Aisha
See
“On that fateful night I was asleep in my room with my husband. My children were in the other room. Then we heard a woman in our compound crying.”
Aisha’s village was attacked by militant Fulani, a tribe of nomadic, predominantly Muslim cattle herders. They burst into the house and found a Bible in the room so assumed her husband was a pastor. They took him away. Aisha was badly beaten and brutally assaulted by two of the men.
Thankfully, some hours later her husband returned. “As I told him everything I began to cry bitterly. But then he told me I should wipe my tears, that he would stand by me and never leave me.” His response is unusual in a culture where women are sometimes shamed and ostracised by society because they have been abused.
Change
Aisha attended a trauma counselling programme run by Open Doors partners in Nigeria.
“If I hadn’t attended the programme, I don’t know what my life would have been. I would still have been in pain, with nobody around me to strengthen me. But now I have received this trauma healing I am so happy. I am overwhelmed with the love and compassion shown to us.
“In the course of the workshop I saw how God thinks about me; how He looks at me... God has promised that one day He will wipe away all our tears. All the pain and the worries we have faced.
“If it were possible, I would want all women who have gone through this trauma to attend.”
Respond
- Pray that women like Aisha will see themselves as God sees them – as children of God, loved cherished and of inestimable worth.
- Give to see change for persecuted women around the world. Help restore their hope and dignity
- Take action by signing up to our regular emails to hear more inspiring stories of courageous faith and check back soon for the chance to write to these courageous women.
