Aicha hopes for joy this Christmas

Aicha in Burkina Faso has been beaten by her uncles and rejected by her wider family for following Jesus. And she’s still only 12 years old.

Aicha was only eight years old when her uncles started beating her. Why? Because she had chosen to follow Jesus.

“My father’s older brother and my mother’s younger brother used to beat me because of my faith,” she shares. Even her father’s sister joined in the violence. They were particularly keen to stop Aicha going to church and would lie in wait for her on the path. “One day, I dressed up to go to church, and on the way my uncle met me,” shares Aicha. “He beat me then forced me to go back home.”

But Aicha was determined to keep going to services. “Despite the trials, I persevered because I wanted to follow and serve the Lord,” she says. “I continued to go to church, joyfully, to hear God’s Word.”

Her parents implored their wider family to stop attacking Aicha, but they didn’t fully understand her faith or why it was so important to her. Because Aicha, at eight years old, was the first Christian in her family.

How Aicha met Jesus

Like approximately three-quarters of the population of Burkina Faso, Aicha grew up as a Muslim. Her mother and stepfather, Asseta and Idrissa, and their extended families followed Islam. They live in a small community with dirt tracks, donkeys and trees rather than roads, cars and tower blocks, and their modest home is made cheerful by the bright blue doors in the pale stone walls and the sunshine-yellow outfits Aicha (now 12) and her siblings, Azis (10) and sister Somaia (7), wear.

As with many communities in the country, Christians and Muslims live alongside each other, often peacefully. And that’s how Aicha met a local preacher called Pastor Steven. She was captivated by what he shared about Jesus. She told him: “I would like to give my life to Jesus, because I heard that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.”

Now a follower of Jesus, Aicha started attending church with her neighbours and their children. She quickly began to see significant changes in her life and character, and that of Azis and Somaia, who also started going to the church. Asseta soon noticed too.

“I used to listen to their conversations, and I realised there was a change in their behaviour,” she says. “I noticed they had become wiser in their conduct in the family. They became more obedient. They remembered that Jesus said children should obey their parents.”

“I was glad to tell my parents about Jesus,” says Aicha, “because I wanted them to believe in Him as well.”

God spoke to Aicha’s mum

The changes in Aicha pleased and intrigued Asseta, but she wasn’t ready to explore Christianity for herself yet. That began to change when Idrissa became very sick.

“They started treating him with traditional medicine, to no avail,” she remembers. “The more they treated, the more he got worse. My family had no more money to continue the treatment.”

That was when someone suggested Asseta take her husband to the pastor for prayer. Though she was willing for Aicha to go to the church with her friends, she couldn’t imagine taking Idrissa to be prayed for by Christians. “I hardened my heart,” she says. “I said, no matter the seriousness of the sickness, I will not take him to church.”

But God intervened. One night, He spoke directly to Asseta.

“I heard a voice that spoke to me, saying: ‘Go to the pastor and you will find the solution,’” she recalls. “The voice repeated this three times.”

Even though it was midnight, Asseta responded to the call immediately. “I explained our problem and the pastor followed us to our house,” she says. “He led my husband to give his life to Jesus, then prayed for him.” Idrissa’s health improved, though he wasn’t fully healed. But he and Asseta received something much more precious: Jesus.

“We all started our Christian journey,” says Asseta. “And this was when our persecutions started.”

Rejection and hardship

While Christians and Muslims live alongside each other in relative harmony in their community, that doesn’t mean there isn’t any persecution. The most widely reported form of persecution in Burkina Faso is violence by radicalised jihadists, in which whole communities are targeted and believers are killed, maimed or displaced. But this is not the only form of oppression that believers experience in the country.

For converts like Aicha and her parents, persecution can come from closer to home. Leaving Islam is seen as deeply shaming to the wider family, and new believers are likely to face extreme pressure to return to their old faith by their families and communities – even when they are as young as Aicha.

“Our children persevered despite the beatings and rejection,” says Asseta. “I believe that God was the one who gave such a boldness to our children, to persevere despite the persecution. It was God’s plan for the children to stand firm, then lead us, their parents, later to be saved.”

Now that children and parents were all believers, their wider family cut them off totally.

“When we were still Muslims, we used to get support from our families,” shares Asseta. “After we received Jesus, everything changed. From that moment, they completely rejected us and never supported us again. We had many trials just because we gave our life to Christ.”

Help and hope

Many Christian children around the world suffer when their families are targeted in this way. Choosing to follow Jesus may mean they lose wider family, financial security and even access to daily necessities, like food – all of which were painful to experience during a stage of life that is often fundamental to their ongoing faith.

When Open Doors local partners heard about the persecution Aicha and her family were facing, they were keen to help strengthen and encourage them, and give joy to those who had already experienced so much hardship for the gospel.

“The ministry [Open Doors partners] supported us tremendously,” says Asseta. “Through the ministry’s support, my husband was able to get medical care. Before that, my husband was staying at home without effective treatment.”

As well as this vital assistance with medical bills, Open Doors partners have given Aicha and her family food support – bags of rice, corn and oil. Having been cut off from their wider family, these essentials are a start in helping these courageous believers keep going and see joy in their faith, rather than being overwhelmed by anxieties and fears for the future. Many other families like theirs need the same support, and this courageous family need your ongoing prayers and support to persevere.

A message to you

Asseta has a message for Open Doors supporters: “Thank you so much, and I pray that God will bless and reward you. I also ask God to continue strengthening you in this great work you have been doing. Our whole family is so glad today, thanks to the support that gave us hope and made us more confident for standing firm in our faith.”

“I am also glad for the support of the ministry and all they have done for us,” agrees Aicha. “I thank the ministry for supporting us; I pray that God will continue to bless them.”

With your ongoing support, Aicha can have joy and hope for the future. When she’s asked what she wants to see in the years to come, she is clear about her passion to share the gospel. She says, “My hope for the future is that I want to be filled with the Holy Spirit, so I can go around and tell other people about the gospel of Jesus.”

Send joy

Christmas is a time when young believers are often particularly isolated and vulnerable – and yet it is still a time of celebration. “The main message of Christmas is that Jesus the Son of God was born to save the world,” declares Aicha. “No matter the life you live, come and receive Jesus as your Saviour. Jesus loves you and He will save you from your sins.”

This Christmas season, there are millions of children and families who need practical and spiritual support. It’s often a struggle to get the food, medicine and shelter they need. Above all, they need to know they aren’t forgotten by their global family. Supporting young believers like Aicha can strengthen and encourage them today, and also helps lay a strong foundation for the future of the church.

This Christmas, will you send joy to children like Aicha?

“I wish you Happy Christmas,” says Aicha. “May the peace of God be with you all!”