Biography of Ibrahim Firoozi, a Christian convert and prisoner

Ibrahim Firoozi is a Christian convert who is in prison for his beliefs. Below we read his biography, which is based on his own account and a report by Religious Minorities News.

Ibrahim was born on 8/10/1365 in Hamedan. He was the fourth and first son in the family, losing one of his sisters in the war and having another brother at the age of five. Ibrahim's father was a driver and spent most of his days traveling, taking Ibrahim with him to different cities in the summer and on holidays.

He spent his early years at Hafez Elementary School on Shohada Street in Hamedan and was a playful but studious student until he lost his father in a car accident when he was in the fourth grade. His early years were marked by the separation from his father, and his older sister also got married and moved to Bakht's house.

Ibrahim completed a few months of high school, but due to financial difficulties, he decided to drop out and work at a car body shop. However, he soon missed school and decided to continue his education while also working part-time.

He re-enrolled in school and spent the next three years working at the oil change shop next to his middle school, attending his lessons when there were no customers. Because Ibrahim's father was a truck driver, everyone in the area had a special affection for Ibrahim because of the friendship and devotion they had for his father.

After finishing middle school, he entered high school and, like other teenagers, he struggled with emotional issues at the beginning of his teenage years, without a caring mentor. After leaving school, he looked for a full-time job, but this time, in addition to financial problems, he also had an emotional dependency, and he decided to find a job with a good salary. Since the salary at the oil change shop was not enough, he left there. He tried various jobs, from working in a luxury store to working in a ceramic kiln, but these jobs did not satisfy him. Through his previous job, he knew several people and at the age of fifteen, he went to his father's job and worked as a trailer driver's assistant for three years. He earned a good salary, but because he did not have a driver's license, he did not receive a proper salary.

At the age of eighteen, on a memorable Friday, he received an exemption card from service due to not having a guardian. Since his brother was leaving behind a child, he felt that his family needed a guardian and therefore decided to change jobs. He sold his father's house in Hamedan and bought a house in the suburbs of Tehran and started working in an automobile parts manufacturing company. Because of his technical background in his two previous jobs, Ibrahim soon took over the supervision of the production line. The beginning of this new life for Ibrahim coincided with his faith in Jesus Christ.

 He had tasted poverty since childhood and now he could earn a decent income and at the same time he had left behind the addictions of his adolescence. He was introduced to Christianity through satellite channels. He went through many struggles until he finally received Christ in his heart and felt that he was no longer the same person he was before and that God had opened a new and important path for him.

Ibrahim devoted all his free time to studying the Bible and studying Christianity, and his love for serving the Lord Jesus Christ ignited in him. He first began his ministry by buying a Bible and distributing it to those around him, and after a while he became acquainted with Christian communities, who were able to help him in this love. Since Ibrahim had studied until the third grade, he could not go to university, but he registered at the 222 Virtual College, and through this he was able to receive extensive training. Then he became acquainted with the John the Apostle Center in Tehran and studied at this Catholic school for another year until, on 10/28/1389, the Ministry of Intelligence arrested him for distributing the Bible and forming a house church, and ultimately sentenced him to 10 months in prison.

After his first release, he returned to his previous workplace, knowing that he would be arrested again, but he continued his religious activities with the love he had found for the Lord Jesus Christ. This incident occurred on December 17, 2012, and the Ministry of Intelligence agents arrested him at his workplace and sentenced him to one year in prison and two years of exile to Sarbaz County, located in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, on the charge of propagating Christianity.

But these convictions did not satisfy the ministry, and they began preparing a case with more serious charges, and ultimately received a 5-year prison sentence in a subsequent verdict from Branch 28 of the Tehran Revolutionary Court, so that these convictions would be worth the time and money they spent on Ibrahim.

In court, Ebrahim Firoozi introduced himself as a converted Christian and claims that he has not violated any of the laws of the Islamic Republic of Iran and that he has no opposition to the government. However, because the Iranian government is trying to prevent the spread of the saving gospel, they are throwing stones at his feet with unjust, unjust and unrealistic accusations. It has now been 22 months since the third case was filed against him, and his 5-year prison sentence has not yet been determined, and he is serving his illegal imprisonment in Rajai Shahr prison.