Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: December 18, 2021
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)
Let’s start our prayers this morning by thanking God for this amazing truth: that Jesus came to earth, took on our humanity and dwelt among us.
Because of Jesus, we can know the hope of Emmanuel: God with us. Because of his grace, we can bring our prayers before the Father this morning.
Iran: prison sentences to be reviewed
Last month, we learnt that the Supreme Court in Tehran has decided to review the prison sentences of nine Iranian Christian converts, including Pastor Matthias Haghnejad.
The men were given five-year sentences after a brief trial in September 2019, charged with ‘endangering state security’ and ‘promoting Zionism’. However, we believe that the real reason for their imprisonment relates to their conversion to Christianity.
The Supreme Court also stated on 3 November that they did not consider establishing home churches and proselytising to be illegal activities.
Although this new development doesn’t guarantee their release, it is likely that there will be a new trial. Please pray that this leads to the acquittal and release of all nine men:
- Behnam Akhlaghi
- Babak Hosseinzadeh
- Mehdi Khatibi
- Hossein Kadivar
- Khalil Dehghanpour
- Mohammad Vafadar
- Shahrouz Eslamdoust
- Kamal Naamanian
- Sayyed Addolreza Ali (Matthias) Haghnejad.
Urgent update: Pastor Lorenzo’s trial
Cuban authorities have announced that Pastor Lorenzo’s trial has been rescheduled to either the 21, 22 or 23 December. It’s clear that they have chosen a date so close to Christmas with the hope that that organisations like CSW will not be able to act. But we will not stop campaigning for Pastor Lorenzo’s release. We will not stop praying for his freedom. Please join us and send a message to the Cuban authorities that we will not stop pursuing justice, no matter what time of year.