Author: Douglass Laskosky
She is a 32-year-old Somali, mother of five children, who once lived in a Muslim setting and deeply devoted to the teachings she got from early childhood. She studied the Quran diligently and even taught it to others. Her identity was completely tied to the religion in which she was raised.
Over time, through social media, she began following some Christians – not out of interest in their faith, but with the intention of refuting them and strengthening her arguments against Christianity. However, while seeking to confront, she ended up hearing about Jesus in a way she never had before. The message of the Gospel found room in her heart and she came to know the One who saves in such a wonderful way.
Her conversion caused a deep rupture in her life. When her husband discovered her new faith, he abandoned her. In Somali Islamic culture, conversion to Christianity is considered a family disgrace, so all family members feel responsible and tend to “solve the situation”.
One day, while she was away from home, a friend called her in desperation – stating that someone had planted a bomb in her house with the intention of killing her and the children. He begged her not to return under any circumstance. Hours later, the bomb exploded, and her house was completely destroyed. She took photos of what remained – not to complain, but to remember how God had preserved her life. That was how she fled to Uganda, the country that hosts the largest number of refugees in the world.
It has been ten years since the explosion. She might be far from her homeland, but close to Jesus, firm in her faith, and nourished by the Gospel that spared and transformed her life so drastically. Her pain was turned into a mission.
Today, living among refugees in East Africa, she hosts house churches and gathers other displaced people to share about the love of Christ that transformed her story. Even with all the scars of loss, she declares that Jesus is greater and so is the joy found in Him.
Currently, she serves as a church planter, supported by The Task, bearing daily witness that no persecution can silence a life truly reached by Christ.
