Iran - what happens when Christians forgive

The story of Farzin, as heard by an Elam mission team, is very moving ...

Farzin was returning home in Shiraz, on his motorbike, perhaps a little fast, when a young boy of about 11 suddenly appeared in front of him. Knocking the boy over, he fell off his bike and was grazed. The boy, though, was unconscious.
In Iran the family of the victim in an accident have the right to claim compensation from the person who caused it. This can mean a fine or prison.

Arrested

Farzin was immediately arrested and taken to the hospital with the boy. He waited outside the intensive care ward, his head in his handcuffed hands, trying to fight back his tears. He saw the doctor and asked how the boy was doing. The chances were not good. Eventually the boy's father arrived. He was an Armenian Christian and Farzin saw him kneel and pray at the bedside. The father then came over to him. Farzin fell on his knees, clung to the man's legs and wept.

Amazed

Farzin was amazed to hear the man comforting him. 'Don't cry my son, everything is in God's hands. Don't blame yourself'. The father then asked the soldiers to release him. They refused because if the father changed his mind he could accuse the guards of letting Farzin escape. The father insisted, so they got him to sign that he would bring no charges.
Overwhelmed, Farzin thanked the man and left. He had always known Armenians were Christians, but had never thought much about Christianity. Now he thought deeply. He did not think about any theory or dogma, but of the forgiveness he had experienced. When someone explained more to him about Jesus, Farzin soon understood and gave his life to the God who forgives.
About a year later Farzin was walking in a park in Shiraz with his fiancee. He suddenly spotted the father, rushed up to him and greeted him warmly.
There was only one question Farzin wanted to ask. How was the son? He had made a full recovery.

Elam News

© Evangelicals Now - October 1998
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Main Articles

• Great opportunity for Anglican evangelicals
  Interview with Rev Dr David Peterson - Principal of Oak Hill Theological College in north London
• Cast out - but not forsaken
  The story of Janice Wiseman - a Jewish girl who was converted and then cast out by her family
• Iran - what happens when Christians forgive
  The story of Farzin and a motorbike accident
• The Old Testament - Antiques Roadshow?
  A consideration of the Old Testament - both as essential to an understanding of Jesus and in providing a model for our life today
• All bets are off
  A Christian consideration of gambling in the light of the moral worldview revealed in the Bible (reprinted from World Magazine)
• Crowded House
  An alternative approach to Christian life and witness in the community by a group in Sheffield
• What of the future? (Bulldog for October)
  The problems of being biblically contemporary in church life today
• Nice work - a biblical understanding of labour
  A general consideration of the importance of daily work in God's sight

Other articles

• Why do bad things happen to good people?
• Ally McBeal
• The Shepherd King - Learning from the Life of David
• Rethinking the Wineskin - The Practice of the New Testament Church - (Available free - email Fviola3891@aol.com)
• The X-Files - Fight the Future
• Rainbows Through the Rain - An anthology of poems, prose, hymns, Bible verses and thoughts
• God, Sex and Marriage
• Stepping Through My Nightmares - Ordeals suffered by Sheila Barlow in Kuwait during the Gulf War
• Not By Chance - Shattering the Modern Theory of Evolution
• The Lord is King - Rediscovering Freedom
• Struggling to belong - What is the church for anyway?
• Living Below With The Saints We Know
• Ready Steady Assembly !
• A Priestless People