By Samuel Nymann Eriksen
I meet Aida in eastern Kyrgyzstan, not far from the border with China. I'm allowed to use her real name in this interview as her story is known in the village where she lives - the same village whose inhabitants killed her father-in-law. She has chosen to forgive her father's executioners and the villagers' enmity and live among them - to show them God's love.
She smiles warmly and there is no bitterness in her voice. As the interview progresses, I am moved by her story - and humbled and challenged by how radically she has forgiven and how she loves her enemies and her father-in-law's executioners.
Aida says: "I am 40 years old. I came to faith in Jesus in 1993 and met my husband in 1994. After we met, we spent four years in prayer in our church. We got married in 1997 after my husband graduated from Bible college. My husband's name is Ruslan. He is the only son in his family."
Father-in-law - from imam to evangelist
Ruslan's father was at first very angry that his son believed in Jesus, because at the time he was an imam. He told his son that he could no longer live in his house. "But we kept praying," says Aida. And then in 1995, after reading the Bible, the father came to believe in Jesus.
"My father-in-law used to be a strict Muslim leader. He was born in China, knew Arabic and knew a lot about the Quran. He had a strong encounter with Jesus, so he began to speak openly to everyone in the village about Him and shared the gospel with everyone he could. His main ministry was evangelizing, and he got up every day at three in the morning and prayed until seven."
"Then he went to all the villages and shared the gospel with people, and he wasn't afraid to tell anyone that he believed in Jesus. He also told them that he used to be a Muslim."
Father-in-law was ostracized by the village
"The elders in the village were very angry with him. His relatives said he could no longer be part of the family. For example, when he came to a funeral or a party, the older people would tell him: 'Go away from here,' and even when he tried to go from the village to a city, none of the taxi drivers would take him. Some of the shopkeepers also refused to sell to him."
Ruslan and Aida wiped up the blood
"He was killed in January 2006. Right after he was murdered, we went into the room. There was blood everywhere, there was blood in his hair and he had been beaten very badly. My husband and I cleaned up after all this, and for a long time afterwards she was scared because of it.
But God showed us that there is a place that flows with milk and honey, that there is a place that God had prepared for us and He wanted us to stay in the village. So despite the words of our family and the villagers, we were helped in the Word of God to stay in the village.
One of the reasons the Muslims killed my father-in-law was that they were very strong at the time, and the imam in the village started telling those who followed him that if you kill or persecute someone who has renounced their faith, you will go to heaven. Another reason was that he always told the truth, that he followed Jesus, so everyone knew it, and the Muslim leaders were very afraid that the young people would start following him."
He did not have to be buried
"After they killed him, we were not allowed to bury him for ten days," Aida says. "The village elders gathered and offered us that he could be buried in exchange for Ruslan and I becoming Muslims.
But his son, my husband Ruslan, said that his father gave his life to Jesus, so why should he become a Muslim after that? He told them that Jesus had saved him and therefore he would never become a Muslim. All the believers in Kyrgyzstan, and even Christians abroad, prayed for the situation.
With God's help, the Muslim leaders gave us a separate piece of land with space to bury six people. It was for our father-in-law and his family. When we die, we will be buried there," says Aida and continues: "Of course, those ten days were very hard for us, and the belief that God can do anything was our only bright spot during that time.
Ruslan could have renounced his faith out of fear of the Muslims, but he did not. Here in Kyrgyzstan, ten days never pass before we bury a dead person."
The village threatened Aida with sexual assault
"Ruslan was their only son and according to our traditions he has to live in his father's village. After we moved to the village, many bad things happened and there were many unpleasant situations where people came and said they would kill Ruslan if he didn't move away. His relatives wanted him to leave the village. They also said that if he didn't leave, I might be sexually assaulted.
We were threatened in this way many times because the Muslim leaders were afraid that our family would become a door for the village to Jesus. They were afraid that just as Ruslan had been a door to Jesus for his father, he could also be a door to Jesus for the whole village. As a mother and wife, it was very hard to hear these kinds of things from people."
Shops and taxi drivers didn't want to trade
"It wasn't just my father-in-law who was persecuted. We also experienced it ourselves. For example, many shops said no when we wanted to go shopping, and the taxi drivers wouldn't let us go into town. And none of our neighbors would talk to us."
Serving the village
"After a long time, however, the neighbors started to visit us. When we prayed at night, we asked God what he wanted us to do in the village. God said we should just live in the village, that's all. Because God wanted to show his kingdom to the villagers through our family. I am a nurse and can also do hair; Ruslan is a carpenter and he is also a skilled electrician, so we started using our skills to serve the villagers."
"We understood that the villagers were in need and that we had to come to their aid. We moved to the village in 2006, and today our relationship with the people there has changed a lot compared to the first years there. Now most people have a warm relationship with us and now we can see how we can build a relationship with the people in the village."
Our children have also been persecuted - got bad grades in school
"We have two children, a boy and a girl. The boy is called Adilet and has just finished school. Our daughter's name is Raushan and she has just finished 9th grade. Of course, the children experienced persecution from teachers and their classmates. For example, our daughter is a very good student, but most teachers gave her very bad grades."
Being persecuted Christians and parents
"In 2006 when we had just moved, our son was starting first grade, and when I went up to the principal and said I wanted my son to go to the school, the principal said that the boy could not say anything about Jesus, and if the boy did not say anything about Jesus, that was fine, but he would keep an eye on him. At that meeting I was able to share the gospel.
Now that we had a little boy, it was our most important responsibility to give him a good upbringing. As parents, the most important responsibility is to give your children a good upbringing, but it's up to our son if he wants to follow Jesus. When he's 16 years old, he can make the decision himself.
If someone asks, I will share the gospel with people, but it's never the first thing I do when I meet a person. If the person is not interested, I will not share. If you compare life in 2006 with now, there were two groups in 2006. One group was all the villagers and the other group was just Ruslan and me. Now there are also two groups, but half of the villagers see that following Jesus is not so bad, so now we also have villagers on our side."
I am deeply moved after interviewing Aida. I ask her to pray for me. I - and we - can learn so much from a woman like Aida about wanting to share the gospel with our fellow human beings and to forgive and love people.
