On a table in the living room, Tina – not her real name – has made a display with tealights, pastel-coloured eggs, candles and a little wooden cross. It’s her own, intimate way to mark Easter.

She and her husband converted to Christianity years ago, something that in their country, Iran, is forbidden by law.

They could be arrested at any time.

The Iranian constitution recognises a few religious minorities. Armenian and Assyrian Christians can practise their religion, but they are banned from preaching to other Iranians or even letting them into their churches.

Those who converted to Christianity from Islam, can only practise their faith in secret, in so-called house-churches. Tina is one of them.

Authorities have been intensifying raids against these groups, arresting more people and handing over longer prison sentences, so church members are having to take extra precautions.

“We meet in small groups and each time in different places,” Tina says. “It could be in the home of one of our members or sometimes even in a park or in a car while driving. It’s safer if each group knows as little as possible about the others, so if one group encounters problems, the rest aren’t implicated.”

Living with the constant threat of being discovered and imprisoned, is challenging, she says. At times, her children have let it slip at school or with friends that their parents are Christians.

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