Bulletin Date: 18 December 2013
On Oct. 12, 2013, an appeals court upheld the sentences given to four believers who have been detained in Shiraz since February 2012. The four, Homayoun, Korosh, Mojtaba and Vahid, were convicted on June 10, 2013, on charges of attending a house church, spreading Christianity, having contact with foreign ministries, propaganda against the regime and disrupting national security. They each were sentenced to three years and eight months in prison. Homayoun and Mojtaba have previous convictions, from 2008, for which they received suspended sentences.
On Oct. 20, four other believers were sentenced to 80 lashes each after being convicted of charges related to drinking communion wine. The men submitted an appeal, but it was rejected, according to a key source.
Across Iran, a number of other believers remain detained for their faith or Christian activities, and others await court hearings
Photo: Iranian house church
Please Pray!
- Iranian Christians supporting these believers request our prayers that Homayoun, Korosh, Mojtaba and Vahid will know the presence and peace of Jesus each day.
- Please pray that others detained for their faith and/or Christian activities will also know the presence and peace of Jesus, and be released soon.
- Pray also that all officials involved will act justly, learn about Jesus and choose to follow Him.
"Therefore I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Do not rejoice over me, my enemy; when I fall, I will arise; when I sit in darkness, the Lord will be a light to me." Mic. 7:7-8
The Voice of the Martyrs helps Christians in Iran by providing Farsi Bibles and by supporting Christian satellite broadcasts.
