When dying for Christ seems easier than living for Him
To die for Christ is one thing. But to choose to follow Him daily in the face of persistent, brutal hostility is quite another. Since the day that members of their community in the Horn of Africa hit Dagan* and her husband, Noah*, where they knew it would hurt them most, the daily decision to follow Christ has become a fierce spiritual battle rather than a simple choice
Warning: this story contains details about sexual violence that may cause distress.
Like nearly every other person in their community, Dagan and Noah grew up as Muslims. It was not an easy life. Noah never knew his mother and grew up with his father and his two other wives. (Polygamy is common where he grew up). There was a lot of animosity between him and his siblings.
It was as he struggled to make sense of life and pining for love and connection he thought he could only get from his mother, that a Christian friend started teaching him the core principles of Christianity. It was a risky undertaking in a land where Islam is the state religion and evangelizing is against the law.
However, Dagan was not impressed. “When I saw them I was very annoyed. I insulted them… after that my husband’s friend told me that he wanted to teach me the Word of God. I told him to pray for me and if I get what is in my heart, I will accept Jesus.”
At the time, Dagan and Noah had been married for a while, but so far had no children. Dagan yearned to be a mother. “Shortly after he prayed, I received what I wanted… God gave me a child! I accepted Jesus and I began following Him.”
That was around 16 years ago. After Dagan and Noah received their daughter, Adiel* from the Lord, Dagan became pregnant again with their second daughter, Dinah*. “For me, Jesus was a miracle. Before Jesus, my life was full of darkness, but when I accepted Jesus, I received eternal life and the Light.”
But this did not mean that Dagan and Noah’s life became any easier. Exactly the opposite was true. “After accepting Jesus, we went through difficulties.”
Their family and community rejected them. In their eyes, they were now second-class citizens. There were also physical attacks. One time Noah went to a funeral of a family member and his brother attacked him because he had changed his faith.
Despite the rejection from his family and community, Noah remained committed to sharing about Christ. This angered them even more. The couple always knew life would be hard, but they never expected the kind of trouble and grief that were to come next.
Where it would hurt most
“The most difficult thing I went through for the sake of Christ was my daughter… people harassed my daughter… they did bad things to her and beat her… truly when I remember that I become very sad.”
One day last December, a group of six Muslim men followed Adiel from town – the daughter they had received as a miracle from the Lord – and raped her.
This incident and the aftermath are still so fresh in the minds that this husband and wife cannot speak about it without sobbing.
“We went to the police station. The neighbours told the police that our story was a lie because we are Christians. So, the police did not take our report seriously and they closed our case… they did not arrest those who raped my daughter. I borrowed money and took her to the hospital, to check her health… I wanted to show the police the evidence, so they can see the injuries on her body… to show that our neighbours are the ones lying about our case.
“I brought all the documents to the police. They arrested those men who hurt my daughter. But the neighbours were not satisfied and again they went to the police to fight the evidence. The police said they would transfer our case to the justice department. After our case was transferred, Noah’s elders came to testify against our case by saying that we are Christians and that nothing we say can be trusted… that this report is a lie.
“The justice department postponed our case, even our neighbours came again to say our report is a lie. We suffer a lot because of that and when I think of it, I become very sad.
“We will continue to be part of the believers, but sometimes when we remember what happened, we ask ourselves if we should not let it all go and return to the religion we came from… but we believe God chose us and we will not leave the Word of God. Even though we are persecuted we still want to reach those who are in the darkness with the gospel. That is what my heart wants… to reach them with the gospel and share with them the Word of God.”
Since the attack, Open Doors partners have supported the family through trauma care, paid Adiel and Dinah’s school fees and helped them repay the money they borrowed for Adiel’s medical care.
“In the trauma training, we learned many things, such as how to talk to our families and our children, why the relationship between husband and wife is important, and how to be tolerant with other people. Even those who persecute us, we have to be patient with them… trauma is something that leaves injuries inside and outside of us, like what happened to us… we forgave them as God forgave us our sins, and that is a good example that we get from the training.
“I just want to send some words to the brothers and sisters who are always supporting us. Thank you and may God bless you. You have already helped us a lot.”
Sidebar
Open Doors partners in the Horn of Africa will continue the relationship with Dagan and her family. Our partners are in consultation with their church on the next best steps to support the family. The parents want to continue fighting Adiel’s case even if the hopes for justice may never be fulfilled. It is a reality they, along with thousands of other Christian converts in Muslim-dominated countries, must live with.
Adiel is a young teenager, who under the circumstances is doing well, but it remains a long road to recovery. On the prospects of young female believers, specifically in the Horn of Africa’s Muslim-dominated countries, a field worker reflected that “to be a girl can sometimes feel like a curse”. Women and girls are objectified, and most have accepted that the abuse they face is ‘normal’ within their cultural and religious context.
Targeted sexual violence is by no means unique to Christian persecution. It is however often used by persecutors to inflict physical, emotional and spiritual suffering on Christian women and girls, their families and communities. Open Doors’ comprehensive 2021 Gender-Specific Religious Persecution report, further unpacks the uniquely complex dynamics of violence and sexual violence against women and girls as a form of persecution.
Trauma support for persecuted Christians is a crucial part of Open Doors’ ministry work in the Horn and Sub-Saharan Africa. In trauma workshops, counsellors help persecuted believers like Dagan, Noah and Adiel understand the impact of trauma, find healing through biblical principles, and become resilient light bearers in their communities.
Prayer request
- “My prayer request is to help my daughter, to take her far from where she got hurt,” asks Dagan. Pray that these parents will receive wisdom from the Lord on how to best protect their children while serving the small Christian community in their country.
- Join us in thanking the Lord for Noah, Dagan, Adiel and Dinah’s faith despite the pressure and pain they are experiencing. May the Lord continue to strengthen them.
- Pray that the family will continue to find healing through the trauma care and that Adiel especially will heal completely both physically and emotionally.
- Pray especially for women and girls in Muslim-dominated countries that are vulnerable to sexual violence.
