Help The Persecuted provided the money to start this business, which now provides a steady stream of income for Mahra and others like her.
Islamic society often demeans women and strips them of their basic rights in favor of men. Because of this, women who convert to Christianity are not only mistreated and abused—they are even sentenced to death. These women could be killed at any time.
Help The Persecuted supports local churches that care for persecuted women like Mahra.
Mahra graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Business Management. As a child, she had a dream of a dome with a cross on top of it. Then, one day, she found the exact building from her dream. When she approached it, an overwhelming sense of peace filled her. For three years, she would sit outside that church to find rest and comfort—and one day, she even sneaked inside.
Mahra asked Jesus into her life and was baptized. Her relatives beat her for this. They asked a sheikh to talk with her, and the sheikh sexually harassed her at the mosque. Her mother continually called the police, asking them to arrest her daughter, and the police would come and assault Mahra.
At 21, Mahra was forced into marriage. Mahra confessed her faith to the man she married, and she then lived the three worst years of her life. She had a son, but her husband and family were worried he would become a Christian like his mother. They took him away from her when he was a year old and kicked her out of the house. She later filed a lawsuit to gain custody of her son, but lost. Her in-laws threw acid on her shoulder in retaliation.
Mahra has searched for work with her degree, but faces resistance everywhere she goes because of her faith. Because of this, her church wanted to start a computer business to help Mahra and women like her. Help The Persecuted provided the money to start this business, which now provides a steady stream of income for Mahra and others like her.