SRI LANKA: PRAY FOR YOUNG CHRISTIAN SANDALI

Many believers in Sri Lanka find themselves as the only Christians in their family, and often their family is not happy with their choice of religion. For Sandali*, choosing to follow Jesus came with many challenges and arguments. It has been ten years since she chose to follow Jesus and she remains faithful to her Christian faith, despite her family’s strong disapproval. Sandali finds herself constantly hiding her Bible and her Christian activities from her family to keep the peace. Please pray for her.

“If you go to this camp, you cannot come back home,” Sandali’s parents had said when she informed them that she was going to a church camp, organized by Open Doors field partners. Her parents and her brother had beaten her up severely before she left home for the camp.

Whilst there she wasn’t sure what to do once the camp had finished: “I might just go to a friend’s house for a few days until I can find a hostel,” she shared. During the camp, she was encouraged and supported by the leaders, but she was worried about what would happen if she went home.

Twenty-five-year-old Sandali had come to know Jesus about 10 years ago, but she was the only convert in her family. Her family, all devout Buddhists, strongly opposed her faith in Jesus. Sandali could not even pray at home. “Whenever there are online prayer meetings, I always go about 100-500 metres away from my house to join,” she said.

“I can’t go home,” she shook her head. “I don’t know what will happen to me if I go,” she said worried.

Sandali stayed with a friend for a couple of days, but she could not find a hostel that would take her in at such short notice. After discussing it with her pastor, she decided to go back home. Her parents did allow her back home, but they forbid her from conducting any Christian activities inside the house.

After some days, Sandali decided to look for a job and started work. That meant she could afford a room in a hostel away from her family. She visits her parents on weekends, but they still don’t let her pray or read the Bible inside the house. “I go to our garden and read the Bible secretly when I go home,” she said

Please pray for Sandali and ask that God gives her the strength to carry on despite the situation she is in.

*Name changed for security reasons