It's late afternoon in a city in Central Asia and I arrive with a friend at a lovely park in the city where we meet a woman named Noriza.
We greet Noriza (alias) and sit down at a table with benches under a tree. My friend has brought cups, a thermos with tea and homemade "Samsa". Samsa is a puff pastry bun with a meat filling. "They're really good," says Noriza." I probably couldn't have made them better myself!" she says.
"My life was without joy and laughter!"
After we've had tea, she suddenly says with seriousness in her voice: "In fact, my life was without joy and laughter! Because I have had a very difficult life, with a lot of shame, and it is only because of God and my Christian friend sitting here with us that I have found joy in my life!"
"I had five children. Unfortunately, my eldest son died after he left home and his death was a great pain for me. So I have four children, three daughters and a son."
"I come from a poor family with eight siblings. We lived in a village and when I turned 18, I married Bagdan (alias, ed.) and we moved here to the city.
He got a job, but his salary was very low, and so was my salary from a part-time job. But then Bagdan got depressed and he started drinking alcohol, and from there it was all downhill for us," Noriza sighs.
"If you can't find God, come with me to God's house. Because Jesus loves you, and in our church we want to help you!"
- Noriza's friend
"It got so bad that there were times when there wasn't even bread in the house.
The kids were crying and I felt powerless because I couldn't bring myself to steal!
Eventually I also became depressed with suicidal thoughts and I didn't want to live anymore. 'Where are you God?' I said one day! Then I walked out the door, slammed it hard behind me in anger, and left.
I ended up with some friends who comforted me. They offered me a drink to calm me down, and from that moment I became addicted to alcohol," says Noriza, looking down at the table.
Our friend at the table suddenly says: "When I met Noriza, I said to her: If you can't find God, come with me to the house of God. Because Jesus loves you, and in our church we want to help you!"
Noriza smiles and says: "I thought: Jesus and church! I'm a Muslim! But then I thought: why not! Whether God is there or not, maybe they can help me! What do I have to lose by that?"
"They gave me food to eat and a big bag of food (from the Bags of Hope project supported by the Danish European Mission's improvers and donors) to take home to the children. I was very happy because now I could give them something to eat. But then my friend here said: 'Hurry home Noriza!
I had planned to go somewhere else first, but I hurried home, and as I walked, it was as if a voice inside me sounded: 'Hurry up!".
"My Muslim friends and family can think what they want about me! Because Jesus had just saved us from destruction and suicide!"
"But when I got home, I saw something terrible! My eldest daughter Anel had tried to hang herself with the belt from my coat. Thank God I stopped it in time."
"When she came to, she said with tears: 'We only have tap water left, and when my younger siblings cried because we had nothing to eat, I didn't want to live anymore! ´.
I calmed Anel down and opened the bag of food and we ate like we hadn't eaten in a long time! "
'When I had hanged myself, and all was dark, a voice said to me, "It is too early for you to die, and you must live and enjoy life! ', 'Mother', she said, then to me: 'It was probably God who said that to me!"
- Anel
"In the evening Anel said to me: 'When I had hanged myself and everything was dark, a voice said to me, 'It is too early for you to die, and you must live and have joy in life! ', 'Mother', she said, then to me: 'It was probably God who said that to me!
"Then I took the kids to church," says Noriza. "I thought 'my Muslim friends and family can think what they want about me! Because Jesus had just saved us from destruction and suicide!"
"The kids really liked coming to church and the church helped us with Bags of Hope, as they called the bags of goods."
"My children started praying and going to church themselves, and that same year the two oldest children were invited to a Christian summer camp. This Christian summer camp was supported by the intercessors and donors of the Danish European Mission."
"When they returned home, they spoke excitedly about the camp, where they had made friends with many people. "It's the best thing we've ever experienced," they said, and I even heard them say 'Thank you Jesus!
"The devil has deceived you and you bring us dishonor," said my Muslim relatives.
What was the reaction to your conversion, Noriza, I ask.
"It was persecution!" she replies promptly.
Noriza continues: "Unfortunately, our relatives started persecuting us when they were angry that we came to a church. 'The devil has deceived you and you bring us dishonor,' my Muslim relatives said, and they blamed me.
'It is because of you that dishonor has come upon us all! 'Honestly, I said. Wasn't I a bigger disgrace to you when I was an alcoholic? But they wouldn't listen to that. 'No, because then you only brought shame on yourself,' they said."
"My husband and the children's father, Bagdan, who was Muslim, also came to believe in Jesus. But unfortunately he died not long after due to illness. The doctors said his liver had given up!" Noriza says sadly.
"When Bagdan died, our relatives came and wanted to take the children from me! Of course, I wouldn't agree to that, so they called the city's social services. They took my children and sent them to an orphanage. It was really hard for me and for the children. Rarely have we cried so much! It's been over a year now."
"God has helped us through a lot and I don't lose hope," says Nariza with a steady gaze"
"My eldest daughter Anel is doing well and she has held on to Jesus," smiles Noriza.
"She is now finishing her exams at the school, which is near the orphanage, and will soon start training. We met recently because she still goes to church, where she has many friends."
"God has helped us through a lot and I don't lose hope," says Nariza with a steady gaze. "I continue to pray for my children and I believe that I will soon have them back home with me, because the authorities have now understood that there has been a big change in my life and that I am now a responsible woman who lives a completely different life than I did before," Noriza smiles happily.
