Women who come to Christ in the Muslim world are often beaten, tortured, sexually assaulted, or killed by their families for their decision. To be rescued and restored — to live — is a gift.

The plight of Christian women and mothers across the Muslim world is even more urgent and desperate. Christian mothers like Zina.

When she was young, Zina was forced to leave school and marry an Islamic court judge who forbade her from leaving the house without permission, even as she bore and began raising four daughters and three sons with him.

This was before she got saved.

Zina Persecuted for Her Faith

After she came to know Christ, Zina’s circumstances became unbearable. Her husband discovered she was now following Jesus Christ and brutally beat her — and their daughters. She was locked up in a room at home for several days. Even her brothers began threatening her life. Zina knew she had to flee to survive.

On her own, running away was impossible. When she went to the police-run Family Protection department, they took her husband’s side — and sent her home. When she tried to leave the country, she was jailed for a month while violent threats against her continued.

Yet, Zina would not renounce her newfound relationship with Christ.

Rescuing, Restoring and Rebuilding Zina’s Life

Because of your support, we have offered her life-saving hope. Together, we provided the resources and support Zina needed to escape.

At one of our secure Safe Houses, Zina was able to hide after she was released from prison. At this Safe House, her basic needs were met, and our team has come alongside her to offer discipleship, encouragement, and support.

She’s alive because of you and your investment in our efforts to Rescue, Restore and Rebuild lives like Zina’s.

Though she has been rescued and is starting over again, Zina’s life is hard. She is deeply grieved that she cannot visit her ailing mother or see her children. The price she has paid to follow Christ — the unimaginable pain and loss — is enormous. This is why we will not leave Zina to suffer alone. With your help, we will not abandon her or the thousands of other women just like her.

Our local Field Ministry Team member recently spent time with Zina at our Safe House and shared this touching update:

She has many pictures of family and friends all around her room. People she can no longer speak to or be in a relationship with because of her faith in Jesus Christ. This brought me to tears as I contemplated all she has lost, and it made me so grateful that our team is now there — serving her as her new family.

Zina’s story challenges us all as we consider the price many pay to follow Christ. And how we, as the Body of Christ, must now become the faces in those frames to these persecuted believers.

Persecuted Women Suffer Doubly for Following Christ

Zina’s is not an isolated story. Women are already at a disadvantage across the Muslim world. Cultural discriVahidtion is real for them. To add religious persecution on top of it all brings increased ridicule, social isolation, and violence. It puts them in an especially perilous situation.

  • 37% of Arab women have reported experiencing violence. The actual number is much higher.
  • Young women, including girls under the age of 18, are often forced into marriage.
  • 87% of women and girls between the ages of 15 and 49 in Egypt have experienced female genital mutilation.
  • Rape is one of the most common forms of persecution against women in the Arab world. Rapists can avoid prosecution by marrying their victim.

This is what persecution looks like for mothers, daughters, widows, and girls who convert to Christianity in the Muslim world. The abuse these women endure for the sake of Christ is often hidden — and physically and psychologically damaging at the same time.

Graciously, God has empowered Help The Persecuted to come to their rescue. We are strategically positioned to save lives, offer hope and healing, and help women find the strength to persevere while growing in the Lord.

Help The Persecuted Provides Support for Persecuted Christians

Despite the danger to our Field Ministry Team members working on the ground in dangerous situations, we are dedicated to this vitally important work for the long haul. When you give through Help The Persecuted, you’ll empower already-established, targeted support for women in dire need:

  • Emergency funds to quickly rescue women from life-threatening situations.
  • Safe Houses — more than just a hiding place. A comfortable home and a secure harbor of hope and healing.
  • Medical assistance, food, and basic living supplies.
  • Christian counseling and discipleship.
  • Spiritual Retreats — to encourage those who have endured trauma and provide healing and hope for the future.

These opportunities offer lifesaving help and hope to persecuted women. It’s incredible to witness the transformation as a woman, beaten down by years of cultural discriVahidtion, false Islamic religion — and despised for her Christian faith — is valued and treasured, loved as a sister in Christ, filled with hope and purpose.

This is what you do as you stand with us.

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” — James 1:27