Zaira’s story of impossible faith

Zaira spent years searching for the answers to her questions. Nothing could satisfy the ache in her heart – until she encountered the God of the Bible in a book. Saying ‘yes’ to following Jesus meant stepping into a life of persecution, but one from which she would never turn away.

Zaira* closed the door of the barn and barricaded it. She couldn’t let anyone else see what she was about to do, hear what she was about to say. Alone, she knelt down and prayed: “Jesus, come into my heart. I am a sinner. Forgive my sins.”

With that prayer, years of searching ended; with that prayer, years of persecution began.

Searching and scared

Growing up, Zaira lived in fear, terrified of what would happen to her after her death. She tried so hard to do all her religion required, even memorising long, complex prayers and reciting them day and night. “I kept repeating the Islamic prayers, but I was still searching.”

Then tragedy struck: her father fell gravely ill and died. In her grief she cried out to God: “Do You exist or not?” she demanded. “Where is my father?”

God’s answer came through a book. As she sorted through her father’s possessions, she was surprised to find some Christian books he had once been given and which, for some reason, he had kept. One book, in particular, seemed to address the questions she had spent years struggling with.

“I read about Jesus,” she recalls. “It said, ‘Whoever has faith in Jesus will not die but live again.’ That was what I had been looking for. I found it. It all poured into me, like through a funnel.”

In that moment, Zaira made her decision. She went to the barn, prayed the prayer and felt a joy she had never known.

“I felt like I flew up and came back down,” she said. “My mouth couldn’t stop saying ‘Jesus’.”

Persecution and pain

From then on, life changed. Zaira met with some Christians in a neighbouring village, who gave her more books to read. But when her eldest brother found out, he was furious and threw her precious books into the fire. Despite his anger, Zaira carried meeting with other Christians whenever she could. She told her younger sisters about Jesus. Some of her family and friends even became Christians.

That only made others in her family even more angry. She was beaten several times, including when she was pregnant. One of her brothers tried to force her to recite the Islamic declaration of faith. When Zaira refused, he disowned her, shouting, “I have no sister. Leave! I disown you.”

“All I said was, ‘Yes, God.’ That’s all,” Zaira says. “Then I forgave my mother, my brother and everyone.”

The amazing miracle

Zaira didn’t return to her family for several years after that incident. During her absence the relatives who became Christians also suffered persecution. Some of her Christian nieces were forced to marry against their will, others were badly beaten. Like Zaira, however, their faith was strong.

“While they were beating us, we pictured Jesus’ suffering,” one of them told Zaira. “It gave us strength.”

Eventually, things changed. The example of Zaira and the other believers changed the attitudes of those around her. Then came what Zaira calls the most amazing miracle: her mother-in-law became a Christian.

“I used to think that even if the whole world believed, my mother-in-law would not. When she believed, my eyes were opened,” she recalled.

Open Doors supports many women like Zaira, though employment and training schemes help them gain independence, and discipleship training to help them live out their faith. And with your help, Zaira is able to support other vulnerable women who are facing isolation and persecution, and who are facing emotional, psychological and physical abuse.

“You need to be bold, stand firm in your faith, and be courageous,” she shares. “You have to go with two weapons: prayer and the Word.”

*Name changed for security reasons