This week on the Persecution Blog we are reposting the most-viewed posts of 2013, starting with #5 on Monday and counting down to 2013's most-viewed post tomorrow.
The #2 most-viewed post was a good-news post sharing the news of a pastor's release from prison in Iran:
Iranian Pastor Released from Prison
There was good news from Iran last week as Pastor Robert Asseriyan, one of the leaders of the Assembly of God Church in Tehran, was released from prison. He had been arrested during a worship service at the church on May 21.
The Farsi services at the church—one of the last “building churches” that remained open in Iran—have been forcibly closed down by the police, according to Mohabat News.
It seems one of the conditions for Pastor Asseriyan’s release was his silence, as authorities instructed him and his family not to be interviewed by the media or to make public statements about his arrest, his 43 days in prison or conditions for his release. It is unclear what the status of the charges against him is at this time.
Often in Iran Christians are released from jail after making substantial bail payments, but the charges against them are never dropped. In this way, police can pick them up at any time in the future and can use the unresolved case against them to pressure them to cease Christian activities.
Please continue to pray for Pastor Asseriyan and his family. Pray also for other Christians who remain imprisoned in Iran. You can write letters of encouragement to several of them through the Prisoner Alert web site.
Come back tomorrow to see the most-viewed post of last year.
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