Pastor Saeed Abedini, an Iranian-American who was captured after Iranian government accused him of using his faith in God to overthrow the Iran Government, said that he spent most of his time in prison praying.
In an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News, Pastor Abedini shared how he spent most of his time in solitary confinement, while he was imprisoned, which he saw to be a challenge considering that there was nothing to do. "Mostly I was praying," Abedini said to Fox. "The best thing I could do over there was [pray]. Each day, hours and hours... sometimes more than 20 hours I just prayed and prayed."
Pastor Abedini was detanied in Iran in the summer of 2012 where he was sentenced to eight years of prison for undermining national security by holding Christian religious gatherings in homes. He spent one year in Evin Prison and then transferred to the Rajai Shahr prison, just outside Karaj, Iran.
The pastor is a former Muslim who was converted into the Christian faith back in 2000 and then started one of the most prominent ministries in Iran, starting 100 house churches with about 2,000 members in total.
After making plans to start a Christian values-based orphanage in Iran, Abedini was questioned by local authorities who said that he was using the plans to overthrow government authority. Abedini denied the plans to do so asserting that his only motive was to act in love and help those in need.
According to him, his pleas were ignored and his lawyer silenced as he was sent to prison with former United States marine Amir Hekmati, who was arrested for allegedly spying for the CIA in Iran.
Abiding is currently in the Billy Graham Training Centre in North Carolina to recover from the distressed caused by almost four years of captivity.
