A Costly Choice to Follow Jesus
When Batoul chose Jesus, she didn’t know what she was getting into. Her life grew deeply painful—but God didn’t leave her behind. This is her story.
Batoul, now in her 20s, grew up in a Muslim family in North Africa. But unlike other families in this part of North Africa, her family didn’t just follow a culturally conservative form of Islam. Her father was an extremist, interpreting the Quran in such a way that he brutally oppressed Batoul, her mother and her siblings.
“My father used violence when dealing with us. We were forced to repeat after him all the prayers that he would utter,” she remembers. “He was very aggressive with us.” Her sisters were forced to wear extremely restrictive coverings in compliance with Shariah law. Batoul was too young to wear such clothing, but she knew her time would come.
Despite the intense fear at home, Batoul was able to find solace with her sisters and her mothers. Their father was a monster, but at least they had each other. “My sisters and I had a solid relationship. We feared my dad a lot; the slightest displeasing act we’d do would result in screaming and beating,” Batoul says. “We talked a lot, shared a lot, everything we wanted to do, we’d do it together.”
And then, Jesus turned everything upside down.
Choosing Jesus…at what cost?
Batoul’s remembers her father beginning to express doubts about the extremist form of Islam he was immersed in. There had been some terrorist attacks in the region affiliated with Islamic radicals, and Batoul’s father started to question some of the beliefs.
Then, on a bus trip, someone told Batoul’s father about Jesus.
By God’s grace, he heard the voice of the Lord, opened his heart, and was reborn.
“After his conversion, my father changed a lot,” Batoul shares. “He became kind and stopped forcing us to dress in a specific way. By then, however, my sisters were deeply attached to those ways of dressing and praying, so his change came as a big shock to them. But I was thrilled with this radical transformation.”
While her mother and sisters were glad that Batoul’s father didn’t abuse them anymore, they still wouldn’t accept his new faith in Christ. “They wished he had remained a Muslim who treated them kindly.”
Batoul became curious about the new faith her father had embraced. She watched him leave to attend Bible studies every week at different homes, and when it was her father’s turn to host, she would listen intently to discussions about the good news and salvation.
"In Islam, you need to pray and pay zakat, but even then, Heaven is not guaranteed...but in Christianity, if you believe, you receive salvation. This idea fascinated me and led me to explore Christianity further.”
“I enjoyed it so much—I would sit with them the entire time, listening to the hymns,” she says. “I grew very close to my father, and even to some church members and their families, especially their daughters. I loved it all!”
One lesson particularly stuck with her. “In Islam, you need to pray and pay zakat (an obligatory charity), but even then, Heaven is not guaranteed,” she says. “But in Christianity, if you believe, you receive salvation. This idea fascinated me and led me to explore Christianity further.”
She grew to love Jesus and chose to follow him. At 16, she was baptized.
At first, she was thrilled about her new faith and assumed her conversion would mean little to her mother and sisters. “I thought it would be easy to be a Christian, but I was mistaken,” she says.
Persecuted for her choice.
Although she remained with her husband, Amina couldn’t confront him directly or express her anger over his decision to leave Islam. She was forced to accept it and live with the reality of his conversion. But everything Amina had wanted to say to her “infidel” husband was directed at her teenage daughter instead.
Batoul’s society strongly opposes the presence of women in places or gatherings with many men, as it contradicts their values and principles. Amina used this argument to keep Batoul away from church, employing every possible tactic to make her daughter’s daily life miserable. And cultural realities made it difficult for the community to take the risky step of reaching out to an unmarried woman.
Women like Batoul experience persecution for both their faith and their gender. Will you stand with them?
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The cruelty didn’t stop with her mother. “My sisters couldn’t object in front of my father because he was also a Christian, but in his absence, they beat me and said, ‘How much money did they give you to be an infidel? What price did they pay for your betrayal?’” Batoul remembers. “They hit me and encouraged my mom to punish me, saying I wasn’t properly disciplined because I wanted to meet boys.”
Unfortunately, her father was of no help to her. Perhaps because he felt a deep sense of guilt over his previous abuse of his family, he stayed out of the conflict.
In short: Batoul was on her own.
“I had no family, I had nothing, and my faith was shaken because I didn’t perceive that Christ was with me, I only saw that the people who were with me gave up on me. So in that time, I considered committing suicide and ending my life.”
But God wasn’t done with Batoul.
A light in the darkness
In the midst of these challenges and adversities, Batoul didn’t realize that the Lord was working behind the scenes. “During this time, Christ was intervening in many situations in my life [in ways] that were unknown to me,” she remembers.
God placed Batoul’s situation on the heart of an Open Doors partner in North Africa. Brother Youssef* reached out to her father—they were acquainted through a local church—and asked how Batoul was doing. When he heard how she was suffering and in desperate need of help, he connected with her.
Today, Batoul has started a ministry supporting women like her – those who have been rejected and mistreated by their families because they choose to follow Jesus.
“He discovered the suffering I was enduring and the immense pressure I was under,” Batoul says. “But he strengthened me, reminding me to look up to Christ and remember how He was persecuted, crucified, beaten and endured great suffering. As His followers, we, too, will face such trials.”
Brother Youssef also helped Batoul see that, through Jesus, she wasn’t alone. “Brother Youssef gave me advice. He said that I should always refer to Christ [when I face a problem],” Batoul says. “And that if I needed a father, I should talk to Jesus in the first place, and to ask of Him everything that I used to ask of people. I should turn to Christ … for everything I needed to do in my life, and to identify in Christ all the people I require in my life.”
Batoul also began to attend Brother Youssef’s house church supported by Open Doors. They meet secretly, as it’s mostly a congregation of converts from Islam, and such conversions are illegal where they live. The church has provided another lifeline to Batoul. “To me, church is the family I was seeking since I came to believe as a child,” she says, “the gathering I was searching for when I was a lonely believer.”
Today, Batoul’s relationships with her mother and sisters are better. They have realized her commitment to Christ is strong and lasting. “They wish that I would return to Islam, but they don’t pressure me and they treat me well,” she says. “I do not suffer from major pressure now from my family, with regards to my faith, but I see in their eyes and their behavior their desire for me to turn back to Islam.”
However, even with her improved home life, Batoul is still not safe, simply because of where she lives and the fact she follows Jesus. “As believers and members of the church, we face problems with the government,” she says. “When we’re gathering on a Sunday, we should not make loud voices while singing hymns so that the neighbors won’t call the police on us and file a complaint. So, we are pressured.”
Persecution as a Woman
Her status as an unmarried woman adds an extra layer of difficulty for Batoul. “The pressure on us as women doubles in the society,” she explains. “[One] difficulty for Christian women is how they can attend church; a man can leave the house with no issue whatsoever … but a girl will be interrogated [about] where she’s going, with whom and at what hour. She’ll go through an intensive questioning. A lot of girls can’t go to church because their family doesn’t allow the girl to go out unless accompanied by the whole family.”
Even with the ongoing challenges, Batoul is prepared. Because I believe in Christ, I must be ready for persecution and whatever else I might face,” she says. “I draw my strength from the Scriptures of the Lord and believe in His teachings. I must not be angry or reflect a disappointing image of Christ. Instead, I should reach out to others with His message. Even when they persecute and beat me, I still treat them with kindness.”
Through the support of Open Doors partners, Batoul has also started a ministry for women like her——those who have accepted Jesus and are rejected and mistreated by their families and communities. She offers them prayers and guidance.
“I am preaching to the world outside, I get in contact with the girls,” she says. “A lot of girls are afraid of their families and their societies. That’s why they are afraid of believing!” Batoul befriends girls n situations similar to hers and uses her experience and knowledge of God as her Heavenly Father to show them the truth of Jesus.
“Today, I don’t feel lonely,” Batoul says, “but sometimes I still feel the pain! Every time I feel this pain, I cry. But I also pray. It’s through prayer that I can get through this. In all the sadness, I behold Christ in my life because when I remember that He’s with me, I feel joyous.”
Pray
- One of Batoul’s sisters is showing interest in Jesus; she has been attending prayer meetings and discipleship sessions, seeking the truth. Pray that this sister opens her heart, listens to the voice of love and fully surrenders herself to the Lord.
- After losing another job because of her faith, Batoul has decided to serve Jesus and his church full-time. Pray God will sustain her work and give her what she needs.
- Batoul asks that you pray for women in North Africa: “I pray that the Lord would strengthen them, that they would believe in Him, and that they would not be afraid but encouraged. I hope they become resilient like me, able to pray and read the Bible freely -and stand strong against the persecutions they may face.”
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Persecuted Christian women often experience “double persecution”, being targeted for both their faith and their gender. When you give a gift, you are supporting women like Batoul who faithfully follow Jesus despite the cost. And right now, thanks to a generous donor, your gift will be doubled!
