Christian Women hold prayer vigil outside Iranian embassy in London

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ASSIST News Service (ANS) –
PO Box 609, Lake Forest, CA 92609-0609 USA
Visit our web site at: www.assistnews.net — E-mail: assistnews@aol.com

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Christian Women hold prayer vigil outside Iranian embassy in London

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries

LONDON, UK
(ANS) – On Saturday, September 12, Iranian Christian women held a prayer vigil outside the Iranian embassy in London for the release of two female converts who have been imprisoned for six months.

Maryam Rostampour (27) and Marzieh Amirizadeh Esmaeilabad (30).

According to the Farsi Christian News Network (www.fcnn.com), they were dressed in white, and stressed the plight of the two Christian women whose health has begun to deteriorate “due to the overcrowded conditions and limited facilities,” as stated on the International Christian Concern (ICC) website (www.persecution.org)

The vigil was organized by Iranian Christian women and supported by Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW). CSW identifies itself as a human rights organization specialized in defending the persecuted Christians around the world.

Since March 5, Maryam Rustampoor, 27, and Marzieh Amirizadeh, 30, have been held in Evin prison in Teheran. There they have been deprived of proper medical care and often blindfolded and interrogated for hours.

After being held for five months, they were tried on August 9 and told to recant their faith, International Christian Concern (ICC) reports. When they refused, they were sent back to prison and faced charges of apostasy, which under Islamic “Sharia” law means death.

CSW has petitioned the Iranian government to release the innocent women.

Mervyn Thomas, Chief Executive of CSW, said, “We wholeheartedly stand in solidarity with Maryam and Marzieh, who are being held solely on the basis of exercising their most basic right: freedom of thought, conscience and belief.”

Dan Wooding, 68, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on UCB UK and Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is the author of some 43 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, go to <a target=“_blank” href=“http:// http://www.assist-ministries.com/feedbkdan/indexbook1.htm. E-mail: danjuma1@aol.com. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, also recently released “God’s Ambassadors in Japan” which is available at http://www.amazon.com/Gods-Ambassadors-Japan-Kenny-Joseph/dp/0982486901/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1250907756&sr=8-22