Mariam Ibraheem on why she never gave up while she was on death row: 'Jesus was with me'

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz recently recounted his conversation with a Sudanese Christian mother who refused to renounce her faith in Christ even while she was imprisoned and put on death row.

Speaking at International Christian Concern's (ICC) annual policy day on Capitol Hill last week, Cruz narrated his encounter with Mariam Ibraheem, who was charged with apostasy and sentenced to death in Sudan after she married a non-Muslim.

According to The Christian Post, Ibraheem has always identified as a Christian, but the government considered her to be a Muslim under law. When she married a Christian man, she was sentenced to 100 lashes and execution by hanging. She was eight months pregnant when she was imprisoned, and she was forced to give birth to her daughter, Maya, while her legs were shackled to the floor.

Cruz narrated that Ibraheem's captors told her that she would be released if she would renounce her faith in Christ.

"Now, I ask of the people here, have any of us had our faith tested like that?" the senator asked.

"I know what every one of us hopes, wishes and even would like to believe what we would say in that circumstance. But when you are in mud and grime facing your captors [who are] threatening to murder you and your children if you won't renounce your faith, how would each of us fare in those circumstances?" he continued.

The senator noted that Ibraheem refused to renounce her faith until she was finally released from prison due to huge international outcry. She was able to escape from Sudan in July 2014 and is now living in the U.S. with her husband, Daniel Wani, who is an American citizen.

Cruz told the audience gathered at the Rayburn House Office Building that he was able to meet with Ibraheem after she was released.

"I asked her at the time, 'How did you not despair? How did you not give up?' She just said with a simple, quiet peace, 'Jesus was with me,'" Cruz recounted.

Ibraheem has previously stated that she was able to read the Bible secretly with the help of her Muslim cellmate, who helped her hide it from the prison guards.

She said that she was already in labor at the medical clinic in the Omdurman Federal Woman's Prison when the guards asked her to renounce her faith in Christ and recite the Islamic declaration of faith so that she could be sent to a hospital.

The Sudanese mother refused their request fearing that she would not be respected by her children if she did as they asked.

Cruz concluded his speech by praising her powerful testimony, saying: "This young woman from Africa, this scared mom, had the peace to stare down torture and death because of the reality of her Savior."