If Halima had known she was walking into a church, she never would have entered.
Halima grew up as a refugee in a country neighboring Somalia, her homeland. Her family was assisted by numerous aid groups over the years. So when a pastor who had been sharing the gospel with her husband picked them up one Sunday morning and took them to a building with a fluorescent cross on it, she thought they were going to a Red Cross center.
But once inside, the pastor’s message touched her heart. Though Halima had limited understanding of the local language, she said God helped her understand everything the pastor said. “I never heard such a story in the Quran or anywhere,” she said. “I was the first Somali woman to accept Christ in that church.” Halima’s husband, Bekele, a communist and former army colonel, also came to know Christ that day.
It was not long, however, before her Muslim family discovered her faith.
After responding to the pastor’s message, Halima and Bekele remained at the church for several days to receive instruction in basics of the Christian faith. “We loved the teaching,” Halima said. Before long, she was telling others about Christ.
Her extended Muslim family was shocked by her conversion and how it changed her. When she visited the family home, her brother attacked her for sharing the gospel with his daughter. He even fired a handgun at Halima, but she escaped through a window.
“I refused [to return to Islam] and stood firm in my faith,” she said.
In the year 2000, Halima and Bekele were invited to attend a training course for Christian leaders in Nigeria. When they arrived at the airport for their flight, however, Halima was denied permission to travel. Despite their protests, Bekele had to go without her.
Then, two days later, Halima received terrible news. Shortly after takeoff from a layover in Ivory Coast, the airplane on which Bekele was traveling plunged into the Atlantic Ocean, killing him and 168 others onboard.
“It was a very difficult time,” she said. “Not even a single person from my family came to comfort me when my husband died. Because I rejected Allah, Allah killed my husband; that is what they said.”
Her Muslim family expected her to abandon the Christian faith after such an agonizing loss. But instead, Halima drew closer to Christ. “The Holy Spirit helped me and comforted me,” she said. “God really encouraged me a lot.”
TURNING HATE INTO LOVE
Following Bekele’s death, Halima began to write and record worship music. Eventually, she compiled her Somali worship songs into an album, something unique in a culture where only 1% are Christians.
When her family heard her music, they considered it blasphemous and one of her brothers arranged for some Muslim friends to assault her. As she was leaving church one day, two men attacked her. Fortunately, a nearby police officer saw the attack and intervened.
In the morning, Halima made breakfast and took it to the station, where a senior officer told her the attackers would spend at least six years in prison. “I fell down at his feet and asked him to release them,” she said. Eventually, the officer agreed and had her sign a document consenting to their release. After signing the paper, she gave the breakfast to the two attackers and left.
Nine months later, while visiting the same church near where she had been attacked, Halima heard someone call her name. She was startled to see one of her attackers.
“Halima,” he said, “I don’t want to beat you. Today I came for a different reason.” He then told her that he had struggled to sleep for six weeks following his release from jail … until finally placing his faith in the same, true God that Halima followed. “I, myself, accepted Christ,” he told her, “and now my village is saved!”
Today Halima proclaims the gospel among the thousands of displaced Somalis in East Africa. “I think clinging to the Lord is the best thing to survive,” she said. “I don’t consider myself a widow now; I believe that Jesus is with me.” As Halima shares her songs and stories of survival with Somalis in East Africa, she is a living testament to God’s goodness even in the most difficult of circumstances.
You can help support persecuted Christians in hostile areas and restricted nations, like Halima, by giving to VOM’s Global Ministry. You can also help put Bibles in the hands of persecuted Christians. Through VOM’s network of front-line workers, we know 458,000 Christians by name in hostile areas and restricted nations who need a Bible right now.