Persecutors had right to attack because woman shared Christian testimony
Pastor Dale Morgan
*
Persecutors had right to attack because woman shared Christian testimony*
Posted: November 2, 2007
Voice of the Martyrs
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appearing at "The World Without Zionism" conference
Oct. 26, 2005. Persecution of Christians is reported increasing in Iran
during Ahmadinejad's rule
An Iranian judge has concluded a woman who was attacked and beaten and
had her sewing shop equipment destroyed by vandals has no legal recourse
because she was guilty of "evangelism," according to a new report from
Voice of the Martyrs, a worldwide ministry to the Persecuted Church.
Earlier reports that persecution of Christians inside Iran is on the
increase, and the new report appears to confirm that.
VOM said the newest testimony is from its contacts inside Iran, and
actually depicts "the resilience of believers who are sharing the gospel
despite persecution."
The woman, whose name was not revealed, was running a tailoring
business, and had volunteered to teach three young ladies how to sew. As
part of the conversations that arose, her testimony about Christianity
came up, and in response to a number of questions, she started teaching
them about Christianity, Voice of the Martyrs said.
The VOM contacts reported, however, one of the students was from "a
fanatic Muslim family," and when they discovered the teaching, they
first opposed it.
"But this young lady was seriously following her Christian beliefs.
Things got worse, to the extent that her parents started beating her up
and threatening her if she didn't leave her faith," the VOM report said.
"They told her, 'If you don't return to Islam, we will keep beating you
until you die,'" VOM said.
She eventually fled to another city, and in their subsequent search for
her, the parents and other family members sought the sewing instructor.
"They thought she might have taken refuge in the home of the lady who
was teaching her how to sew. They had heard about her and the fact that
she had evangelized their daughter. In any case, they contacted that
lady and threatened her by telling her that if she did not send their
daughter back to them, they would close down her shop and would even
arrange to kill her," the report said.
"Within fundamentalist Islam, the penalty of someone who turns from
Islam is death. That is why they had the right to kill her if they
wanted to. Obviously, their daughter was not staying with that
seamstress, but the parents did not believe this," VOM said.
"On one of the days when the seamstress was working in the dress shop,
the young woman's family, including the father, went to the shop and
broke all her equipment. A couple of ladies from the family started
beating up the woman. They kept telling her that she forced their
daughter to turn from Islam and become a Christian. They eventually
informed the police about it. This lady was taken to the court because
of all that had happened to her," the report continued.
"The judge considered her to be the guilty one. He told her that there
was no way of refunding all the broken items in her shop. The judge said
the persecutors had the right to attack her. The judge told the lady
that if he heard about her doing evangelism again, he would punish her
more severely," VOM said.
She then moved to another city, where churchgoers helped her with her
medical costs, and Voice of the Martyrs made a commitment to help her
with her efforts to replace equipment and supplies in order to open
another shop.
Earlier reports on plans by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to
"pave the path for the glorious reappearance of Imam Mahdi" by turning
the country into a mighty and advanced Islamic society and by avoiding
the corruption and excesses of the West. Shiites believe the 12th imam
disappeared as a child in the year 941, but when he returns he will
reign on earth for seven years, before bringing about a final judgment
and the end of the world.
Voice of the Martyrs, which makes available a newsletter providing
updates on the persecution of Christians around the world, then
confirmed Christians in Iran are being detained, interrogated and
imprisoned.
"This … wave of persecution is coming against Christians that meet to
worship God in the privacy of their homes," VOM said its Iranian sources
revealed then. "We have confirmed reports that several believers have
been interrogated and one house was stormed by an elite police team that
confiscated a computer, several CDs and Christian materials. A Christian
was arrested in this attack, and remains in prison."
"Clearly, Iran's government is alarmed at the growth of the Christian
faith there," said Todd Nettleton, a spokesman for the ministry that
serves persecuted Christians worldwide.
Experts monitoring such persecution say that Christians make up a tiny
percentage of the people of Iran, where the government "officially"
allows Christians to practice their faith but in reality intervenes and
harasses Christians regularly.
For example, Christians are not allowed to print literature, including
Sunday bulletins, and converts from Islam to Christianity are labeled
apostate and subject to the death penalty. Christian pastors are under
constant surveillance, and many are forced to sign documents saying they
will not allow Muslims to be in their worship services.
Voice of the Martyrs is a non-profit, interdenominational ministry
working worldwide to help Christians who are persecuted for their faith,
and to educate the world about that persecution. Its headquarters are in
Bartlesville, Okla., and it has 30 affiliated international offices.
It was launched by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, who began smuggling
Bibles into eastern Europe and Asia in the 1940s. Shortly later Richard
was abducted and imprisoned in Romania where he was tortured for his
refusal to recant Christianity.
He eventually was released in 1964 and the next year he testified about
the persecution of Christians before the U.S. Senate's Internal Security
Subcommittee, stripping to the waist to show the deep torture wound
scars on his body.
The group that later was renamed The Voice of the Martyrs was organized
in 1967, when his book, "Tortured for Christ," was released.