Title: Imprisoned in Iran
Author: Dan Baumann
Series: International Adventures
Major Themes: Iran, Turks, YWAM
Synopsis: At the end of a trip into Iran to contact the Turkmen, Dan found himself suddenly arrested and imprisoned on false charges.
I remember reading Imprisoned in Iran some twenty years ago, but I had forgotten most of it. As I read, though, a lot came back to me. This is quite an unforgettable story, in some respects.
Dan Baumann first became interested in the Turkic people of Asia in 1983, when God called him to go to Ashgabad sometime in the future. Thirteen years later he finally arrived in Turkmenistan, where he worked on learning Russian and Farsi. Before long, he and a South African friend began dreaming of a way to enter Iran to contact the Turkmen. After meeting a Turkmen man from Iran, who warmly invited Dan to visit his family, Dan and Glenn got visas to enter Iran in 1996. They had a wonderful, uneventful visit in the country…until they were crossing the border to return to Turkmenistan.
The Iranian officials found a problem with Dan’s and Glenn’s passports, and confiscated them for several days, then arrested the pair. Dan soon found his faith tried in ways he had never imagined as he was interrogated, tortured, and kept in solitary confinement with no belongings whatsoever. Would he ever get out? Would he lose his mind? How did he survive? This amazing story will encourage you in your walk with God as He proved His faithfulness to Dan.
I appreciated the way Dan answered the questions he was asked during the interrogation. At first, he tried to slant his answers so that he would not get in as much trouble, but after he determined to tell the whole truth and only the truth, he felt much more blessed by God, and, surprisingly, gained more respect and was believed more by his interrogators. What a vivid example of the blessing of honesty!
Chapter 13 describes the lowest point Dan reached in his captivity, when he attempted suicide. That was a bit hard to read, because of personal experiences I’ve had, but I loved the way God came to him afterward and ministered to him. I really enjoyed reading about the way God used Dan’s life in the prison to make a difference in a number of Iranian people.
WARNING: See last paragraph.
Age levels:
Reading Independently—Ages 15 and Above, Adults
Links to buy this book:
Amazon: Paperback | Kindle
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