Regular readers of the blog are aware of the tragic situation with Pastor Saeed Abedini (see the tag with his name at the bottom of the post or start here, here, here and here). One aspect of this tragedy that I haven’t fully discussed is the truly profound change in the narrative which occurred starting in late October of 2015.
The original focus.
Until October 24, 2015 the focus was on the persecution of Pastor Saeed for his faith in Christ, as well as the messages he had to teach. Two years ago the ACLJ published a deeply moving letter he sent to his wife Naghmeh. The ACLJ explains that the letter was “written on the margins of scraps of newspaper”. Pastor Seed opens the letter describing how he wasn’t able to recognize his own face after all of the beatings he had endured. He described the pain and anguish of being persecuted, and how even here he found joy through his faith (emphasis mine):
I could not fall sleep one night due to the pain when all of a sudden I could hear the sound of dirty sewer rats with their loud noises and screeches. It was around 4 in the morning. It sounded like laughter in a way.
…but I knew that in the eyes of Jesus Christ, and in the eyes of my brothers and sisters, I am like the sewer rat, beautiful and loveable – not disgusting and unclean – and like the rats I can scream with joy within those prison walls and worship my Lord in joy and strength.
His focus in the letter was on forgiveness, and he described how he was teaching this to his cell-mate. He explained how he is practicing this as well:
I forgave the prison doctor who did not listen to me and did not give me the medication that I needed. I forgave the interrogator who beat me. Every day when I would see the interrogator and for the last time when I saw him, I forgave him. I smiled at him and with respect shook his hand and I said my goodbye. The minute I forgave them and loved them, that second I was filled with unspeakable joy. I saw in the eyes of the interrogator that he had come to respect me and as he was leaving, he could not look behind him. Love is as strong as death.
Even though he is confined in a prison thousands of miles away, Pastor Saeed still found a way to wash his wife in the water of the word:
Surely you have someone in your family, city, work or environment that have become like poisonous snake who have bitten you and tried to make you poisonous. So, forgive them and use the antidote of love and be Victorious!
The entire letter is very much worth reading, although I will warn you that it is very painful to read.
On June 30th 2015 the ACLJ published a beautiful letter from Naghmeh to Saeed. In the letter she describes how much she misses him, and how she wishes she could care for him. She closes the letter with a promise that just six months later is bitterly ironic:
Saeed, your wife wants you to know that you are NOT forgotten. You are covered in prayer. Your wife and the body of Christ are standing with you. We are giving you what prison walls cannot take away. We are giving you our prayers.
Your loving wife,
Naghmeh
In early September 2015, the ACLJ published an update from Naghmeh to Pastor Saeed’s supporters. The update reminded readers of Pastor Saeed’s suffering and how important it is for someone suffering like he is to know he has not been forgotten:
I made sure that he was told that I had not given up the fight. That we had not given up the fight for his release. That despite government shortcomings, none of us were giving up. That we were getting on our knees and praying and fasting for him each day leading up to the prayer vigil. I knew that during the short prison visits he needed to know that he was not forgotten.
“Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—since you yourselves are in the body also.” Hebrews 13:3 (NKJV)
Saeed spoke of a cellmate who died this week in the prison because of lack of medical treatment. Saeed and other prisoners worry about their own medical conditions that continue to go untreated. Saeed has held onto hope that he would be released before his medical condition became too critical.
For several more months the focus continued on Pastor Saeed’s suffering, the lessons he had to teach, and the need to bring him home. During this time Naghmeh clearly continued to work tirelessly to keep him in the minds of Christians and everyone else in the West (as she had for years). As just two examples: In September she announced that she would be fasting for Saeed and the persecuted church. On October 2nd 2015 she retweeted a series of tweets from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which themselves were quotes from their interview of her:
The beginning of the change.
Her efforts continued throughout the month of October, including her October 23rd Op Ed in the Washington Post. However, the very next day marked a turning point. On October 24th she tweeted about a “great article” in Christian Today titled: Like her husband Pastor Saeed Abedini, Naghmeh also under fire for her strong Christian faith. The article opens with:
In a new twist to the saga of American pastor Saeed Abedini who is languishing in Iranian prison, it turns out he is not the only one in his family who is on trial for his Christian faith.
Sharing a similar fate as her husband, Naghmeh Abedini said she is also under fire, not from Iranian authorities, but from radical Muslims and even Christians who question her faith…
This all started with a facebook post by Naghmeh where she wrote about criticism she had received:
I have been told many things of which some have been that I am not a good mom for traveling so much…that how could I possibly share about Christ when I have not even been to a Bible School. I have been criticized from what I wear to what I say to the way I parent…
Taking a page from her husband’s letter to her two years ago, she encouraged her followers to learn from her and forgive their tormentors. However, she doesn’t present this as a lesson she learned from Pastor Saeed, but as something recently revealed to her in the Old Testament:
I use to break to pieces after each attack and criticism, but recently the Lord has been speaking to me through the life of Moses. That I should use the attacks to keep me humble. That I should respond as Moses responded. To intercede and ask the Lord to forgive them and to not hold it against them. To have a heart of compassion for them (instead of a heart of bitterness) and to truly know that they do not know what they are doing….We see here that Moses’ response to attacks on himself was to intercede for those attacking him. Because of his response and humility we see the Lord stepping in and defending him.
Today, can you cry out to God for those attacking you? Can you interceed for them and ask that the Lord would not hold it against them? Can you free your heart from bitterness and un-fogiveness? Can you let go and leave it to God and believe that God is your defense? There is so much freedom in letting go and not defending yourself, but instead praying for and interceding for those who are attacking you and criticizing you.
Compare the second paragraph above to Pastor Saeed’s exhortation to Naghmeh two years ago:
Surely you have someone in your family, city, work or environment that have become like poisonous snake who have bitten you and tried to make you poisonous. So, forgive them and use the antidote of love and be Victorious!
As I understand it, there is strong tendency for families of hostages to place themselves in the shoes of the hostage, to feel that they personally are the hostage. This makes sense, and I can’t imagine the pain that Naghmeh and the rest of Pastor Saeed’s family have endured. However, this marked a turning point, and shortly after the article came out Naghmeh sent out the email message accusing Saeed of abusing her from prison and announcing that she would take time off from advocating for him.
She has followed through on this announcement, and following her Oct 24th tweet of the Christian Today article comparing her with Saeed she has been almost entirely silent on Twitter. As I write this (January 5th) the Oct 24 tweet is only the third newest tweet in her twitter feed:
The change progresses.
She has in the meantime written two additional Facebook posts which turned into news stories*. On Dec 7th she wrote a post explaining that her new form of advocacy for Saeed would take the form of praying for him (emphasis mine):
The truth is that I still love my husband more than ever and my advocacy for him has taken a new form of interceding on my knees. The truth is I can not deny Saeed’s love and passion for Jesus and that he continues to suffer in the Iranian prison because of his genuine love for Jesus and his refusal to deny Him. I can not deny the amazing dad he has been to our kids and the spiritual truths he poured into their life until the moment he was arrested. But at the same time I can not deny the very dark parts of our marriage and serious issues Saeed continues to struggle with.
She urged followers to pray for Saeed, including a prayer that God will use his persecution to free him of his wife abusing ways:
So I open myself up once again and become real and raw in asking you to join me in praying for Saeed. This time not only for his physical chains, but the spiritual chains that have bound him for so many years. Those chains that have stuck to him from the culture he was raised in (Middle East) and from his former religion (Islam). I believe that God will use Saeed’s imprisonment to break Saeed of these chains and to refine him and use him as a vessel for the work that He has prepared for him.
Saeed was at least still a topic of discussion on Dec 7th, even if much of this revolved around her accusations that he is abusing her from inside an Iranian prison. But the overall focus was very much about Naghmeh and her suffering. She was especially bitter that religious leaders didn’t come to her aid when she was criticized for making bizarre accusations against her husband (emphasis mine):
I had to turn off every voice including my own and only care about what Jesus was saying to me. It was hard. With the news that came out recently (an email I had sent to prayer partners was leaked to media), stones were being thrown at me left and right and many religious leaders who saw me wounded and bleeding passed on by afraid to touch me or this whole mess/situation. It was hard, but Jesus kept telling me to be silent and to look to Him.
It isn’t clear which religious leaders she is upset with for not coming to her aid (Franklin Graham?), nor who was criticizing her. Aside from myself, I’m not aware of anyone challenging what she has done outside of discussion comboxes here, on news stories, and on Facebook. At any rate, there is clearly also a shift to her new focus which will be sharing the important things she personally has to teach her followers as God reveals Himself to her. She closed the Dec 7 post with:
I am not sure how often I will be providing updates, but I will share as the Lord leads. Starting January 5, I am going to start another 21 days of prayer and fasting. It will be a time of drawing closer to the Lord and sharing what He lays on my heart. I hope they will be a source of blessing and encouragement to you as well.
I praise God for all of the ups and downs, excitements and disappointments, and for the many pains and tears. They have been good for me. They are a great tool to refine us and keep our eyes on Jesus.
With much Love in Jesus
Naghmeh Abedini
Saeed erased, now the focus is entirely on Naghmeh.
Today she followed up with another Facebook post, and in this one the transformation that she began in late October is complete. There is no reference whatsoever to Saeed or his suffering. The focus is on the persecution Naghmeh has suffered for her faith, and the lessons she has to preach as God reveals Himself to her:
Tomorrow I will be starting a three week fast. The focus of the fast is to spend more time in the presence of the Lord and to draw closer to the heart of God. I will be sharing scripture and what the Lord lays on my heart for each day.
…
When I became a follower of Jesus at the age of 9 I had to let go of all I had been taught as a Muslim despite the cost and the rejection and persecution that came from my own family.
As I wrote in my very first post on the topic, there is enormous cruelty in the Christian media encouraging Naghmeh in the way that it is. From reading Pastor Saeed’s moving letter I have no question that he will forgive her for radically changing the way he is seen back home when he was without a voice, when he trusted her to act as his voice. If Pastor Saeed can forgive his tormentors, I can surely forgive them too. But I do pray that the media and Christian leaders will stop feeding the temptation she is feeling, and I pray that she will repent of the dark path she is on. At the same time I pray for Pastor Saeed to be released from prison, and for restoration in his marriage and family.
*For news stories on her Dec 7th Facebook post see the Gospel Herald, the Baptist Press, Charisma News, the Christian Post, and Christian Today. So far I only see one news story regarding her Facebook post today on the Christian Post. However, other online papers are very likely to follow the Post’s lead here.
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