It is late afternoon on a hot summer day in Central Asia. Together with Amir, who is a convert Christian, I have visited a pastor in a convert church, and Amir and I meet Amir's wife Inaya and their three children.
While the children are playing at the edge of a lake, I ask the couple to tell their story.
Amir: "Inaya and I were both born and raised in a village not far from here and live in a small house that I built on my parents' land, right next to their house".
"When I was 12 years old, a Muslim woman next door became a Christian. She spoke boldly about Jesus and after a while her whole family came to faith. Inaya's and my parents also came to faith and started attending our neighbor's house church, and at home we read the Bible every day. There were several other new convert families in the village and they gathered every week, taking turns in their homes, and many were very open about their faith in Jesus."
"It was because of Bible words we had heard as children that had stayed in our hearts, and over time it awakened a longing for God"
- Inaya
However, the new Christians hadn't gotten to know the Bible very well yet and their faith wasn't as deeply rooted when the authorities suddenly started persecuting them. The persecution particularly targeted house churches and gatherings in private homes, and many Christians were fined and threatened with property seizure if they continued their activities.
Amir: "The authorities said to us: 'If you assemble, you will be fined, and if we find Bibles with you, you will be accused of carrying out missionary activity'. Yes, these were just some of the threats they made!"
"Unfortunately, my father fell away from faith in Jesus and later traveled to Russia as a migrant worker, where he still lives. But my mother has been faithful to Jesus and her prayers paved the way for my salvation!" Amir smiles.
"During the time of persecution, many Christians stopped meeting in homes for Bible study and many fell away from the faith, including my family," Inaya sighs.
"Unfortunately, my parents later divorced. My father moved to Russia and my mother lives in a big city. They have both married a new spouse."
"But my mom has started coming to a church once in a while, and I'm very happy about that," Inaya smiles happily.
Bible words from childhood awakened a longing
"What about you, how did you come to faith in Jesus and how did you get together?", I ask.
They look at each other for a moment and then Amir answers in a low voice: "Both Inaya and I slipped back into the world and we also started following some Muslim rules. We were both disappointed with our parents and had a lot of doubts about the Christian faith."
"We had known each other since we were kids, but at some point we fell in love and started dating," says Amir with a smile. "Due to a difficult economic situation, I traveled to Russia for a few years to work, but in 2016 I came back from Russia."
Inaya: "We wanted to get married, but we also both had a desire to come back to church, and to Jesus again. It was because of Bible words we had heard as children that had stayed in our hearts, and over time it awakened a longing for God."
In a way, the persecution made the mission easier
"In our village there were still a few Christians who held on to Jesus, and they had continued to pray for us!"
There were now several convert couples in the village, and every week an evangelist from the church that the Danish European Mission works with visited their house church to teach them the Bible.
But in 2023, persecution of Christians came once again.
"The crowd was angry with us Christians and said: 'You are spreading your teachings to every home in the village like a plague!"
- Amir
Amir: "Some convert Christian families were persecuted. The families were shamed and threatened and people lied about them. In one family, 30 Muslim relatives were against them and these relatives went to the local government in our village, who then wanted to throw them out of the city."
Amir: "The crowd was angry with us Christians and said: 'You are spreading your teachings to every home in the village like a plague!"
"Some Muslims in our village sent chat messages with video and audio files to everyone in the village with lies about the church and us Christians. 'We warn against a dangerous Christian sect in our village that will lead orthodox Muslims astray and into lies and perdition,' they wrote!"
However, some Christians continued to bear witness to Jesus despite being under intense pressure and threats.
Amir: "It somehow became easier for us to talk about Jesus during the persecution because now everyone in the village knew we were Christians!"
Christians have the right to live in peace
Amir: "But then one day a crowd started gathering at the village mosque. A man called and said: "Many of us are gathered now at the mosque, and in a moment we will come and throw you Christians out of the town by force!".
It turned out that it was some mullahs, a mayor, and some Muslim relatives who had incited over 100 people against the Christians.
Amir: "The crowd came up to our brother Parvis and wanted to throw his family out.
'If you don't leave the village today, we'll slit your throats as Christians,' they shouted! And in front of another Christian's house they shouted: 'You will die today you Christian dogs if you don't leave the village immediately' and shouted 'traitor, traitor, leave our city'. "
Inside the house, the village Christians were gathered for prayer and Bible reading. They locked the doors and called the police. After a while the police arrived, but they couldn't calm or disperse the crowd and even more people arrived.
Amir: "Then I called our pastor, who lives in the city, and he called the police and the city government. But that didn't help either! The city government sent a man who made things even worse! He said: "The Christians in this village get money from the church and they also get bags of food, so the church takes care of them, but they don't take care of those who don't come to church!"
Amir: "But none of this was true because we never got any money from the church and if we get bags of food, we distribute them to both Christians and Muslims, to the people who are struggling, because we don't differentiate between people and God loves Muslims too."
Amir: "However, our pastor kept demanding that the authorities restore order in the village, and at the end of the day the chief regional mayor arrived with an imam from the town and they calmed the crowd and said: 'we will not allow riots and vigilantism, and Christians have the right to live in peace'."
Inaya: "Afterwards, many people have said to us: 'We know you are good people because we know you and what they say about you is not true'."
The joy in Jesus
"How are you feeling now?", I ask.
Amir: "It's been a while since it happened, but it has become difficult for us Christians because many people freeze us out and no one in the village wants to give us work or buy anything from us anymore."
Inaya: "Amir works as a taxi driver in the city now and I had to close my small hair salon in the village, but I got a new job in the city with a hairdresser and now commute back and forth on weekdays".
Amir: "We still have the joy of Jesus, and Inaya and I both serve Jesus, and of course we testify about Jesus to those we meet, because only in him is there hope."
Amir and Inaya are currently leaders of three house churches and Amir is responsible for distributing Bags of Hope, which are bags of food for poor families with children supported by the Danish European Mission's improvers and donors.
