Maryam Rostampour and Marziyeh Amirizadeh grew up as Muslims in Iran. Both became dissatisfied with the teachings of the Koran and, separately, encountered Jesus Christ in their teens. When they met, they discovered a shared calling: to bring the gospel to their countrymen, no matter the cost.
Underground Church Ministry in Iran
For three years, they worked in secret. They distributed twenty thousand New Testaments across Tehran, often going out at night to slip Bibles into mailboxes. They started two underground house churches—one of them for prostitutes, women abandoned by husbands with no other way to support their children.
Arrested for Christian Faith
On March 5, 2009, their work caught up with them. They were arrested and charged with apostasy, blasphemy, and anti-government activities—capital crimes in Iran. They were thrown into the notorious Evin Prison.
"In prison in Iran, people don't have any rights," Maryam would later recall. "Whenever we got sick, doctors would first ask our charges. As soon as we said our crimes were because of our Christian faith, they refused to give us medication."
Prison Becomes Their Church
But something unexpected happened in Evin Prison. The regime's punishment backfired.
"After a few days we realized that by meeting other women—some homeless, some addicts—God had given us an opportunity to share Christianity with people who needed to hear it the most," Maryam said.
For 259 days, the two women evangelized hundreds of fellow prisoners. Even prison guards came to them privately, asking for prayer. One guard asked Marziyeh to pray for her fertility, believing that the prayers of a Christian would be heard.
Released and Sharing Their Story
After intense international pressure from the United Nations, the Vatican, and the US State Department, both women were released in November 2009. They later moved to America, where they shared their story in the book "Captive in Iran."
"There's no lukewarm Christianity in Iran," they have said. "Even at the point of seeking, people know it's going to cost them."
