Chapter 9
The Mysterious Book (Mina, part one)
What’s that? seventeen-year-old Mina thought to herself as she picked up the book off the library floor. Hmmm. It’s not a library book.
Injil Sharif, the book said. Holy Good News?
“I’ve heard of this,” she said to herself. “I think it’s the holy book of the Christians. And it’s in our language. I had no idea there were any copies of that book in Persian. I thought it was only in French and English.”
It was the mid-1980s. The Iranian Revolution had happened a just few years earlier. The country of Iran had changed so completely, with great violence and fear and oppressive laws, that almost all Bibles had been destroyed. Mina had never even seen a New Testament, or even heard that it had been translated into Persian over 150 years earlier.
Immediately Mina took the book to the librarian. “Did someone lose this book?” she asked.
The librarian took the book and turned it front and back, examining it. “No one has reported losing a book like this one,” she answered. “Take it with you. You can read it and study it at home.”
Read it and study it at home? Mina thought. What an odd thing to say! She stuffed the book in her backpack, curious to learn more.
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Chapter 10
Who Is That Young Man? (Mina, part two)
Before long, Monir invited Mina to go out with her. Mina’s parents thought they were just going out shopping—they didn’t know that the two young women were planning to attend a secret meeting of Christians in someone’s small apartment.
There, for the first time in her life, Mina heard people sing worship songs. Strange and beautiful, she thought. Look how happy and peaceful they are!
Then in the short Bible talk that someone gave, Mina heard for the first time that all people are sinners. How kind they are to me anyway, even though I’m Muslim! she thought. I know that if they went to a mosque, the leaders there wouldn’t treat them this way!”
Mina met with Monir every chance she got, and made every excuse she could to attend the secret meetings. But at the same time, she continued to do her prayer rituals. She studied hard and got high grades in school. Her parents had no clue about her secret life.
“Listen, Mina!” Monir said over the phone one day. “A Christian pastor from Mashhad is coming to Tehran Thursday to be our speaker at our secret meeting. I’m so excited, because he’s the pastor who first gave me the gospel! Pastor Hossein Soodmand! Can you come?”
Mina’s heart pounded. She had never seen a real Christian pastor, not in person. “Yes, I’ll be there!” she whispered.
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This chapter was posted for about a week and then removed. Keep watching week by week to get the whole book for free!
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