8/30/24 Presentation by Naghmeh Pahani and Eugene Back at Calvary Baptist Church in Idaho Falls

On Friday evening, August 30, 2024, believers in Idaho Falls met to worship and to hear Naghmeh Pahani and Eugene Bach share about their lives and ministries. The focus of their presentations was the persecuted and growing church in places like Iran and Afghanistan. 

Naghmeh, who was born to Muslim parents and spent the first nine years of her life in Iran, framed her presentation with how God answered  prayers from her childhood.  Born two years before the Islamic Revolution, she and her brother, having seen nothing but war, destruction and chaos around them, were curious about God.  They caught a portion of a radio broadcast in which they heard, "God loves you.  All you need to do is speak to Him from your heart.  He can hear your prayers.  If you would like to know Him more, you can ask Him to reveal Himself to you."  So they prayed and began looking for this God who they had heard loved them.  After coming to America, Naghmeh's brother had a vision of Jesus.  He excitedly shared his experience with his sister and they then talked to their uncle, who turned out to be a follower of Jesus.  After the uncle shared the gospel with them and heard them confess their faith in Jesus, he baptized them and gave them a Bible.  Naghmeh eagerly began reading the Bible but it wasn't long before her mother took it away.  Verses from Psalm 2 stuck in her mind.

In her early 20's Naghmeh had a growing desire to go back to Iran. Though deathly afraid of airplanes because of their connection to the bombing raids she knew as a child, and knowing full well that Muslims who converted to Christ were being killed in Iran, and in spite of her parents objections [who had become believers through reading the Bible they took away from her], she went, intending to share the gospel with some family members.  But when she did, they responded with hostility. While her attempts to witness seemed to her like a failure and six months later she returned to America, while in Iran she heard of the explosive growth of the church.

Naghmeh purchased a ticket to return to Iran again in October, 2001. Though 9/11 made travel to Iran extremely dangerous, and she was afraid of being arrested, she went. There she became involved in the house church movement, and met Saeed Abidini.

Because of their witness for Christ, she and Saeed were arrested, and interrogated for hours. Offered to be released if she renounced her faith in Christ, she wrote out her testimony which she was told would be her death sentence. But their testimonies so moved an officer that he asked them for a Bible and released them.

In Iran Naghmeh, shared the gospel with many people by first asking them if they knew Jesus.  She reported that a 80% responded, "Yes, Jesus appeared to me."  This strengthened her faith.

In 2012, on a trip to Iran, Saeed Abidini was again arrested and Naghmeh suddenly found herself in the world's spotlight as spokesperson advocating for his release.  This led to countless interviews, speaking to the US Congress several times and also to European Parliaments.  In all of these appearances she shared the gospel.  Later, after private meetings with Barak Obama and Donald Trump under tight security, she heard the Lord saying to her, "You have access to My throne and at any time," and this gave her a heightened sense of the importance of prayer.

Toward the end of Naghmeh's talk she touched briefly on her more recent ministry among the house churches in Iran and in Afghanistan.  For a much more complete account of her life, read her book "I Didn't Survive," available at Born Again Bookstore in Idaho Falls.

Eugene Bach is with an organization called "Back to Jerusalem."  He has authored or co-authored a number of books recording the stories of Christians who have experienced horrendous persecution and remained faithful to Jesus. He shared briefly a few stories that underscored the importance of our prayers for believers in similar situations. He also shared about how the underground church in China and the underground church in Iran have come together to take the gospel to Afghanistan.

The above is just a taste of what Naghmeh and Eugene presented.  If you would like to hear their full presentations email me at cmbarnesif@outlook.com. If you Google "Naghmeh Abidini" or "Naghmeh Panahi," you will find numerous videos of her talks about her testimony and her current advocacy for the church in Iran.  You can also find and purchase Eugene Bach's books at Born Again Bookstore in Idaho Falls and read stories and news about the persecuted church at Home - Back to Jerusalem.