Good News from a Dark Place

An Iranian interrogator involved in the persecution of religious minorities gave his life to Jesus Christ after a Christian woman locked in solitary confinement for three days shared the Gospel with him.

The woman, a house church leader, was arrested for her faith and forced into solitary confinement, according to Open Doors USA, an organization that aids persecuted Christians throughout the world.

"I wasn't ready to go to prison," she said to Open Doors. "I knew it was a dirty place, a place where people are tortured and locked up in solitary confinement. I was afraid that I would be so fearful that I would give up all the names of the members of house church. I even feared that I would deny my faith if they tortured me."

During her imprisonment, however, she shared the Gospel with her interrogator after three days of being locked in solitary confinement.

"We talked about Jesus for hours until finally the interrogator gave his heart to Jesus. We prayed together," said the courageous woman.

"It's an honor for me to talk about Jesus," she told the guard. "You also need Jesus in your life. I cannot be indifferent toward you. I want you to experience the joy and blessing of salvation. I can't keep silent about this."

The preaching of the Gospel is still happening in the predominantly Muslim nation despite immense opposition from the the regime led by President Hassan Rouhani that has imprisoned more religious minorities than previous ones since he was elected in 2013.

The Rouhani regime has led to poor religious freedom conditions and with that has come the imprisonment of various religious minorities, including Christian converts, Sunni Muslims, Sufi Muslims and dissenting Shiite Muslims, according to a report from the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.

"The government of Iran continues to engage in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom, including prolonged detention, torture, and execution based primarily or entirely upon the religion of the accused," said the report.