News / Thoughts

Phillipines: Pray for Musfira’s family

Seventeen-year-old Musfira* was born into a devout Muslim family, and for the longest time, she believed everything she was taught about God. However, her mum made her take her little sister to a school activity, that was being held in a church. That’s when everything changed.

Musfira became intrigued and fascinated by the worship songs and how friendly and caring the people in the church were. After one visit, she was really keen to get to more church-related activities. Not long after, Musfira accepted Christ, and was baptised in 2020.

Musfira’s family

Her Muslim family are against Musfira’s faith in Jesus, but thankfully, they generally have allowed her to choose her own path, and at present they don’t stop her from attending church. They are trying to keep her Christian faith quiet and frequently ask her to return to Islam. Despite this, Musfira is choosing to stick with Jesus.

Recently, Musfira was singing a worship song to herself at home and was taken aback when she heard her younger sisters singing along with her. “They told me they liked the song and wanted to come with me to church,” Musfira shared with a local partner.

Musfira’s sisters decided to go with her to church one Sunday, but as much as they enjoyed the service and the atmosphere, they were too afraid they would anger their parents and the rest of their family to go more regularly or ask more questions about Christianity. They did ask Musfira about her choice to become a Christian, to which Musfira replied, “This (Christianity) is what I believe in, and it is the truth.”

‘I love them so much’

Musfira shared with Open Doors local partners of her longing for her family to know Jesus: “I’m afraid I’m the only one saved in my family.. I love them so much I want them to be saved.”

Pray now

• Thank God for Musfira’s brave and firm faith and for her family’s tolerance of her beliefs.
• That God will use her to shine his love and hope to her family and that her sisters and parents will come to know Jesus.
• Pray for other Christians from a Muslim background who are facing persecution and threats for their choice to follow Jesus.

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…
*Name changed for security reasons