The wife of Saeed Abedini, the American pastor imprisoned in Iran for being a Christian, told Congress that Jesus has not abandoned her family despite her husband’s continued illegal captivity.

Naghmeh Abedini spoke to the House Foreign Affairs Committee Tuesday during a hearing about Americans wrongfully imprisoned in Iran.

“Most mornings like today, I wake up in a new hotel in a new city or country and am reminded of my new reality — a reality that includes lonely airports and empty hotel rooms,” Abedini explained in her testimony. “This pain of this journey without my husband has only increased as I have had to frequently leave my children to advocate for my husband’s release. The reality is, we are a family torn apart.”

“Over the last three years, I have had to watch my two children, Rebekka (who is 8 years old) and Jacob (who is 7 years old), suffer daily as they have grown up without a father or a mother,” Abedini continued. “I am here today as single mother who is trying to be strong for her children, and as a wife who humbly admits, I need your help. I cannot bear to look at my children’s longing eyes one more time and explain to them why their daddy is still not home.”

Abedini told the Congressmen that time is running out for the U.S. to have leverage to demand the release of her husband and others held captive.

“I can’t make foreign policy but I know that this is a crucial time and we have to bring Americans home while we can,” she told CP. “This is the time we have leverage. I know that we have a few weeks. I think after a deal is made or not made, it will be much more difficult to get Saeed out.”

The Committee passed a resolution at the end of the hearing calling for the immediate release of the captive Americans.