“I will look to Him”: a woman’s steadfast faith in Sri Lanka

When hostility from her partner and his family turned violent, Sunisha had to flee her home with her newborn baby. Though she continues to face harassment and intimidation for her faith, she boldly holds on to her hope in Jesus.

Sunisha* felt as if she was having a nightmare. Before her, the flames hungrily licked up every word, each bookmarked, wrinkled page curling and turning to ash. Over her loomed her partner, the man she had loved who had just set fire to the most precious thing she owned: her Bible – the book which had given her life. 

Finding faith in Sri Lanka 

Sunisha is a 17-year-old girl living in Sri Lanka. While the constitution guarantees religious freedom, believers still face harsh harassment and violence for their faith – especially if they convert from local religions to following Jesus. 

This is Sunisha’s story. In 2023, she and her mother heard a local pastor share the gospel and they became believers. Whilst her father did not follow suit, neither did he oppose their decision.

The hostility they began to face instead came from their neighbours and the village’s religious authorities. Slowly, people stopped talking to Sunisha and her mother, and the village monk threatened them, saying, “You people never came to the temple when you were Buddhists, but now you go to church every day!” 

Regardless, the two women remained steadfast, praying and meeting with other Christians where they could. Over time, the heat of their village’s resentment faded. But persecution would eventually arise from another source. 

The cost 

In 2025, Sunisha fell in love with a young Buddhist man but did not give up her beliefs. He reassured her that she would be able to continue practising her faith even when living in the same home. Then, Sunisha discovered that she was pregnant and had no choice but to move into her partner’s home, and his family welcomed her warmly. 

“I made a big mistake,” she reflects. “I prayed and asked forgiveness from the Lord.” 

With renewed vigour, Sunisha read her Bible and prayed every day in her partner’s home. “I read the Bible and keep notes in it – things that I feel about God and my prayers,” she shares.  

Soon, Sunisha’s unabashed devotion started to irritate her adopted family, just two months after she had moved in. They began to grumble, saying, “She can’t be reading the Bible and praying every day like this.”  Every time she reached for the Word, her partner would scold her, too. “They were angry with me not only because I read the Bible and pray, but because I do not join in with their Buddhist rituals,” she says. 

Then the family’s antagonism turned violent. It was then that Sunisha lost her Bible to her partner’s hatred. “One day, I was reading my Bible, and he became furious. He burned it right in front of me. I cried so much. I felt like I had died when I saw my Bible burning.” 

And it didn’t stop there. Sunisha faced physical abuse at the hands of her partner whenever she prayed or read Scripture online, and he even stopped providing money for her basic needs. Because their husbands are usually the breadwinners of the family, many Christian women around the world are totally dependent on their partners and this vulnerability is abused by their persecutors. 

Steadfast 

Days of pain finally drove Sunisha to flee and return to her mother’s house. 

“I remember the day she arrived,” Sunisha’s mother recalls. “My daughter had bruises on her neck.” 

Even there, Sunisha and her mother faced persecution – her partner would arrive unexpectedly outside the door to harass them. “Each time her comes, he beats me, pushes me and scolds me,” Sunisha says.  

Throughout this gruelling period, her baby was growing and is now seven months old, entirely dependent on Sunisha and her mother – her partner refuses to support them.  

Though the persecution has not abated, the family have seen the hand of God working in their lives through the local church and Open Doors local partners. Sunisha’s pastor supports them with spiritual and practical help, even at the cost of his own safety as he too faces harassment from Sunisha’s partner. “God will protect me and the family,” he says firmly. 

Sunisha also remains steadfast, her young age no indicator of the deep faith to which she boldly testifies. “I made a mistake, but God has given me another chance,” she affirms. “He will not give me a trial that I cannot bear, so I will look to Him for His providence.” 

*Name changed for security reasons