In Poland I had great privilege of meeting Vahik and Sonia Abrahamian.

Christians that have been imprisoned for their faith in Jesus Christ in Iran.

I pray that we in the time of testing would stay strong and be granted by God the grace to not deny the giver of Life!

Early 2010 Vahik and his wife Sonia were arrested for almost 60 days when government found out about their social work for drug addicts and prostitutes in Iran. The couple was released after a bail was paid by a Dutch congregation and their family and friends. Both Vahik and Sonia are from Armenian – traditionally Christian – background, so no charges of apostasy could be held against them.

Later that year, 4 September, the couple were arrested for the second time. During a raid, nine Christians were been arrested. Vahik and Sonia, together with two other Christians Arash and Arezou, were held in solitary confinement for almost 50 days and were treated badly; interrogated intensively and have been subject to psychological torture without any possibility to contact family or friends.

The four believers were transferred to a prison in their hometown of Hamedan, some 350 km west of Tehran, where they spent another 8 months in jail. Sonia, Arash and Arezou were released 30 April, but Vahik was kept in custody still until he was released after almost one year.

The detained Christians have been accused of a variety of offences including being connected with exiled opposition sources, propagating Christianity in Iran, opposing the Islamic Republic and the formation of opposition groups in and out of the country. Their family and friends say these allegations are absurd and ludicrous.

The totalitarian Islamic regime in Iran is a severe persecutor of Christians, especially converts; President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has reportedly pledged to “stop Christianity in this country”.

Pastor Vahik and his wife Sonia, who are in their 40s, spend much of their time helping the needy and disadvantaged.

Vahik came to faith in the Netherlands when visiting an Iranian congregation. His life was changed; he quitted his drug addiction and after a few years he chose to go back to Iran in 2006 to support the outcasts of Iranian society.