Aizada was violently persecuted by the man who should love her most

When Aizada’s brother found out about her faith, he beat her, held her captive at home, and tried to marry her to a Muslim. Here’s her story of courageous faith.

Aizada’s* phone starts ringing while she is at a prayer meeting. This isn’t unusual. Her elder brother often calls her, demanding to know where she is, what she is doing, who she is with. Like many women in her part of Central Asia, Aizada is treated almost like her brother’s possession. She is expected to do as he says, and not to act independently of him. 

Aizada steps out of the prayer meeting to answer. She knows she’ll be in deeper trouble if she doesn’t answer – but he also mustn’t know where she is. Aizada is a convert from Islam, and has to keep her faith and her prayer meetings tightly held secrets. As she has done countless times before, she gives her usual cover story: “I’m with my friends.” 

But this time is different. “Turn around!” he shouts. Aizada hears him on the phone – but she can hear him in the street, too. She turns quickly – and there he is. Her brother is in his car, looking straight at her.  

Violence and anger 

“I was so scared,” remembers Aizada. “My mother and some other relatives were also there. I thought, ‘What do I tell them now?’” But she knew her Heavenly Father was with her. “I was anxious but, in that moment, I felt courage and strength from God. I decided that I would not hide my faith anymore. I would tell them about my faith in Jesus.” 

Her family’s reaction was immediate and violent. Her brother forced her into the car and drove home. In the car, Aizada’s passport, phone, money and all other documents were taken from her. 

At home, she was interrogated. Her brother’s questions quickly escalated to violence. “They were so angry with me,” Aizada says. “Initially, they tried to persuade me to renounce Jesus and stop attending church – but when they saw I wasn’t going to, they became angry and started beating me.  

“I was locked inside my home and wasn’t allowed to go out. I was working at the time, but they even refused to let me go there. Every day, I was threatened by my elder brother and relatives.” 

These are common ways in which women and girls are persecuted. They are forbidden from leaving the house and have all their documents and means of escape confiscated. They are treated with violence by male relatives who should protect and care for them. And all of this happens behind closed doors. 

Her family were also plotting another tactic that female converts often face: forced marriage. 

Aizada’s escape 

Aizada overheard her family planning to marry her off to a Muslim man. Since she wouldn’t give in to their arguments and demands, this would be a way to make practising her new faith impossible. They were determined to do whatever it took to make her renounce Christianity. 

“Those days, I was thinking of ways to escape from home. Every day, when I went to bed and got up, I only thought about this,” she shares. 

One day, Aizada saw a chance to make contact with her church family. “God gave me an opportunity,” she says. “My mother left her phone when she went for Namaz [Muslim prayer time]. I took her phone and called sisters from my church and told them about my situation.” 

Because of marriage her family was arranging, she was allowed to leave the house to meet the Muslim man. What her parents didn’t know was that her younger brother was also a secret believer, and he would help her escape. 

“I prepared my escape by putting my stuff into a trash bag and hiding it in the yard,” says Aizada. “That day, I said goodbye to my mother, kissed her, and left the house.” 

Aizada’s younger brother drove her to the prayer house and said goodbye, too. On the journey, her elder brother had phoned – so Aizada threw the SIM card away. She knew it was too dangerous to have any contact. “My brother threatened to make me a cripple or put me in a mental hospital,” she says. “They would never leave me alone. I decided I would never return home.” 

A brave decision 

Upon her arrival at the church, she was welcomed by several members, some of whom had endured similar persecution. They prayed with her, encouraged her with Scripture, and shared their own stories. 

The pastor took Aizada into his home, and she lived with his family for a month. But her elder brother didn’t give up. He filed a missing person’s report, and the police were out searching for her. “Once I got a message about my location,” she remembers. “My family threatened that they would find me. I was scared so I turned my phone off and broke it. The pastor, his family, and other brothers and sisters from church prayed for me a lot.” 

Her friends in the church helped her move from place to place every few days to evade the police and her relatives. 

“I stayed several nights in different places, in other church members’ houses. The believers were so kind to me and very hospitable,” she says. Her biological family – except for her younger brother – treated her with violence and shame. Her church family treated her with love. 

But Aizada knew she wouldn’t be safe forever. Her relatives would never give up. She resolved to leave the country. 

It wasn’t easy – without her passport, she had to disguise herself to get another. By God’s grace, her application was successful – and she was able to pass through border control and leave the country. She still lives in Central Asia, but in another country, with a new church family. 

A new hope 

“The fear of the persecution tortured me for so long,” she says. “I saw nightmares of somebody following me and of me losing my documents and not being able to find them. Those dreams haunted me. But God healed and comforted me.” 

Today, she has a Christian husband and three beautiful children. Last year, they flew to her home country for the first time since she fled – and Aizada is enheartened by reconciliation with her mother. But it is still too dangerous to meet with her elder brother. 

“The decision to follow Jesus is a very difficult decision for a person from a Muslim background,” she shares. “I had to go through a lot of suffering for my faith. I was left without a homeland, a home, and a family, but God gave me a new homeland, a family and a home as He promised in Mark 10:29-30.” 

In those verses, Jesus says: “Truly I tell you, no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields – along with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life.” 

Aizada is now keen to see change and support others, as the church supported her. “When I meet such persecuted Christians, I share my story to encourage and inspire them. I always pray for those who are suffering for their faith, and I want all believers to pray for them.” 

*Name changed for security reasons