Maryam Rustampoor, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, were arrested and sent to Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran. The two women did not rob a bank, kill a man or beat up someone.
Their crime? Loving Jesus. And it is for this reason alone they arestill imprisoned.
In August during a court hearing, the two were questioned repeatedly about their faith. They were told to return to Islam.
"We love Jesus," was their reply. Prosecutors asked the women, who had already spent five months in prison, if they regretted being Christians.
"We have no regrets," they said. "We will not deny our faith."
The judge sent them back to Evin Prison - notorious for its brutality - to "think about" their decision.
"We have already done our thinking," they told him.
Maryam and Marzieh are among dozens of Iranian Christians arrested, detained or interrogated in Iran in recent months. The harassment is the radical Islamic government's response to an Iranian revival that has thousands of Iranians coming to Christ each month.
What a wonderful reminder! In the midst of all the bad news about Iran, let us remember to pray for the Christians who are there... and the revival that is occurring. What a reminder! In spite of the evil of its leadership and the animosity of its culture to the gospel of Jesus Christ, nonetheless Christianity survives... thrives... even flourishes. What a reminder! We need to be busily sharing the love of Jesus Christ everywhere we go... here in America. It survives... thrives... even flourishes here, no matter what you might read in the news.