CENTRAL ASIA: PRAY FOR 16-YEAR OLD ALIM WHO WAS EXPELLED FROM COLLEGE FOR SHARING ABOUT JESUS

Last September we shared about Alim* a 16 year-old Christians from Central Asia. He’d recently started at a new college, but faced pressure, intimidation and expulsion simply because of his faith in Jesus. Open Doors partners in the region heard about his experiences and have been meeting with and supporting him – here’s his story, in his own words…

“When I started in the college, I was happy. This was a good opportunity to learn the subjects I was interested to know. As the place was far from my house, I stayed in the student dormitories at the college. Almost all the boys in my dorm were Muslims and prayed five times a day, but as a Christian, I didn’t.

‘They asked me so many questions’

“My roommates asked me why I was different and didn’t pray the Muslim prayers. I shared about my faith and they asked me so many questions. I like to share the Gospel with people, they need to learn the truth, they need God, so I told them about Jesus.

“Then somebody informed the director of the college that I was sharing about Jesus. The director called me to speak to me. He asked me about my faith. His questions sounded more and more aggressive: ‘Why are you sharing about Jesus and the Gospel? Why do you reject the Quran and Islam? Who sent you here to turn the students to your religion? Did your parents give you religious books to distribute here?’

“Then he searched the room where I lived, looking for Christian literature. He couldn’t find anything. He was so angry, that he shouted at me.

“The next day he asked my teachers to watch me to see who I was talking too and if I had any strange books. Then my friends and roommates started to distance themselves from me. They said: ‘Sorry, but we do not want to have any problems, as the director is very angry with you’.

Image: Alim sharing a meal with Open Doors local partners

Isolated and alone

“I felt so alone. I had no phone. I could not speak to my parents, all my friends had turned away from me and some of teachers were picking on me, asking questions like: ‘Why are you here, what is your goal? Are you trying to turn people here into your religion? Who sent you?’

“They gave me lots of extra tasks and duties, much more than any other student. I tried do my best to manage all the tasks and I didn’t argue. The pressure was so huge, I felt really stressed. But at the same time, other teachers were curious about my faith and wanted to speak to me in secret. They shared their difficulties and asked, ‘how can your God can help me?”.

‘Take him away from here!’

The director was still so angry with Alim and called his parents for a meeting. He told them:

‘Your son is a good student, but he is sharing the Gospel with others and rejecting the true faith of Islam. You’ve encouraged your son to be a religious extremist, turning other people to Christianity! I will write a complaint about you to the city administration. You raised Alim as a strong leader, he can convince anybody, if I would speak to him longer, I would believe too! He should be isolated from people! Take him away from here!’

Alim’s mum, Madina* shared:

“We were so upset to hear all these bad words about our son, but at the same time we were encouraged too. Even the college director said that at just 16 years-old Alin was a strong leader! Alim has always been so calm, sharing the gospel with others and bringing many of his friends and their parents to the church. We as a family have experienced a lot of pressure for our Christian beliefs, but this was a first time for Alim to face persecution for his faith”.

‘I know God is leading me’

After being expelled, Alim is now enrolled in another college.

Because of his experiences, Alim has developed some health issues. He feels quite anxious and gets strong headaches. He shared: “Here in this new college I try to be more careful when I share about my faith, but even after such a stressful period when I suffered because of my belief in Jesus, I can’t stop talking about Him to others. I see that they need Him. In this new college the level of education is very good… I know God is leading me“.

*Names changed for security reasons