Nazeera was cooking breakfast for her family one morning when the unthinkable happened. The minute he heard screams coming from the kitchen, Saeed, Nazeera’s husband, ran downstairs, but in the confusion didn’t know what to do to save her. Meanwhile, their 16-year-old son did the only thing he could think of: he hugged his mother, hoping that would put out the flames. What appeared to be an accident...was murder Only later did Saeed find out that one of his brothers and one of Nazeera’s brothers had devised a deadly plan to take the vegetable oil out of the bottle and replace it with gasoline. The reason: Saeed and Nazeera refused to return to Islam.This was by far the worst, but not the first time the family had been caught in this holy war between Christianity and Islam. Even after Nazeera passed away, the family could not find anyone willing to testify to who was behind this senseless murder. “No one will be a witness for us,” Saeed said dejectedly. As an example of how deep their hatred was for his decision to follow Christ, he admitted, “My own family told me that if I was killed and cut into pieces, they wouldn’t do anything to help or be a witness on my side.” Counting the cost A lesser man might have given up at that point, figuring that the cost of being a believer in the Arabian peninsula was just too high.But not Saeed. “We ask people to pray for us, as we are all alone,” he said. “Pray for my children as now I am their mother and father, and their only friend. We need prayers for God’s strength and to give us strong faith.” Then he added, “I want people outside to know that even if we get cut into pieces, we won’t leave Jesus Christ.” |
In places like Yemen, it’s not unusual to hear about Christians being killed for putting their faith in Christ. Please pray for persecuted believers everywhere, and give a gift to provide Bibles, Christian literature, safe house and other programs to strengthen the faith of these brothers and sisters around the world. Open Doors USA, PO Box 27001, Santa Ana, CA 92799 |
