Pastor Saeed Abedini, who was imprisoned for over three years in Iran because of his Christian faith, could not believe the news back in January that the United States government had finally managed to make a deal with Tehran for his freedom and that of three other fellow prisoners — Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian, Marine veteran Amir Hekmati and Nosratollah Khosrawi.
But as excited as he was to be going home, he did not sit idly by as prison guards waited for the plane that would fly them out of the country. Abedini mustered enough courage to share his Christian faith with the prison officer who was waiting for his "ransom" money from the U.S.
"There was a guard with me who was in charge of all intelligence and policing at Evin Prison. I knew I was going to be free and they couldn't do anything to me so I started sharing the Gospel with him," he tells Fox News. "I talked about my faith. I talked about Jesus, that He was God in the flesh who came on the earth and took the punishment for our sins."
Surprisingly, the prison official did not reprimand Abedini for preaching the Gospel. "When I shared the Gospel, the Good News with him, he opened up his heart because I said Jesus wants to go into your heart and save your life and cleanse all your sins because he went on the cross for you," says the pastor.
Abedini actually objected to the deal made by the U.S. for his freedom. Without his knowledge, the U.S. government agreed to a prison swap and even paid $400 million ransom money for his release and that of three other prisoners of conscience.
Abedini hopes he does not come off as ungrateful since he really appreciates his freedom. However, as a Christian, he was ready to suffer and die for his faith. He hates the thought that the ransom money paid would be used to victimise even more people and fuel Christian persecution.
"I'm very grateful about my release and freedom, but there are some people still left behind and Christians who are still in prison," he says. "Two days ago some of my friends... have been executed because of their faith. Every Wednesday they execute 100 people."
