Determined and Unstoppable: One Couple’s Journey to Jesus

By Majed El Shafie

The way in which one expresses their faith and relationship with God is a deeply personal and intimate experience. 

Some prefer to worship and practice their faith in a church alongside other believers, while others opt to pray alone in the comfort and privacy of their homes. However, for Christians in some countries around the world, many are forced to hide their beliefs out of fear of persecution. 

Naghmeh from Tehran has experienced these adversities and injustices firsthand. I recently had the privilege of getting to know this Iranian couple and I can attest to the fact that their journey to Christianity embodies the resilience, determination, and love that only the power of God can provide. 

This is her story. 

Like most Iranians, Naghmeh was raised in a Muslim household and learned the Quran in school. As she grew older and learned more about the world, she began to question what they had been taught about God and decided to embark on a journey of self-discovery. 

From a young age, Naghmeh knew she loved God and wanted to be closer to God, but for several reasons she felt disconnected from her Islamic faith. 

Then, one day, everything changed.

She visited her friend, Ara, at her home in Tehran and found a book called "Jesus, son of Mary" which told the remarkable story of Jesus’s life. This book sparked a conversation about Christianity and Ara revealed to Naghmeh that she had secretly converted from Islam to Christianity. 

Through that book and that conversation, Naghmeh had a revelation and realized she had found the same God that she had been praying to in her heart for so long. Ara gave her a bible and after several months of daily readings, she felt compelled to give her heart to Jesus and became a Christian.

Yashar’s experience growing up was similar to that of Naghmeh’s. He had trouble reconciling his personal beliefs with those that were being taught to him at home and at school, and eventually he plunged into a deep depression in his teenage years after feeling hopeless and misunderstood. The experience nearly led him to commit suicide and he had to seek the support of a psychologist. 

Following a fateful connection with a Christian student in a German language class who noticed Yashar’s cross necklace, he was invited to a church in Tehran that changed the course of his life. For the first time, he felt the peace and security he had been yearning for since his childhood. He felt the kindness and love of fellow worshippers and finally felt like he had found his home. Yashar, too, gave his heart to Jesus and became a Christian. 

Naghmeh and Yashar met at a church youth group in Tehran where they fell in love and married shortly thereafter. While they were elated to hold the ceremony in a church, they knew the arrangement would raise red flags with the Iranian regime, and as a result, most of the couple’s family members rejected their new found faith and refused to attend the ceremony in protest. 

They were heartbroken. 

The couple continued to live in fear of persecution from the oppressive Iranian regime who had a long history of intimidating, harassing, and arresting religious minorities. They were forced to worship secretly and had to take extra precautions to ensure authorities did not find out they were practicing Christianity, even going as far as speaking in coded language with other Christians when speaking over the phone.

Everything started to fall apart when the church they attended was closed by the regime in 2013 and authorities began arresting some of its members, including the pastor. Naghmeh and Yashar defiantly started two underground churches, one of which was in their home, but eventually it became too dangerous to continue and the couple began receiving phone calls from the government. 

They knew it was time to leave the country. 

In 2015, the couple made the difficult decision to leave their family and friends, and flee to Türkiye. About a week after their arrival, Naghmeh’s father called to inform the couple that two men from the secret police were looking for them and it was not safe to return to Iran. They registered with the United Nations for refugee status a few short months later. 

Even through immense trials and tribulations, their devotion to God and spreading the good news never waivered. The couple remained active in ministering churches in Türkiye, Naghmeh began working for Open Doors International, an organization that supports persecuted Christians worldwide, while Yashar started his ministry with Endure International, a Christian Evangelical Ministry and non-profit organization that promotes the welfare of the Church in the Middle East.

Today, through the support of a Canadian church and my organization, One Free World International, Naghmeh and Yashar have recently arrived in Canada and are turning a new chapter with their daughter as they settle in the Greater Toronto Area. 

Conditions for women and religious minorities in Iran have only continued to worsen under the totalitarian regime of its Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei. Sadly, Naghmeh and Yashar’s story is one that is all too common amongst religious minorities living in the Islamic Republic of Iran and so many other countries that want to root out Christianity from their borders. 

I have often said You can kill the believer, but not the belief of our hearts. You can kill the dreamer, but you cannot kill our dream. We must always remain strong and united in the face of those who want to tear us down and never forget that our Christian brothers and sisters around the world need our support now more than ever. 

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:2-4