"I just accepted Jesus in my heart, and the next day, I was someone else."

These words from our Field Minister Qasem capture the beginning of one of the most extraordinary testimonies we've ever featured on our Prisoners of Hope podcast. Each time we hear him share his story, we're left in awe of God's power to redeem brokenness and work in the world's most dangerous places.

At just 23 years old, Qasem was in despair:

  • Dangerously addicted to drugs in Iran
  • Completely alone in his struggle without family or friends
  • Without hope for his future


Then someone shared the gospel with him...and, as he says, “the next day, I was someone else.”

The transformation was immediate—the addiction that had nearly claimed his life vanished. But the true test of his faith was just beginning.

When Iranian authorities threatened him for gathering with other believers, Qasem stopped attending meetings for seven months. But the isolation was unbearable. In his own words:

Believers should be with each other….Maybe [the Intelligence Service will] come, and they will arrest us. But it’s better than to be like this. We want to have worship. We want to have prayer. We have to be together and pray with each other. This is exactly what we found we needed. And because of that, we started again.

His courageous decision to defy authorities and meet with his brothers and sisters in Christ led to a three-year prison sentence and a 90-day hunger strike. Yet he refused to renounce his faith. Through it all, Qasem maintained:

All the time I said, I had a life. I spent it for myself. And after that, like 20 years, this is God's life. This is the second chance.

In this Prisoners of Hope podcast, Qasem shares how God has worked through his “second chance” in ways that defy imagination—bringing salvation to entire prison blocks, pastoring underground churches…and seeing former Muslims like Qasem discover their living hope in Jesus.

Listen today—and witness how God is building up the persecuted church so that it not only endures, but flourishes and multiplies.