News / Thoughts

Central Asia: Urgent prayer needed for two teenagers

We’ve recently heard about two teenagers from different regions in Central Asia who are facing punishment because of their choice to follow Jesus. For security reasons we need to protect their identities, so we can’t give too many details, but please pray with us for them…

Anita

Anita* is 17 and from a Muslim family. She has been told she can’t leave the family house unless she is with her older brother because of her choice to follow Jesus. Anita’s uncle, aunt and mother have taken away her phone and laptop to stop her connecting with other Christians or spending time online learning more about Christianity or listening to worship music. She’s been forbidden from meeting and speaking to other Christians. We only know of her situation because Anita managed to send a secret message to the leader of her church. She said she feels lost and vulnerable without contact and support from other Christians and asked for prayer.

Sonya

Sonya* is 16, and also from a Muslim family. But she secretly had been going to a local church and had chosen to follow Jesus. It was a brave and dangerous choice – in her village those who leave Islam for Christianity can be treated really badly. She had been hiding her new faith from others, but recently, some classmates discovered that she’d become a Christian. She’s in real danger – her classmates call her names, have threatened her and treat her really badly. They say she should die for ‘accepting a foreign God’. She’s worried about going to school, or even leaving home because of the threats she’s facing.

Pray now…

• Ask God to strengthen and protect Anita and Sonya. Ask for the Holy Spirit to be a real presence, guide and comfort to them right now.
• For Anita’s family and Sonya’s school and community. Pray that threats would cease and that they would be able to freely express their love of Jesus.
• For both of them to be able to connect with other Christians to find support, help and family.
• That both girls would know God drawing close to them and that their faith would grow stronger and stronger.

Four things you can do now:

1. Learn more and pray: Get our free glow-in-the-dark World Watch List Map and find out more about the places where faith costs the most. Get your map here…

2. Pray regularly: Every Monday night at 7pm we’ll be praying one prayer for one minute for the one in seven Christians around the world who face persecution. Set an alarm and tune in…

3. Choose to Lose: Raise money by getting sponsored to lose something you love for a short time. Sign up and we’ll send you a fundraising pack…

4. Send a message of hope: Imagine getting a letter from a Christian on the other side of the world who’d heard about you and was praying for you – encouraging right? Well, you can send encouragement now to young Christians facing persecution. Do that here now…

*Names changed for security reasons