Iranian author shares her faith in Argentina's Congress
The Iranian author presented her book "Under the Veil I Found Jesus" and asked forgiveness from the victims of the attacks in Argentina.
On Wednesday, October 14, Iranian writer Sara Akhavan brought her story to the Congress of the Nation in Argentina, where she presented "Under the Veil I Found Jesus," published by Editorial Peniel, according to La Corriente.
The author told the audience how she went from a Muslim family in Iran to prison for talking about Jesus.
From Germany to Evin Prison
Akhavan grew up in Iran in a Muslim family. At 18, while living in Germany, an uncle shared his faith with her, and that is how she came to know Christianity.
«Freedom is not signed by a government.»
Some time later she returned to her country and began talking about the Gospel with her relatives. She also joined the growth of Christian communities, and that decision put her in the crosshairs of the Iranian authorities.
Five police officers entered her home looking for copies of the New Testament. The family had spent two years hiding Bibles to distribute them, but ten days earlier a sister had taken more than 700 copies out of the house. The officers searched the home, took documents and personal items, and arrested her.
She was sent to Evin Prison. There she spent 26 days in isolation, in a small cell, with interrogations and one order: never speak of Jesus again. According to her account, she came to think that the churches she had helped plant no longer existed.
In the midst of that confinement she felt that God spoke to her heart and showed her that she was living as if he were dead. So she began to sing and worship God in her cell.
She was imprisoned for 37 days and was released on bail. In 2012 she received a five-year sentence, although, as she recounted, an administrative error kept her from returning to prison.
A forgiveness that received an ovation
One of the most emotional moments came when she spoke about the attacks that struck Buenos Aires, at the Israeli Embassy and at the AMIA. Akhavan drew a distinction between the Iranian people and those who govern her country, and she lamented those attacks.
"The regime of the Islamic Republic is not the Iranian people," she stated. She then addressed the victims' families and asked their forgiveness for the terror that, she said, came from her land by the decision of rulers who do not represent millions of Iranians. The room responded with an ovation.
There were also words for the Argentine Jewish community: she recalled that Persia and Israel had a historic bond and the role of King Cyrus in the return of the Jews from Babylon. She said that many Iranians want to recover that friendship.
The voice of Iranian women
Akhavan also spoke about what women experience in Iran: legal inequalities, limits on personal freedom and the intervention of the so-called Morality Police.
She acknowledged that she grew up in an open-minded Muslim family and clarified that her case does not reflect what millions of women in her country experience. She also highlighted the courage of the women protesting in the streets and risking their safety under the slogan "Woman. Life. Freedom."
Her story leaves a concrete task: pray for believers who remain imprisoned for talking about Jesus, and remember that freedom is not signed by a government. "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed" (John 8:36, ESV). Her full story is in "Under the Veil I Found Jesus." Do you know someone who needs to hear a story like this this week?
