“All I can do is cry and pray” the facebook update of a dear Iranian student friend said right after the announcement of the results of the presidential elections in that country. Ever since then, I’ve been gripped and touch by the picture that has been unfolding, through twitter, through facebook and through the news the last few months. By now, many of us have seen some incredible, some horrific pictures of what is going on in Iran. It has been a very traumatic time for a very historically important and proud nation and people. You can imagine the feeling flying around the students “stuck” here in the face of all this.

One of the notable and special things for me about this last school year has been the much more frequent contact and good friendships God has given us with Iranian students of late. I didn’t really understand it but we have been excited. I have been impressed by the sense of openness to talking and sharing. It was almost like our friends really wanted to showcase the specialness of this nation so often demonized in our country. I was amazed to by how much our friends really wanted us to see how much freedom they had in this country that seems so restrictive to us. It has been a real blessing to us and I really feel like I’ve fallen in love with these people that God has put in our lives in a special way.

So when the elections and the subsequent events occurred it really touched my heart in a different way than usual. This distant news became about individual people… not just city names on newsprint. I’ve got a decent number of Iranian friends on facebook and right after the elections, there were so many posts, both in English and Farsi. There were pictures of what was going on at home. There was sharing of stories as they were given. Live video and photos from the streets of Tehran. It was overwhelming and at the same time refreshing. I have never seen such a groundswell of solidarity, shared grief, etc as everything these friends had back home was being put in turmoil. My heart ached. I also knew this wasn’t our fight… I knew we as Americans could do little… except “cry and pray” with our new friends, supporting them in their time of need. That has been hard. When we heard that there was going to be a candlelight vigil at UTA for the student in Iran who were killed in the violence and it happened to be on Friday night (our meeting night), we made sure Lisa could break away to be a part of it. We’ve been trying to send “neutral” but telling statements through “retweeting/forwarding” stuff we get. Still the impulse is to do more. It really breaks my heart.When I talk to many Americans, it is hard not to make a bigger deal about what is going on. Many have no touch points with this culture. For them it is a place that has had so many problems; a sad place with nameless people that have no real desire to go to. I wish they could meet our friends.

One thing for sure, we are also proud of our student friends. Proud for standing for what they believe in. And I believe it is not a coincidence that God put them in our lives right now. I believe, just as Esther in the Bible felt when she was in the ancient Persian(current Iranian) Court that she was made for “such a time as this,” so I believe that God has brought these very special friends into our lives for “such a time as this.” But it is hard watching this from where we are, having to stay neutral while loving our friends.