Soraya, 37, is from a Central Asian country and comes from a Muslim background. At 24, she married a policeman as his second wife. They were together for three years and had two children. Soraya says: ”I spent three years in hell. He wanted to kill me. I escaped from there and God saved my life!”.
Soraya ended up in a shelter supported by the Danish European Mission's intercessors and donors. “It was in September 2013 that I came here. My youngest son was three months old and the oldest was one year and three months.”.
”They told me they had hope!”
Soraya says, ”I had depression over a long period of time. I was given a place where I could sleep and I was fed. All the basic needs that my children and I had were covered here. In addition, I got legal advice, psychological help, and there were opportunities for job training.”
“There were people who cared for us and they started praying for us. They told us about God. They told us they had hope!” Soraya was deeply shocked by what she heard. “I never imagined that God was stronger than my husband. Because I had been in an abusive relationship, so I was very, very scared!”
”I want to know who your God is”
”My husband found me because he was a policeman. He started texting me and calling me and saying, ’I will find you and I will kill you and your children’.”.
Soraya is clearly affected by the situation, but speaks with hope in her voice: ”After some time, I started to find life again. I said to a staff member at the shelter, ’You can pray for me, I want to know who your God is’. So I repeated what she asked, and that's how she taught me how to pray.”.
”The first time I started praying, I prayed for God to beat my husband,” she says, smiling. ”After a while, I started praying blessing prayers over him instead. I never thought that one day I would be able to pray the blessing over him. Then I started praying for myself, my children and my ex-husband. I saw how God protected me, blessed me and how he loved me. I started to experience hope and slowly I started to live again.”
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Today, Soraya is passionate about helping women who have been in the same life situation as her. She says, ”I continue the culture I encountered here on site, where we tell the women about Jesus and his love. I pray for and with them.”
”I thank God that my husband has been missing for ten years. He has not tried to find me or bother me. Now I serve God and I am very grateful for that. He has protected me and I know that he cares for me and my family.”.
In 2024, Danish European Mission's improvers and donors have helped to:
- 31 women, 10 teenagers and 35 children stayed in shelters.
- 172 women have received job training in sewing, cooking, jewelry making, embroidery and hairdressing.
- The Ministry of Employment certifies the courses, which improves women's job opportunities.
- 54 women and girls have received counseling and advice.
- 388 women have received legal advice and 37 women received legal representation.
- 4 lawyers were assigned to the project to help the vulnerable women.
- The shelter had 6 groups where participants can get support after the project ends.
