Anahid* and her daughter, Miriam*, became members of a Los Angeles-area church after traveling a very long way spiritually and geographically. Both women were persecuted for their faith and had spent time in jail in their country, where it is illegal for people of their previous religious background to become Christians.

Before coming to the U.S., Anahid and her husband had converted to Adventism. “We kept our conversion secret from our relatives for a long time,” she said.

Her daughter confirmed, “In that time, I knew nothing of their new faith, because the religious leader of our country encouraged young kids to act as spies at home and in school, revealing to the authorities all that they may see at home.”

When authorities learned of the parents’ conversions, they took the couple to court, interrogating and beating them while they were in custody. “The judge asked me why I had left my religion and accepted Christianity,” Anahid reported. “I told him that it was because Christianity was not imposed on us with violence, but spread with love and kindness.” The family paid large sums to arrange for their release.

“I was very much afraid that the leaders would kill us. My husband paid a broker $5,000 for papers to leave the country. About six weeks after their release from prison, the couple fled their country, arriving in California shortly afterward.

Learning of her mother’s religious interest a few years before her parents emigrated, Miriam began exploring the Christian religion and started attending the local Adventist church by herself at age 20. “In Religious Studies [at school], when I refused to stand up for prayer, two security guards arrived. They took me to a secluded room and whipped me 20 times, then forced me to dip my feet inside a box where hundreds of small insects were moving.

“I lost consciousness after the 20th beating. They kept me there for three days. I gained my freedom through a guarantee made by my grandfather that I would attend the religion class and prayers.” Soon after, Miriam again encountered the authorities’ anger for attending an Adventist church and inviting a friend to go with her.

Guards whipped and detained her before bringing her to court, where she was fined and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment. After a month behind bars, “close relatives paid a large sum of money to arrange for my freedom, pending a major trial,” she said. “Anonymous calls started coming, threatening to kill me. Neighbors spat at me; shop-keepers refused to sell anything to me. Every minute of my tumultuous life was passed in fear and anxiety, in agony and pain.

“My grandfather found a smuggler who forged documents for me. Several friends and I drove to the border of a neighboring country early in 2002. Using forged passports, we flew to Mexico, then drove across the border to California.”

At her recent baptism in this area, Miriam’s face radiated joy. Both she and her mother rejoice that they have left old identities behind—having escaped bondage—and through baptism have been raised to new lives in Christ.

“We thank God for the community of faith around the world and here at home that contributed to this joyful event,” said their new pastor. “One sowed a seed, another watered, and we were able to reap. These events are evidence of the work of the Holy Spirit in the far corners of the earth and here in this area.”