Captive in Iran: A Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph amid the Horror of Tehran's Brutal Evin Prison. This item is unavailable.Captive in Iran: A Remarkable True Story of Hope and Triumph amid the Horror of Tehran's Brutal Evin Prison

Embark on a chilling journey inside one of the world's darkest and most dangerous places: Evin, the notorious Tehran prison. Here, prisoners are routinely tortured, abused, and violated. Executions are frequent and sudden. But for two women imprisoned for their Christian faith--Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh--this hell on earth was a place of unlikely grace as they reflected God's love and compassion to their fellow prisoners and guards. Against all odds, Evin would become the only church many of them had ever known.

In Captive in Iran, Maryam and Marziyeh recount their 259 days in Evin. It's an amazing story of unyielding faith--when denying God would have meant freedom. Of incredible support from strangers around the world who fought for the women's release. And of bringing God's light into one of the world's darkest places--giving hope to those who had lost everything, and showing love to those in despair.

Locked away, but not silenced . . .
Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh knew they were putting their lives on the line. Though Islamic laws in Iran forbade them from sharing their Christian beliefs, in three years they d covertly put New Testaments into the hands of twenty thousand of their countrymen. They d started two secret house churches, including one for prostitutes many of them women who had been abandoned by their husbands and had no other way to support themselves and their children. Maryam and Marziyeh had almost been caught many times . . . it seemed like divine intervention when they were not.

But finally perhaps inevitably in 2009, the two young women were arrested and held in the notorious Evin Prison in Tehran, a place where inmates are routinely tortured, and executions are swift and sudden. But in the face of chilling interrogations and intimidation, and risking a death sentence, something remarkable happened: Instead of succumbing to fear, they chose to take the radical and dangerous step of sharing their faith inside the very walls of the government stronghold that was meant to silence them.

In Captive in Iran, Maryam and Marziyeh recount how God used their 259 days in Evin Prison to bring about a miraculous reversal: shining light into one of the world s darkest places, giving hope to those who had lost everything, and showing love to those in despair.

For all we knew, this could be our last day on earth.
I hope you ve been thinking carefully, the interrogator said, nibbling on a piece of bread. Have you?

I wondered if he knew how hungry we were, or if he always ate in front of prisoners.

What should we have been thinking of? Maryam asked.

About telling us what we want to know about you and your activities. I have checked your laptop and read all the evidence against you, he said sternly. You must tell us everything about people you have contact with, which organizations you work with. Otherwise, we will lock your hands and feet together and beat you until you die.

Think about that as you prepare for your interrogation. Pushing back abruptly from the table, he walked out.

Despite our earlier bravado, we were afraid. For all we knew, this could be our last day on earth. We held hands and prayed for strength.

If we are tortured, give us the power to stand fast.