Pastor Saeed Abedini says he witnessed Christians embracing Islam in prison to stop the torture

Lorraine Caballero Sunday, March 06, 2016

A screengrab from Pastor Saeed Abedini's interview with Greta of "On the Record" after his captivity in Iran. | YOUTUBE / Fox News

Pastor Saeed Abedini has recounted his experience while he was imprisoned in Iran for more than three years because of his Christian faith, and he has described how some of the Christian captives were forced to "embrace" Islam just to stop the horrific torture from continuing.

While Pastor Saeed Abedini witnessed some of the Christian prisoners in Iran verbally abandon their faith in exchange for escaping torture, there were also others who stood firm and refused to deny their faith. The pastor, who is an American citizen, said those who caved in were weakened by the difficulties they experienced in jail.

In a post on Facebook, Abedini detailed his time in prison where he witnessed some previously strong Christians verbally agree to turn to Islam to ease their pain.

"But unfortunately, I saw some of these heroes of the faith weaken through the difficulties and hardships of prison. I heard one of the Christians prayed Namaz Islamic prayer to make his situation easier," said Abedini in his post. "Some ended up in a divorce. I saw some political prisoners who started obeying the Intelligence Police of Iran to get free or make their situation easier in prison."

Abedini, who was thrown in jail in Iran for his Christian faith, was released along with three other American hostages in a prisoner swap in January. He has since been reunited with his family in Boise, Idaho.

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In an interview with the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) a month after his release, he opened up about his horrific experience in the Iranian prison. He revealed that he used his time in captivity from 2012 to minister to his fellow prisoners.
In his first year in prison, Abedini was instrumental in the conversion of 10 prisoners to Christianity. When the intelligence police found out about it, they moved him to another prison. Nevertheless, he did not stop evangelizing even though they moved him several times.
Unfortunately, the prison authorities started torturing the people who embraced Christianity and isolated Abedini in his last two years there. However, he testifies that he relied on his faith to get him through the situation.
After his release three and a half years later, Pastor Saeed Abedini said he now sees America differently. He believes something is wrong with the country and God wants to revive America once again. He also asked for prayers for his marriage, which has had to endure some difficult times, but he is still hopeful that God will use his horrendous experiences for good things in the future.