Shivani won’t stop fighting for her faith and family
An Open Doors team went to visit Shivani recently to check in on how her new business was doing. Shivani has a challenging history but was assisted by your donations and Open Doors partners to become self-employed and provide for her children.
She is in her mid-thirties and is a mother of two. Shivani is someone who has faced extreme domestic violence and opposition from her community because of her Christian faith and because she is a woman.
This visit to her house was planned because Open Doors wanted to hear her story of courage and see how she had benefitted from the recent help provided. They were shocked to see that in the anticipation of their coming, Shivani had prepared a large Indian platter for lunch. Given her financial situation, it was clear that this meal must have been cost her two days’ income. Nevertheless, she seemed overjoyed to share. This was a beautiful representation of Shivani’s heart.
Shivani’s story
She begins to share about her life. “Mine was an arranged marriage fixed up by my family. My in-laws seemed well-to-do, and my parents thought I would have a comfortable life. Much to my horror a few months into the marriage, I found out that my husband was an extreme alcoholic and very abusive.”
On several occasions, Shivani’s husband would not return home, even at night, and spent a lot of time with his friends in bars and clubs, drinking and gambling. He was not a consistent provider for his family; he would take odd jobs but never made a sufficient income.
Shivani often had to rely on the support of her in-laws to have enough food in the kitchen. Almost every other day, Shivani’s husband would return home drunk and he would argue for petty reasons and hit her.
“I sought help from my in-laws who lived with me but none of them supported me. They even blamed me for not being able to help him quit his drinking habit. Sometimes they joined him in beating me.”
An encounter with Jesus
A few more years into the marriage, Shivani could not conceive which put even more strain on her relationship with her family. Now, apart from the regular abuse, the family started tormenting her because they wanted an heir. It was at this point that someone shared Jesus with her in-laws.
“It was my father-in-law who first believed in Jesus. He wanted the whole family to come to Christian faith. He said that I would be able to conceive only if I believed in Jesus. I denied at first but then I had miscarriages. I then prayed – Jesus, if you are, true then give me a child.
God answered my prayers I soon had a healthy baby. Jesus had proved that He was living and that he cared for me. I then completely gave my life to Jesus.”
Persecution from family and community
The family was overjoyed at the arrival of the baby. However, the happiness was short-lived: “My in- laws all backslid from their faith a few months later. They were Christians just for namesake. I wanted to go to church and live my faith, but they stopped me from doing so. The family was back to what it was before they had come to Christian faith and became even worse. My husband continued to drink heavily and physically abused me. In all this, I became pregnant again and had another baby. Life was tougher now as I had two children whom I had to nourish, and my husband never recognized that he had responsibilities towards the family. He taunted me when he saw me praying. He would pick a fight with me wherein towards the end, he would bash me up. I used make-up to hide the marks he gave me.”
The community and relatives also opposed her when Shivani spoke openly about her Christian faith and they accused her of things like taking money to be a Christian. She had so much going on inside her house and now to add to that, the society and relatives inflicted mental pressure on her with their comments and false allegations. They even spread false rumours about her, tarnishing her character. This all happened 2 years ago. When such false rumours were spread even Shivani’s children started to hate her.
God Answered Prayers
However, in this situation, Shivani continued to pray and ask God to help her, since she had no time or privacy to sit and pray, she would pray in her heart while doing household chores.
“I prayed that God would help me and provide me a way I could support the income of the family. I prayed I would not be required to ask financial help from my in-laws to get food for my children and I also prayed that I would be able to give proper education to my children.”
Though it took time, Shivani’s answer arrived. “I prayed for months, thereafter God showed me a way. One of my friends in the locality ran a salon business, she saw my condition and sympathized. She told me that she could offer me a training course on how to run a salon for free. I was overjoyed, I visited her shop daily and learnt all the skills, in return I helped her with her salon work.”
It was at this point when Open Doors partners came in touch with Shivani and got to know about her struggles. They came to counsel her and her in-laws. They offered to help set up a small beauty parlour business for Shivani. The family agreed and the salon business was started.
“Initially, the business was affected by Covid-19 pandemic. But now, I am starting to get more business. New customers come in and they like the extra effort I put in in my work and then they become permanent customers.”
Shivani is very happy about what the future may hold for her, though she still faces so much harassment. “Despite all my afflictions I am very hopeful. God remembered me and I know deep down, He preserves me as the apple of His eye.”
She is grateful that her in-laws have allowed her to work even though the community that they live in does not encourage women to work. This in itself is huge progress. She is able to spend most of her time in the salon where she tries to forget her misery and grow her business. However, in the back of Shivani’s mind, she is always praying, as she knows and trusts that God is leading her.
Praise God that her children are supportive of her now. Recent words they shared with Shivani stuck with her: “’We are with you even if everyone else might go against of you because of your faith’. This gives me so much strength.”
On asking Shivani what her prayer requests would be, she replied quickly, “Please pray for my husband that he comes back to Christ. Pray for my in-laws that they might be able to live their faith and are not influenced by the community. Pray for my children that they grow up to be strong and successful and that they hold on to Jesus forever.”
There are several women like Shivani who are already caught up in domestic violence because their families are abusive – the torment increases further when they choose to come to Christian faith. Open Doors partners try to connect with such women and work alongside them to become self-sufficient.
