this is the brand and sherry podcast yeah this is no normal christmas letter i know how we get

christmas letters and maybe you've written some or you post them on facebook or whatever this guy's

is from prison and he's in iran he is utterly alone his name is saud abedini he's a long-time friend of the show

and uh can't listen right now because of where he is.

And he wrote a letter to everybody from his prison, was able to give it to a family member who visited a week ago.

I'll read you just a bit of it.

But think about this. This guy's been in prison away from his family.

He's an American. He's from Idaho.

And he misses his wife and kids. He's been in this away from his family. He's an American. He's from Idaho. And he misses his

wife and kids. He's been in this prison suffering because of his faith in Jesus. And here's

Christmas coming up. And so he wrote a little bit about this. I just wanted you to hear a paragraph

here. He said, Merry Christmas. These days are very cold here. My small space beside the window is without glass, making most nights unbearable to sleep.

The treatment by fellow prisoners is also quite cold and at times hostile.

Some of my fellow prisoners don't like me, because I'm a convert and a pastor.

They look at me with shame as someone who has betrayed his former religions.

The guards can't even stand the paper cross that I

made and hung up next to me as a sign of my faith in anticipation of celebrating my Savior's

birth. They threatened me and forced me to remove it. This is the first Christmas I'm completely

without my family. All of my families presently outside the country. These conditions have made

this upcoming Christmas

season very hard and cold and shattering for me. It appears I'm alone with no one left. These cold and

brutal conditions have made me wonder why would God choose the hardest time of the year to become

...