"I am grateful for marriage counselors who have been helping me but my wife's relationship with me is not good at this point, so we need prayer that she joins this counseling process with us," the 35-year-old pastor wrote Feb. 14 in his first Facebook comments since his release in January from an Iranian prison where he had been held three-and-a-half years because of his Christian faith.
"I see there is a LOVE story between us [supporters] as I went through hardship of imprisonment by you showing your support with sending hundreds & thousands of letters of encouragement and LOVE to the prison," he wrote, noting "1000's of cities and countries and locations gathering for prayer vigils, sending gifts to my wife and children.... You created a LOVE story that even Muslims in Iran talked about."
His wife Naghmeh filed for legal separation from the pastor Jan. 26, the day he returned to Boise after resting for nearly a week at the Billy Graham Conference Center at the Cove. March 19 is the next court date in the case -- a Focus on Children proceeding designed to help parents and children cope with such issues as separation and divorce. She filed the case, she said, to prevent their children, 9-year-old Rebekka and 7-year-old Jacob, from being transported out of state...