Friday, May 3, 2013

Help To Make A Happy Birthday

What can I do to help someone? Matthew 10:41-42 Amplified Bible says, "He who receives and welcomes and accepts a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives and welcomes and accepts a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever gives to one of these little ones [in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water because he is My disciple, surely I declare to you, he shall not lose his reward."

Many individuals signed petitions over a period of time to have Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday become a federal holiday in the United States of America. On November 2, 1983, former US President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating the federal holiday Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

Will you sign a petition and write a letter to help free Pastor and U.S. Citizen Saeed Abedini from Evin Prison in Tehran, Iran, being coordinated at http://www.savesaeed.org? Join the more than 581,000 people worldwide from more than 180 countries who have signed the petition. Iranian authorities put Pastor Abedini under house arrest in July 2012 separating him from his wife, Naghmeh Abedini, and their two young children. In September 2012 they arrested him. In January 2013 Iranian authorities sentenced him to an eight-year prison sentence for  "threatening the national security of Iran;" Pastor Abedini had been involved in setting up Christian house churches in Iran and also a secular orphanage. Pastor Abedini is currently in solitary confinement, has been subject to physical and psychological abuse to pressure him to give up his faith and has not been able to receive medical treatment for internal injuries resulting from the abuse.

Un Dicho (A Proverb) says, "Una buena accion es la mejor oracion." ("A good deed is the best prayer.") Pastor Abedini's birthday is May 7th. Pastor Abedini and Naghmeh are both from Iran. They are also both Muslims who converted to Christianity and became US citizens. Naghmeh Abedini cannot surprise her sweetheart in person for his birthday because to do so might put her in jail too, but she and others can send a card and a gift by signing the petition and writing a letter to Pastor Abedini via http://www.savesaeed.org.

Asghedom Michael wrote a love poem "Asmeret" that says in part:
"Enthroned in love you are
You're as wise as you are beautiful
I'll spend my life with you if you'll let me."

Jesus Christ loves us and wants to spend the rest of life with us. This is Holy Week for Orthodox Christians. On a Friday more than 2,000 years ago Jesus Christ was crucified on a cross and died to make a way for God and believers to have a permanent relationship. Then Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Sunday. Thanks to the King of Kings believers have a spiritual birthday as eternal kings and queens.

In addition to parenting the Abedini children without their father's presence, Naghmeh has been speaking publicly to churches, the media and others about her husband's plight in prison for his Christian faith. The red-crowned crane is a symbol of long life and good fortune in China and in Japan. By signing the petition and writing a letter at http://www.savesaeed.org you are helping to free Pastor Abedini from prison and to allow a happy May 7th birthday and a long, happy family life together for Saeed, Naghmeh and their children.

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