http://www.persecutionblog.com/2012/09/pastor-youcef-nadarkhanis-letter-of-thanks.html
Stacy L. Harp
September 19, 2012
A few days ago the world witnessed a modern day miracle when Pastor
Youcef Nadarkhani, a man who was sentenced to death, walked out of his
prison cell and into the arms of his wife and children. I still feel
overwhelming joy as I type this.
Today I wanted to share with you the letter of thanks he wrote to all
of those who prayed for him, wrote letters to him and defended him
while he was in prison. The letter was shared by CBN News from
Present Truth Ministries.
Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to Your Name be glory, for Your
faithfulness, for Your loyalty… Psalm 115:1
Salaam ! (Peace be upon you !)
I glorify and give grace to the Lord with all my heart. I am grateful
for all the blessings that He gave me during my whole life. I am
especially grateful for His goodness and divine protection that
characterised the time of my detention.
I also want to express my gratitude towards those who, all around the
world, have worked for my cause, or should I say the cause that I
defend. I want to express my gratitude to all of those who have
supported me, openly or in complete secrecy. You are all very dear to
my heart. May the Lord bless you and give you His perfect and
sovereign Grace.
Indeed I have been put to the test, the test of faith which is,
according to the Scriptures "more precious than perishable gold." But
I have never felt loneliness, I was all the time aware of the fact
that it wasn't a solitary battle, for I have felt all the energy and
support of those who obeyed their conscience and fought for the
promotion of the justice and the rights of all human beings. Thanks to
these efforts, I have now the enormous joy to be by my wonderful wife
and my children. I am grateful for these people through whom God has
been working. All of this is very encouraging.
During that period, I had the opportunity to experience in a
marvellous way the Scripture that says: "Indeed, as the sufferings of
Christ abound for us, our encouragement abound through Christ.." He
has comforted my family and has given them the means to face that
difficult situation. In His Grace, He provided for their spiritual and
material needs, taking away from me a heavy weight.
The Lord has wonderfully provided through the trial, allowing me to
face the challenges that were in front of me. As the Scriptures says,
"He will not allow us to be tested beyond our strength…" Despite the
fact that I have been found guilty of apostasy according to a certain
reading of the Shar'ia, I am grateful that He gave the leaders of the
country, the wisdom to break that judgement taking into account other
facts of that same Shar'ia. It is obvious that the defenders of the
Iranian right and the legal experts have made an important effort to
enforce the law and the right. I want to thank those who have defended
the right until the end.
I am happy to live in a time where we can take a critical and
constructive look to the past. This has allowed the writing of
universal texts aiming at the promotion of the rights of man. Today,
we are debtors of these efforts provided by dear people who have
worked for the respect of human dignity and have passed on to us these
universal significant texts. I am also debtor of those who have
faithfully passed on the Word of God, that very Word who makes us
heirs of God.
Before ending, I want to express a prayer for the establishment of an
unending and universal peace, so that the will of the Father be done
on earth as it is in heaven. Indeed, everything passes, but the Word
of God, source of all peace, will last eternally.
May the grace and mercy of God be multiplied to you. Amen !
Yousef Nadarkhani
8 September 2012