Editor's Note: VOM contacts in Iran have provided additional information about the martyrdom of house-church pastor Ghorbandordi Tourani. They provided VOM with the following report.
One of the cell church leaders in Iran was able to visit Ghorban.s family in Gonbad-e-Kavous early this month. He was not able to visit the family right after Ghorban was killed for security reasons. He was able to learn more information about Ghorban.s martyrdom.
On November 15th, one week before his martyrdom, Ghorban received a phone call from the head of religious leaders of the Turkmen people. This was an invitation to attend a meeting held by the Turkmen religious leaders in order for Ghorban to answer some of their questions.
Ghorban was quite excited about this invitation, as he considered it an opportunity to share with them about Jesus. He attended this meeting and had long discussions with them.
But at the end of their meeting, they told Ghorban, .We are well aware that your ancestors and your parents have been serious followers of Islam and you are supposed to be a committed Muslim too. Why have you turned to Christianity? We give you one more chance to deny your Christian faith and return to Islam..
"I am not going to deny Jesus and return to Islam," Ghorban responded. Then he left the room, very frustrated.
One week after that meeting, on November 22nd, Ghorban received another phone call at 4:00 p.m.
"Ghorban," the caller began, "I was present in the meeting held last week and was so much touched by the testimony of your Christian faith. I would love to become a Christian. I don.t want to come to your house so that no one can see me. Can you come to a park in the city so that I can see you and this way you can share with me more about Christianity?"
Ghorban agreed to see this person. He was supposed to meet up with him at 4:30 p.m. that day, but no one turned up. He decided to go back home. On the way home he stopped by a toy shop and bought a toy for his four-year-old daughter.
When he got to the end of the alley where his house was at, he realized that a car was stopped there and three people were sitting in the car. Later it was discovered that they were from a Turkmen sect called Vahabiyoun (a hard-line Islamic group of whom many people are afraid because they are terrorists).
One of the three got out of the car and called Ghorban. When Ghorban got closer to him, he put a knife into his stomach and his intestines poured out on his hand. The second one attacked him by knife at his back. And the third one put the knife in his throat.
After they killed Ghorban in such a terrible way, the men said, .This is the punishment of those who become infidels and reject Islam..
Some of the neighbours witnessed this scene but they refuse to say who killed Ghorban as they are afraid. After the murder, neighbours went to Ghorban.s home and told his wife about the murder of her husband.
His wife came out of the house and saw the dead body of her husband on the ground whilst it was bleeding. She was the first one in the family who witnessed that and started crying aloud. Then people surrounded her and her husband.s dead body. The policemen came to the scene too.
Ghorban's wife, Afoul Achikeh, told everyone, .O people, remember that Ghorban is a Christian martyr who laid down his life for the sake of Christ.. She repeated the same thing in a loud voice several times.
Even though Achikeh was a Christian before her husband was martyred, since then she has become even more committed to Christ.
"I now have realized how real Jesus and the Christian life was for Ghorban," she said, .that he was willing to give his life for His sake.. She is now boldly declaring her Christian faith to everyone.
After this event, the secret police took all Ghorban.s family members and the other believers in that city for interrogation. They told them they were interrogating them so that they can identify the murderers of Ghorban. They asked them lots of questions. They also took all the Christian materials (books, videos, bibles, etc.) from his house and other believers. homes. They have not yet returned them. It is not yet clear if the authorities had any part in the murder or not.
When they wanted to bury Ghorban.s body, the religious Turkmen leaders did not give permission for the Christian.s body to be buried near the bodies of Muslims in the Turkmen cemetery, because they considered his body to be unclean.
They also did not agree to perform any religious ceremony for him, and did not give permission to his family to perform any type of religious ceremony for him. Because of Ghorban.s brother.s persistence, the family finally got permission to burry his body in a corner in the cemetery far away from the bodies of the Muslims; he was buried as a rejected person.
Ghorban's family have been under extreme pressure from his brothers. They keep pushing them to turn back to Islam. But his wife and children have stood firm in their Christian faith and have told them that they will follow Jesus no matter what the cost.
The Christian leader who visited the family offered encouragement to them. When Ghorban.s family realized that there are so many Christians all over the world praying for them, they were greatly encouraged.
The news has now spread amongst Turkmen in that area that Ghorban died because of his Christian faith at the hands of Vahabioun.
Iranian Christians believe that God can use Ghorban's martyrdom to bring about a great revival among Turkmen people. Pray with them that God will bless the sacrifice of His faithful servant.
To Read the story of Ghorban coming to know Christ, Click Here
38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away.
39 Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Jesus said: "I have told you these things, so that in me you
may have peace. In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart! I have overcome the world."
- Gospel of John 16:33
PS: Under Islamic law enforced in Iran, a Muslim who converts to Christianity faces the death penalty.
"Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection...
they were stoned; they were sawn in two; they were put to death by the sword... the world was
not worthy of them." -- Hebrews 11: 37-38.
2012 - January - The Governor General of Tehran Province, Morteza Tamadon, acknowledged in a statement on 4th January that a number of evangelical Christians had been arrested. He referred to their 'corrupting' influence and warned that further arrests are imminent.
2011 - December - Alireza Seyyedian - Alireza a Follower of Jesus since 2006, was arrested and sentenced to six years in December 2011. He is kept in the section 350 of Evin Prison where political prisoners are held.
2011 - September - Mehdi "Petros" Foroutan, a 27-year-old pastor in Iran, was arrested in January 2010 and charged with crimes against national security and blasphemy against Islam. (as of 2/24/2012 - 154 days in Prison)
2011 - May - Behnam Irani, a 41-year-old pastor from Kraj, Iran, was convicted of crimes against national security in January 2011 and sentenced to one year in prison. After voluntarily surrendering to authorities on May 31 to begin his sentence, he learned that he would be forced to serve five years in connection with a previous conviction.
2011 - Rev. Behrooz Khanjani trial hearing on 4/5/2001, He is married with a 6 yo child and has already spent over 8 months in prison
2011 - Rev. Leonard Keshishian, the pastor of the Assemblies of God Church in Isfahan has been arrested
2010 - December 26 - Farshid Fathi - was arrested on Dec. 26, 2010 in a wave of arrests of believers in Tehran and other areas. He was sentenced to six years of imprisonment on March 5, 2012. Farshid's appeal against the charges was rejected in June 2012. He is due to serve the rest of his sentence in Evin Prison.
2010 - October - a young believer has died in Iran after he had been severely beaten by a relative who objected to his strong faith in Christ. He leaves behind a wife and two young children. (Reported by Elam)
2010 - September 23, Nine followers of Jesus were detained in Hamedan, the capital of Hamadan province, on charges of evangelism, which potentially carries the death penalty under strict laws in Iran.
- According to a report by FCNN (Farsi Christian News Network), 4 followers of Jesus Christ from Hamadan were arrested on September 4, 2010. Three of them were released on April 30, 2011, after 8 months in prison (Arezoo Teymouri & her husband Arash Karmanjai and Sonia Keshish Ovanesian). Vahid Abrahemian is still under arrest as of April 30, 2011.
2010 - July 24 at 9:00 p.m., 27-year-old Neshan Saeedi was spending a quiet evening at home with his wife and young daughter when plain-clothes security forces entered his house and arrested him. The security officers searched the home and seized personal belongings such as a computer, CDs containing films of Christian seminars and teachings, Christian books and Bibles, and family photo albums. As of September 09, 2010 - there is no information about the condition of Neshan.
2010 - July 18, 15 Christians detained in Mashhad,Iran's second largest city, remain detained and are "under pressure pressure to recant their faith but are refusing to do so." - (Reported by The Voice of the Martyrs)
2010 - April 29, Ali Golchin (29), has been held in solitary confinement in Tehran's Evin prison since he was arrested in his home town of Varamin on April 29. After weeks of appealing to the authorities, Ali's father was finally allowed access to him on June 17 -- though they were allowed only 10 minutes together. Ali was released on bail on July 25.
2008 - Sakineh Rahnama), August 3, wife of Abbas Amiri, died from injuries sustained when secret police raided a house church service hosted at their house and severly beat her.
2008 - Abbas Amiri), August 1, House Church Isfahan, died from injuries sustained when secret police raided a house church service hosted at their house and severly beat him.
2007 - In June, a number of Iranian Christians have been arrested and are held in unknown places, including Mr. fard from Tehran.
2007 - Mohammad Ali Jafarzadeh, May 2007, Executed (hanged) in Evin Prison
2007 - Mohammad Jaberi, May 2007, Executed (hanged) in Evin Prison
2007 - Mr. Patrick, an Iranian Christian and a member of Church of Kermanshah was arrested in May.
2007 - Several Iranian Christians from Church of Mashhad were arrested in February.
2006 - 14 Iranian Christians from Church of Rasht were arrested in December.
2006 - Iranian secret police began to raid and arrest leaders of the Islamic republic's indigenous "Jesus Only" movement Sunday December 10, arriving unannounced in the early morning hours to search their homes in Tehran, Karaj, Rasht and Bandar-i Anzali.
2005 - Pastor Ghorbandordi Tourani - Iranian House Church Leader murdered near his house in Gonbad-e Kavous, November 22
Martyred & Imprisoned Christian Leaders in Iran
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