'I Needed Peace, He Was There.' Iranian Prisoner Finds Jesus Before Execution
A prisoner who was executed recently by Iran wanted the world to know he became a follower of Jesus Christ while in prison.
Alireza Asadi had been convicted on charges of drug trafficking. After a year in prison, he told his brother he had become a Christian.
Before his execution on August 27, Alireza had asked his brother Mohsen to tell the world about his newfound faith in Christ.
Mohsen told the Farsi Christian News Network about when he first found out his brother had become a believer.
"One day, Alireza called and said, 'I came to Jesus and accepted Him as my Lord!'" Mohsen recalled.
"At that time it had been about one year since Alireza had been in prison, but he said he felt like a free man. He explained to us how he had forgiven everyone and reached a kind of peace that you could only experience with Christ. In prison, he talked about Jesus to his fellow prisoners, and they gathered together and prayed," he said.
Iranian-American Pastor Saeed Abedini, who had once been held hostage for his faith by the Iranian regime, shared on Facebook a translation of Alireza's final conversation with his brother.
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In that conversation Alireza talked about a Christian prisoner who had shared with him.
"I truly believe that there is a new season starting for me. And this new season is much, much more pleasant than the worldly life," he said. "I can finally be in peace. I don't have any stress or bad feelings and everything goes well with me."
Alireza went on to tell Mohsen that some of his old drug friends were in prison with him, and he had shared his faith with them.
"For many of you it was a question if I am a Christian or not. But now I say that I am a Christian. And now I have 1 or 2 days till I will die. And I hope it will never happen to you guys," Alireza recalls telling his friends.
"During these moments you forgive all the bad that has happened to you. But the most I want tell you is the best experience that I had. And that was meeting Jesus. And I don't want to force you guys, but please start to get to know Him. If you just read 2 sentences from the Bible, you will never leave it again," he told them.
Alireza said he had hoped to get out of prison to start preaching, but told his brother to spread the word of his salvation since he was about to be executed.
"When I ended up here in prison I realized that God is the true God. I wanted God to show himself to me," Alireza recalled. "He was there when I needed him. I needed peace, He was there."
"I lost many friends, but I know that I could find my comfort in Him. And when I commanded the devil to leave, I saw that the evil didn't dare to come near me anymore. I felt and saw that the name of Christ is the name above all names and that the enemy doesn't have any authority over me anymore," he said.
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