Have you been late to an important function? Perhaps you forgot to write it down on your calendar or were completely distracted that day. You arrive; the candles have been lit and blown out, the presents opened, and you feel totally cringe. 

That is how I felt the other day when I read about the twins, Taraneh and Romina Rahimi, who are sitting in a prison in Isfahan. They were participants in the protests last January in Iran. I was praying for the Iranian people at the time, but because of the war and various other events happening in the news, they moved off of my radar.

Most of us have been overwhelmed by the amount of tragedies that have happened in our world this past year. You just can’t get focused on all of them, or you would lose your mind. Sometimes, though, it is good to put names to some of the faces we see.

Taraneh and Romina, at 19, were dragged out of their beds and bags placed over their heads about a month after they joined anti-regime protests in Isfahan. Four months later, their mother finally found them in Dowlatabad Prison. She barely recognized her daughters.  They had been beaten, tortured, and their feet had been broken. I could continue on about their injuries, but you get the picture.

After I read about them, I checked to see what could be done for them. Was there anyone we could write to in order to ask for mercy for them? No one, as far as I could gather; however, Human Rights Watch suggested we make their stories known. Gladly, but is that all we can do?

I personally believe in the power of prayer, and if nothing else, we can pray for these two young women who are being tortured for their desire to live a full and free life in their home country. They must have known about the danger of protesting, but I am sure at their age they had no idea what could really happen to them.

Will you join me in remembering these two young women in prayer? Who knows what will happen in the next few months between our two countries, but no matter what, let us not forget the hundreds, if not thousands, of protesters who are being held in their prisons.

Prayer changes things, and let us pray for their unconditional release, humane treatment, and, in the meantime, the formation of a government that will allow their citizens a chance to live a life of  freedom and liberty.

Information from Sept.15th article by Efrat Lachter, Fox News. Photo by Gerd Altman, Pixabay.