The very fact that Tarsa was able to come to Bermuda is a miracle in and of itself, coming from a country where it is virtually illegal to practice any faith but Islam.The young woman became a Christian several years ago, but it took her three years before she could even share that fact with her two sisters, who then also became Christians, and again, it was still much longer before they could even share with their own mother, for fear of retribution. Eventually, though, even their mother joined them in the faith, leaving only their father as a Muslim, his way of protecting the family.“He is now very open, very close,” she said.Even with her father remaining Muslim, Tarsa’s family have been ostracised by their extended family and friends.“All my father’s family has rejected us,” she said. “I honestly didn’t think it would work, because I was missing many documents,” Tarsa said of the opportunity to leave Iran to attend a training programme with Youth With A Mission in the United Kingdom. “It only took three weeks - it was a miracle in and of itself.”However, to protect her family, Tarsa has not told them where exactly she is - she also applied and attended a professional traning conference outside the country, but never told them about the “charity” training programme she was undertaking in England.Just last year, a dear “brother”, a pastor friend, was rounded up, along with his wife and 70 others, including whole families with children.“We were warned - do not call. Do not go to his house,” Tarsa shared. Later on, they learned the whole group had been arrested at 5.30am.Seeking advice from lawyers, the remaining believers were told things were very bad, and it was likely that the pastor, and many others, would be executed. The congregation lived in constant fear for three to four weeks, until word was received that the pastor’s wife had been released.A dear friend, Tarsa still felt in the dark, as she could not call the pastor’s wife as it was still too dangerous, especially after the Supreme Leader of Iran appeared on a special news broadcast, specifically highlighting home churches, threatening them to “repent or else”.Later on, while Tarsa was again out of the country, this time at a training conference outside the country, she received word from her mother that her own sister had been jailed.“My mother told me not to come home,” Tarsa said. Her sister had been arrested early in the morning and was interrogated for 14 hours straight, before finally being threatened and released.When Tarsa did return home, it was her uncle, a very religious Muslim and political devotee, who collected her and brought her home, as a means of trying to protect her.It was then that Tarsa discovered that the whole house church memebership of over 200 all over Iran had been under surveillance for three years, and they were now facing daily phone calls, threatening the arrest and interrogation of not just her and her sister, but the entire family. The calls were an attempt to pressure the women to denounce their Christian faith and to not meet up with other believers.“They really want to bring terror to your lives.”Meeting with Christian friends for even just social occasions became a challenge, let alone for worship and ministry, and Tarsa was constantly checking herself for logical answers to why she might be meeting with different people, should the questions come.And when the family tried to escape the barrage of calls by turning their phones off, they received a warning through another “brother” that it was better to take the daily calls and abuse, as the alternative would mean certain arrest.