My wife and I were consultant surgeons

My Bible: reasons to believe in the power of the Bible

‘My wife and I were consultant surgeons in a Christian hospital in Iran in the 1970s. We lived in Isfahan. We liked everything about it. It was a green city set in the desert.

Then, in 1979, the revolution happened. I was taken before a revolutionary tribunal. The magistrate threw the case out because he said the evidence was contradictory.

We used to gather in the underground chapel of the hospital every evening and read Psalm 91.

Outside, people were calling from the roof tops and the city was in uproar. It was a very disturbed time. We were sheltered from a lot of it, but there was bloodshed.

Our friends were imprisoned. My colleagues were held and Terry Waite’s first job with hostages was to get them released.

We knew we were on the hit list. They wanted to get rid of Christian missionaries like us. I didn’t think I was frightened, but I was obviously anxious. I wasn’t eating. I lost weight and I wasn’t sleeping.

I wasn’t frightened for my life, but I was anxious about the hospital and one’s own future and if I had been a failure. Reading Psalm 91, in Farsi, brought a peace and stillness. It brought an inner calm.'

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