Source: Open Doors, July 25, 2018
Naomi [and her sisters] were born into a devout Egyptian Muslim family in Mali. Their father had moved from Egypt to Timbuktu to spread Islam. When Naomi was eight, her father died, and the girls were adopted by their uncle. He enrolled them in an international Christian school, a common practice for Muslims who desired good educations for their children.
As Naomi interacted with Christians at school, she found herself drawn to Christ, and at the age of 12, she professed him as Lord. Her life would never be the same.
Almost immediately, her family disowned her. When a local missionary family heard about Naomi’s situation, they took her into their home.
“They loved me like their own daughter,” says Naomi. “From them, I learned more about Christ and grew in my faith.”
Eventually, the missionaries had to return to their home country, leaving Naomi with no option but to ask her family to take her back. She remembers how each day, they cruelly harassed her for her faith.
When she was 16, Naomi met a Christian man from Belgium and agreed to marry him.
“I hoped very much that this would be the beginning of new things,” she says. But the persecution continued.
“Whenever I went around town, people would call me a kafir (which means infidel). But for me, the hardest thing to handle was the rejection from my family. When they saw me, they would spit in my direction and curse the blood we shared.”
“More than once, my family sent jihadists to my house to kill us (or at least intimidate us),” she says. “Their plans never worked. But one day, while my husband was on a business trip, he was gunned down. He was killed for his faith, and for marrying an ex-Muslim. His colleagues delivered the terrible news to me. I have no idea what happened to his body.”
After his death, Naomi, now a young widow, somehow managed to care for her two sons—alone. But in 2012, as Muslim jihadists used the political Tuareg Rebellion as an opportunity to wreak havoc, things took a turn for the worst.
» Full story includes prayer points and reports that Open Doors is trying to find a viable business venture for Naomi to help her provide for her family.
» In addition to a cultural shift towards intolerance, Mali recently closed 750 schools, affecting thousands of children (Partners International). Mali had presidential elections on July 29 (AP News).