Rumana and her family have lost everything—their home and all their possessions. Her community segregate and victimise them and don’t care that Rumana and her brothers are children. But even so young, Rumana refuses to walk away from Jesus. All she asks is for you to pray she will be a faithful believer and that she will not breakdown when persecuted.
A Life Up in Flames
Everything her family owned—gone.
She had never felt numb all over before.
Nothing seemed real. Not even her parents, watching and weeping beside her as the humble treasures of their lives turned to ash.
“No one from our village offered any help. They just watched,” she says heavily, as if reliving the horror of discovering their home engulfed in flames. “Just one woman came to help us. But others scolded her saying not to help a Christian.”
Rumana is nine years old. She lives in northern Bangladesh with her parents and two younger brothers.
Their village is predominantly Muslim, and her community has made it clear that her family is not welcome.
“When we go out, people pray aloud, asking Allah to protect them from us. They say, ‘We’ve seen an unholy person.’” Rumana’s eyes glisten. She fights back tears.
Since becoming Christian, her family have been cruelly treated.
The darkened plot of land where their home once stood exemplifies the villagers’ disdain.
They have already lost everything, yet day in, day out, the attacks continue.
Lessons in Loneliness
“My mother went to wash clothes, leaving me home alone,” Rumana says, recalling a difficult incident. “[The villagers] verbally abused me, then started pushing me against our iron wall. It felt like they were trying to break it. I stayed silent. My mother would have done the same. They called me a prostitute and shouted, ‘Come here, I’ll kill you today!’ But I didn’t go.”
At school, Rumana’s classmates refuse to sit next to her.
She wears a smile and pretends she doesn’t mind. If her classmates and teachers thought she was upset, they would pick on her even more.
But when it’s safe, when she’s hidden or at home, Rumana cracks.
“I cry when I’m alone, so they don’t see it,” she says.
O Come, All Ye Faithful
Most days, Rumana struggles with loneliness.
But not on a Sunday.
Sundays she is at church.
It is the one place she can spend time with other Christians.
This Christmas will be an exciting and important time of togetherness. A time to remember she is not alone.
“I love celebrating Christmas because all the Christians gather together and sing songs,” Rumana says excitedly. “We read from the Scripture and cut the cake together.”
The cake is always beautifully decorated. A sparkler fizzes at its centre. All the children join in cutting it. Brought together by their singular love for Jesus, they remember and rejoice in the source of their hope and resilience.
“Jesus came to earth to save us from our sins, but people didn’t understand and tortured Him,” Rumana says thoughtfully. “Just as we endure persecution, people also persecuted Him. I learned from a book that to follow Jesus, you must face similar suffering. I forgive from my heart those who have persecuted me.”
