We Must Be The Voice Of Saeed

Like many Christians I’ve been watching the story about American pastor Saeed Abedini who was arrested in Iran in August 2012.  He was on his ninth visit to Iran since 2009, visiting family and working to establish an orphanage.

Sadly, like most of those watching I’ve been doing so with a certain detached curiosity, interested but not really caring all that much.

“Yes, it’s sad what’s happening to him, but it’ll all work out, right?”

Well, I decided I needed to learn more and share that with you.

In January 2013 Abedini was convicted in an Iranian Revolutionary Court for, according to Fox News, having "undermined the Iranian government by creating a network of Christian house churches and ... attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam."  Abedini was then thrown in Iran’s notorious Evin prison.

Saeed Abedini

Abedini, 32, began this journey as an Iranian born Muslim who became despondent and suicidal in his teens until at the age of 20 he discovered Christianity.  He embraced the message of love and grace and desiring to share this message became an evangelical pastor.  He met the American woman who in 2002 would become his wife, Naghmeh, and they worked together in Iran establishing about 100 house churches ministering to more than 2000 members.

At the time Iran was ruled by the moderate government of reformer Mohammed Khatami and Christianity was a recognized minority religion and the house church movement was tolerated by the government.  With the election of the radical Mahmoud Ahmedinejad in 2005 the movement was the subject of a crackdown and the Abedinis moved to the United States where in 2010 Saeed became us citizen.

Mr. Abedini’s arrest and conviction was based not on his current activities but on charges stemming from his then legal work as a Christian pastor between 2001 and 2005.  Since his 2012 arrest Abedini has reportedly undergone torture, death threats, abuse and beatings from both prison officials and gangs within Evin.

Abedini’s family, Naghmeh and two small children, Rebekka Grace and Jacob Cyrus, receive agonizingly sparing news of their husband and father, the children wondering if they will ever see their father again.  Naghmeh told the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission on Capitol Hill March 15 that she doesn’t have “the heart to tell them that if we don't do anything, that daddy might never survive the horrific Evin prison.”  See the video of her commission testimony on Ustream.

Even so she tells supporters that she knows Abedini’s prayer that “the Lord would open the door for him to be on television to reach the 800 million Iranian Muslims with the Gospel” is being answered in a way no one anticipated.

So while private groups pray and petition the Iranian government on Abedini’s behalf the US government is just beginning to take notice. There have been some individual politicians calling for his release, but official Washington has been mostly silent.

"...if we don't do anything, ...daddy might never survive the horrific Evin prison.” ~ Naghmeh Abedini

The US State Department issued a benign and meaningless statement in January that they have a “serious concern” about the Abedini situation but didn’t have anyone available to testify at a House committee hearing on March 15. On March 20 the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) blasted the State Department for what it called their "deafening and almost cowardly silence" on the matter.

In contrast to public statements by US government officials, according to Fox News a witness at the March 15 hearings testified that “a State Department desk officer last year called Naghmeh and told her ‘there is nothing the United States government can do for you.’"

So folks, it looks like it comes down to us, the citizens of the US, Christian or not, to stand up for the rights, yes even the life, of a fellow citizen who is apparently being abandoned by the nation he adopted as his own. I must admit I’ve been a curious outsider looking in on the matter, but no more.

As a Christian I am praying for Saeed Abedini's release and for his family's assurance and strength. As an American I must speak out and be his voice crying for freedom, and so must you.

“But,” you may ask, “Why should I get involved? What difference could it make?’

Saeed Abedini with his wife Naghmeh and their children Rebekka Grace, left, and Jacob Cyrus

“Why?”

First, because a fellow citizen, someone who chose to become part of us, needs our voice to help secure his liberty again.  From all accounts, without our voice Saeed Abedini will spend the next eight years in one of the most horrible prisons on the planet, if he even survives the ordeal.

Secondly, because our rights and freedoms as American citizens are only as secure and each of us individually are willing to secure, protect and exercise those rights. We should not; we cannot depend on the indifference of our elected and appointed officials. It is possible that someday we may be the one’s needing someone to stand up, if we are silent now there may be no voice for us then.

“What difference could it make?”

First, government acts only when in its own best interest. Washington will not know they are being watched and held accountable by the voters unless we speak with one voice and tell them.

Secondly, to take action on behalf of someone from whom you will derive no benefit is empowering. When you speak for Saeed Abedini you become stronger while knowing you are working for a cause bigger than yourself, for someone who has lost the ability to help himself without denying who he is.

We need to write and call our Congressmen and Senators, write the White House, the State Department, anyone we can think of to express our outrage for their silence regarding Saeed Abedini.

If you find your Representative or Senator is one of the few who have expressed support for Pastor Abedini, please write them and express your thanks for their support and ongoing work to free him. The list of those who wrote the State Department in January on Mr. Abedini’s behalf is available on the ACLJ website. We must add more names to that list.

When you speak or write be respectful but firm that you expect Washington in general and the official you are speaking to in particular to actively work for the release of Saeed Abedini from Iran’s Evin prison and his return to the United States.

Then complete the ACLJ online petition Save Pastor Saeed Abedini from Iranian Prison. As of this writing more than 545,000 already have, join them now.

If you need a place to start I’m including a resource list below and even a draft of a suggested letter you can modify as you see necessary. You should keep your message concise and on point.  Long letters are often set aside and given little consideration.

Regarding letters, emails are great, but it is a fact that because they are so easy to send and the volume so great they carry little weight with elected officials. To maximize our voice, please print your letter and mail it, 46¢ is not too much to spend to help save a man’s life.

Resources:

Contacts:

US House of Representatives Directory

US Senate Directory

The White House

The State Department

Current News of Saeed Abedini:

Google News: Saeed Abedini

Bing News: Saeed Abedini (You can add this to your Facebook news feed)

ACLJ: Iran

 Suggested Letter: (Please customize this draft to your recipient and their current support of Saeed.)

 [Date]

 

[Official’s Title & Name]

[Official’s Mailing Address]

Re: Saeed Abedini

 Dear [Official’s Title & Name],

 I am writing on behalf of Saeed Abedini, a naturalized American citizen now being held in Iran’s infamous Elvin prison for then legal activities between 2001 and 2005.  Mr. Abedini has done no wrong but to become a Christian and share his faith, a right we hold dear and is protected in our nation by our Constitution.

 I implore you become actively involved in seeking Mr. Abedini’s release and return to his adopted country and to this wife and small children.  Without the strong voice of our elected and appointed officials we fear, if he survives the next 8 years, he will emerge a sick and physically broken man.

 Mr. Abedini needs your voice to plead for his freedom.  I and millions more are depending on you to join your voice with ours to call for the release of one of our own, a fellow American.

 Thank you,

[Your Name]

[Your Address]

"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterson

A Lesson From Evin

In an amazing, even miraculous turnabout, yesterday, March 22, Secretary of State John Kerry issued a strong statement calling on Iran to release Saeed Abedini.  After months of silence the US government has finally raised its official voice to advocate for one of our own.

“The best outcome for Mr. Abedini is that he be immediately released.”

~ US Secretary of State John Kerry

It shouldn’t have taken months of anguish, tears, petition, letter writing, interviews and Congressional testimony, but this response is proof that our voice can still be a force for good.  That to write letters, to sign petitions, to make phone calls is not an effort in futility.

I have no illusions that my recent climb down off my comfortable fence and getting involved had anything to do with the actions taken just a day later. It wasn’t me, my words or acts. While the emails were received almost instantaneously, there certainly hasn’t been time for responsive action.

The letters I dropped in the mail box had barely traveled out of Florida, much less arrived in Washington. So I know it wasn’t me.  But I do know it was “we.”  “We the people” have raised our collective voices and when that voice becomes loud enough Washington must respond.  And respond they have.

Washington has finally taken notice, but before them others have as well.  Several influential Brazilian politicians raised their voices in support of Saeed earlier this month.  Just a few days before the March 15 Congressional hearing, the “European Union demanded Iran release American Pastor Saeed at the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva” in response to the dedicated petitioning by supporters.

But now is not the time to sit back and laud our efforts, to pat ourselves on the back and relax.  Iran has not responded.  This is only a step, a vital one to be sure, but a step in this undertaking that we all must follow through to the time when Saeed is released and returns to his family.

Iranian-born American pastor Saeed Abedini

In a letter to his family, Saeed writes from Evin Prison of the conditions he is in, his physical deterioration, the pain of his family's struggle and worry for his wife.  Yet even among this, he ministers to a young, brutalized and imprisoned Iranian soldier the message of forgiveness.

“When we forgive…whoever stings us, we can take into our embrace and love them.” ~ Saeed Abedini

Facebook pages, letter writing and phone calls alone will not bring him home, but they have and will continue to pressure those in power to take action that will accomplish that goal. As long as we continue to keep up the pressure, to let Washington know we are appreciative of their rhetoric but not satisfied with that alone, we can continue to influence them to move forward.

More than 547,000 have now signed the online petition to Save Saeed.  Twitter is flooded with tweets of support and pleas for Saeed.  Thousands are part of the Facebook community Pray for Pastor Saeed Abedini and others, assuredly millions more are praying at home and in their churches.

In the end we know that the effectiveness of our petitions, our letters and phone calls is limited in human terms.  But as we petition the throne of God for His grace and mercy, these earthly petitions will be empowered by our gracious God who hears the cries of His people.

"We are all in the same boat on a stormy sea and we owe each other a terrible loyalty." - G. K. Chesterton