid Fathi leaves an entirely different impression. Farshid was incarcerated in a wave of arrests of Christians in December 2010. He was held for five years – the first of which was spent in solitary confinement in a tiny cell in Evin. But he does not look, or sound, like a victim.
Rather, Farshid looks and sounds like someone who has seen Jesus fulfilling His promise: “I will be with you even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). Asked what sustained him in prison, Farshid replies: “A number of things kept me going, the greatest of which was a different kind of relationship with the Holy Spirit. He gave me the deepest sense of encouragement and peace. I tasted grace in a new way, which strengthened me.”
A choice – escape or prison
Another amazing aspect of the story is the choice he was given by the circumstances surrounding his arrest. “I was staying with my family at my mother-in-law’s home,” Farshid recalls. “We didn’t know there was a plan to attack and arrest all the pastors serving in our group of house churches. ”
Security officers went to Farshid’s house, where they broke down the door. It was one of these officers who called Farshid, telling him to go home and give himself up.
“For me, that was a fateful moment,” says Farshid. “That day, I chose to say goodbye to my children, and – as I could not rescue my fellow servants – to at least be present with them and share in their suffering.”
Hope for the future
Farshid’s own take on his experience is distinctly New Testament. “From the time I came to faith in Christ 24 years ago, as is true for all like me who come from an Islamic background, I knew that [persecution] would be on the cards,” he says.
‘Cell’ church
According to Farshid, prison even offered a rare opportunity: the chance to come together with four or five other Christians and spend years living as a close-knit community.
“We had produced our own hymnbooks, based on what songs each of us could remember, and fortunately, we had been able to bring our Bibles. So we studied the Word and we prayed. On that bunk we were able to have communion. This was our church life.”
(The original story has been shortened.)
Source: SAT-7
