In May 2023 we rejoiced at the news that Sara Ahmadi and her husband Homayoun Zhaveh had been acquitted and released from Evin prison following a ruling at the appeal court in Tehran.

Sara and Homayoun are converts from Islam who were sentenced to eight and two years respectively for their house-church activities – Sara for leadership and Homayoun for membership. The nine months they spent in prison were especially difficult as Homayoun suffers from advanced Parkinson’s and was held in a separate section to Sara.

On 24 October, Open Doors published a message sent from Sara via Iranian Christian advocacy organisation Article 18, in which she describes how God brought calm to her soul and testifies to how her prison experience deepened her faith:

“As we were sent to prison, one thing calmed my soul in this stormy and noisy moment and propelled me towards peace and joy. In one moment, the Spirit of God reminded us of everything that He taught us since before our arrest in 2019 until that very moment. 

“As soon as I remembered all of this, I wiped my tears from my face and told Homayoun not to worry, that God was with us and that we would be acquitted and released soon. I said we would only have to be there for a while and must do God’s will among the people we were sent to be in their midst, and that Jesus was alive and would fulfil His promise to us even in the valley of the shadow of death. 

“Even though this was a difficult experience, I am very happy and thankful to God for allowing us to have experienced it. I learned so many lessons that I could not have learned anywhere else. Certainly, it has been very effective in the development of my personal faith in Jesus, and His saving work. It has made me more determined than before in my spiritual life.”

Read Sara and Homayoun’s Prisoner Profile.

(Open Doors/Article 18)

Photo: Article 18