"Jesus heals my heart from all pain and rejection!" 

My drive today offers Central Asia's beautiful panoramic scenes, with views of high mountains with white peaks. The road winds along the foot of the mountains, and on the drive I enjoy the green grassy slopes with all kinds of wildflowers along the road. After an hour or so, I arrive in the town where I meet Arash, the local project manager for the Danish European Mission's Bags of Hope project. 

When I get out of the car, Arash gives me a big hug. "Glad you came, my friend! Please come on in. Dinner is ready!" he says with a smile.

After we've eaten, Arash says: "We'll probably only have one cup of tea because we're going to visit the recipients of bags of hope today and the hospitality here is great and we'll probably drink a lot of tea today." 

We drive to meet the woman Nargiza. She lives on the outskirts of town and we have to walk the last part on foot along a small field road. Nargiza's house is in the backyard of another house and is in very poor condition. We knock and her eldest daughter opens the door for us. "It's Arash who has come!" she shouts happily to her mother and runs into the house.

"Hello Arash," says Nargiza happily as she appears in the doorway. "Nice of you to come, and you brought a guest, I see!".

I greet Nargiza nicely and introduce myself. 

"Let's sit in the garden on the benches and talk," says Nargiza. "Then I'll bring a samovar and tea bowls."

As we sit on the benches in the garden with four of her five children, drinking tea and eating biscuits, I say: "Thank you for the tea and your hospitality, Nargiza. Please tell us a little about yourself and your life."

"I don't know how we would have gotten through the tough times we've had without your loving help"

"Thank you!" she says. "You always have tea in the house! If not, things are really bad!" she laughs. "But actually it's tea from the bags of hope that I received. Yes, thank you to those who have such a big heart for our family," she smiles and continues in a lowered voice: "It's almost hard for me to express my gratitude! I don't know how we would have gotten through the tough times we've had without your loving help, so we are incredibly grateful for that." 

Nargiza looks at me and says: "My name is Nargiza, and my name is the name of a flower! When I was a young girl, my friends said to me: 'You are beautiful like a flower, Nargiza! So you'll probably get married soon!". I did, but not to the man my parents had promised me to, and they were very offended by that, and also very angry, and one day they said: 'You are no longer our daughter because he is not of the same ethnicity as us, and he is a secular Muslim and does not practice Islam as a devout Muslim should'. But I chose love and married Erkan. He is not home today, but he is a good and loving husband to me, and a good father to our five children," smiles Nargiza. 

"Erkan's parents were also disappointed and angry that he didn't marry the girl they had intended for him! So we've both experienced ostracization and shaming, and it's been incredibly painful for both of us. Probably mostly the fact that our parents don't even call to ask about the grandchildren, which is hard!", she sighs. 

"If you are there God, heal my heart and help me forgive them for their hurtful words and because they have rejected me!" 

"I haven't heard from my two sisters in over five years, and when my grandmother died almost two years ago, I went to her funeral, but my mom wouldn't hear from me! 'You're a disgrace to us!' she just said." 

"They were hurtful words and I went home and cried. As I sat there in tears, I thought, 'What's the worst thing about lack of forgiveness!' And then I prayed to God, 'If you are there God, please heal my heart and help me forgive them for their hurtful words and because they have rejected me!" .  

"At the time, our family was struggling financially. Erkan was out of work and I was at home with the kids, no money, and an empty fridge!" 

"One day there was a knock on my door and you gave me a big bag of food! I remember that clearly and it touched me deeply!" 

Nargiza looks at Arash and says: "So it was that you came to visit me, Arash, with two women from the church," she smiles. "One day there was a knock on my door and you gave me a big bag of food! I remember that clearly and it touched me deeply!". 

Arash: "We had heard from her neighbors that there was a family that was struggling financially, so we wanted to help them." 

Nargiza: "They often brought us a bag of food when we were struggling, and they also told me the good news of God's love, forgiveness and salvation through Isa (Jesus), and they prayed for me and our family every time," she smiles and continues: "One day, not long ago, I accepted Isa into my heart, and I am so happy about that." 

"Jesus heals my heart from all pain and rejection! I can feel it! It's just so amazing!"

"What is it like to be a new convert Christian, Nargiza?", I ask.

"I'm still very new in my faith, but I'm growing with God," she says with a smile. 

"Jesus heals my heart from all pain and rejection! I can feel it! It's just so amazing!" she smiles happily. 

"Yes, God has also helped me forgive my parents. I didn't think that was possible! Because I was very angry with them because I felt it was deeply unfair that they had rejected me!"

"Has Erkan also accepted Jesus?", I ask.

"No, Erkan hasn't accepted Jesus as Savior yet, but I really pray for him every day, and especially when I read the Bible, I start praying! I think it's God working in me that way. I almost forget time and place!" she smiles.

"Thank you for your story", I say to Nargiza, "Can we pray for you and the children?". 

"Yes finally, we need that! And please pray for Erkan and that God will touch him so that he will accept Jesus, and please pray that one day we can have a normal relationship with our parents and that the children will meet their grandparents." 

We pray for the family and then say thank you for the tea and socializing.