What is freedom after 3 years of detention in Iran? A Christian Persecuted for His Faith Testifies
"I was proud that I had stayed true to my faith and that even at my young age it allowed me to be strong and courageous, despite the hardships I had endured and in the face of such tough security guards. ."
Mojtaba Hosseini is an Iranian convert to Christianity. He spent more than three years in Shiraz prison for participating in a house church. For Article 18, he bears witness to life after prison.
Hosseini remembers when the guard called him. "Gather your things. You're free to go." The prospect of freedom offered to him was opposed by the empathy he felt for his fellow prisoners.
"God deeply moved my heart and showed me how much they needed the true freedom that can only be found in what Christ did for them on the cross, when he took the blame for all the wrong things each of us will do. I knew Christ wanted to be as close to them as people out of prison, and maybe even closer."
He didn't look back, and the closer Hosseini got to the exit, the more the feeling of freedom grew in him. Then he saw his father.
"I quickly ran up to him and hugged him, and at that moment his warm, loving embrace gave me a deep sense of peace that felt like heaven and relieved me of all the pains and troubles of the last few weeks."
But if he had come out of prison, prison had not come out of him. And Hosseini lived in fear. The "indescribable pleasure" of finding his family was opposed by nightmares, anxiety linked to threats heard during interrogations, but also the constant impression of being followed by security agents.
To all this, however, was added pride. "I was proud that I had stayed true to my faith and that even at my young age it allowed me to be strong and courageous, despite the hardships I had endured and in the face of such tough security guards. “, he asserts.
He is sure that his friendship and his passion for Jesus reached “new depths”.
MC
