In July of 2012, Pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian American Christian, took a trip back home to Iran to visit his family and continue his work building an orphanage in the city of Rasht. The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps arrested him for privately teaching his faith, and while Abedini originally faced the potential of the death penalty, he was eventually sentenced to eight years in prison. The official grounds reported were for having “undermined the Iranian government by creating a network of Christian house churches and … attempting to sway Iranian youth away from Islam.” Since November of 2013, Abedini has been held in Rashai Shahr, a harsh prison for hardened criminals.
Yesterday the President and leaders from several countries celebrated the fact that a “historic framework” for a deal with Iran on nuclear negotiations had been reached. Today, the President released a statement on the holiday of Passover, noting that, ‘like the Israelites who Moses led out of slavery long ago, it is up to us to never lose faith in the better day that lies ahead. In our own country, we can continue our march toward a more perfect union. Around the world, we can seek to extend the miracles of freedom and peace, prosperity and security, to more of God’s creation…’
President Obama has admirably called for Abedini’s release on a number of occasions, and in January he met with the family to tell them that freeing their husband and father remains a top priority for his administration. While it has surely been disheartening to have those please fall upon deaf ears, now is the season and the time to keep on trying even harder.
In the spirit of Passover it is important to remember that sometimes the walk to the Promised Land is slow, but that every chance must still be grabbed to take the next step forward. This holiday season may our government use this unique historic opportunity – as we sit across the table from Iran- to spread the light of freedom, and to bring the Pastor and other wrongfully imprisoned Americans home.
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SOURCE: ACLJ
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