Central Asia: Urgent prayer needed for two teenagers

We’ve recently heard about two teenagers from different regions in Central Asia who are facing punishment because of their choice to follow Jesus. For security reasons we need to protect their identities, so we can’t give too many details, but please pray with us for them…

Anita

Anita* is 17 and from a Muslim family. She has been told she can’t leave the family house unless she is with her older brother because of her choice to follow Jesus. Anita’s uncle, aunt and mother have taken away her phone and laptop to stop her connecting with other Christians or spending time online learning more about Christianity or listening to worship music. She’s been forbidden from meeting and speaking to other Christians. We only know of her situation because Anita managed to send a secret message to the leader of her church. She said she feels lost and vulnerable without contact and support from other Christians and asked for prayer.

Sonya

Sonya* is 16, and also from a Muslim family. But she secretly had been going to a local church and had chosen to follow Jesus. It was a brave and dangerous choice – in her village those who leave Islam for Christianity can be treated really badly. She had been hiding her new faith from others, but recently, some classmates discovered that she’d become a Christian. She’s in real danger – her classmates call her names, have threatened her and treat her really badly. They say she should die for ‘accepting a foreign God’. She’s worried about going to school, or even leaving home because of the threats she’s facing.