If Halima had known she was walking into a church, she never would have entered.
Halima grew up as a refugee in a country neighbouring Somalia, her homeland. 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 centre.
But once inside, the pastor’s message touched her heart. “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.
Standing firm in faith
It was not long before her Muslim family discovered her faith and was shocked how it changed her. “I refused [to return to Islam] and stood firm in my faith,” she said.
In the year 2000, Bekele died in an airplane crash. Her Muslim family expected her to abandon the Christian faith after such an agonising loss. But instead, Halima drew closer to Christ.
Turning hate into love
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, one of her brothers arranged for some Muslim friends to assault her. Two men attacked her, but a nearby police officer saw the attack and intervened.
At the police station, 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.
“I don’t want to beat you”
Nine months later, 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.
Source: VOM
