Shamed for her faith. Will Jorina see change?

Jorina in Bangladesh faced a shaming attack. She is persecuted as Christian and vulnerable as a woman. Here’s how she wants to see change.

Jorina can’t forget the most shameful thing that’s ever been done to her.

When a dozen women in Jorina’s village in Bangladesh asked her to meet with them, she thought they wanted to learn about the gospel. Jorina and her husband, Shirajul, had recently become Christians and were excited to introduce other Muslims to Jesus. “We didn’t feel the need to hide it from others,” she says. “We believed we needed to share the truth with others.”

But that wasn’t why the women had called Jorina to meet. Instead, they surrounded her and made her strip naked. “I couldn’t believe how any of this was even possible,” she says, still brought to tears by the memory. “There were so many of them. I had no choice.”

A humiliating attack

Their cruel demand comes from a common misunderstanding in this region of Bangladesh. Because Ephesians 1:13 says “When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit,” some Muslims believe that Christians have a literal ‘mark’ or ‘seal’ on them.

“I told them, ‘I don’t have any seal on my body,’” Jorina says. “They told me to shut up.” Of course, they couldn’t find anything. In a culture where women are expected to be very modest, this attack was especially appalling and shaming to Jorina.

“I cried a lot in that room,” remembers Jorina. “After a while, they kicked me out and I returned home. When I got back, I didn’t share this with anyone. How could I? How was it even possible to talk about such a thing?”

What made this humiliating attack particularly painful was that Jorina knew her persecutors. Before she converted to Christianity, these women had been her friends – people she’d interacted with every day. Now, they rejected and persecuted her.

A ‘second-class citizen’

Throughout Open Doors’ ongoing See. Change. campaign, we have been sharing stories that highlight the specific vulnerabilities of Christian women around the world. In most of these stories, the persecutors have been male. You may have read accounts of Christian women and girls suffering at the hands of their fathers, brothers, husbands or other men in the community. What marks out Jorina’s attack as particularly shocking is that the people shaming her were women.

It demonstrates how the demeaning of Christian women can spread through a whole culture. Jorina was already considered a second-class citizen for her gender. Choosing to become one of the country’s tiny Christian minority compounded this.

“After our conversion, in the eyes of the Muslims, we were seen as terrible people. They hated us and treated us differently,” Jorina says. She puts it very starkly: “For Islamic leaders in my village, it feels as if all Christian women are just as good as dead.”

It’s no wonder that the women who persecuted Jorina felt entitled to cause her harm. As a woman, she had few rights. As a Christian, she might as well not exist.

Deciding to follow Jesus

Given the attitudes towards female converts in Bangladeshi society, choosing to follow Jesus wasn’t a decision Jorina made lightly. She grew up as a Muslim and married a Muslim man – but he was not satisfied that he’d found the truth, and had been learning about Jesus from a local Christian.

“I was interested to know more about it but, according to village culture, a woman cannot talk and sit together with a stranger,” Jorina remembers. She made a courageous decision: “One day, with a brave heart, I asked my husband: ‘Who is this man? What are you talking about with this stranger? I want to join you.’” Many men in their community would have rejected such a request, but Shirajul agreed. Together, they learned about Jesus. “After he left, my husband and I sat together, thinking about what to do next.”

They didn’t rush into their decision. For the next two years, the couple continued learning about Jesus while also studying Islamic literature. Eventually, they were convinced that the Bible was true. Jorina and Shirajul both decided to follow Jesus and were baptised.

Death threats

Intense opposition came quickly from the couple’s family and community, and continues to this day. “My husband received death threats from all sides, even from his nephew,” says Jorina. “They were saying, ‘In all our generations, they are the only ones ruining our family’s reputation in society by becoming Christians.’ When my mother-in-law passed away, they didn’t even allow us to attend the funeral service.”

Jorina’s two children also experience discrimination. She remembers her son coming to her one day saying: “My friends always tell me that, since we are Christians, we have no religion and can’t go to Heaven. They tell me that they will burn us alive.”

All Jorina could do in response was pray and commit her son to God’s safety. She knew that filing an official complaint was futile. The local authorities would do nothing to help a Christian family like hers.

Extraordinary forgiveness

There was a time in Jorina’s life when this ongoing ordeal would have filled her with hatred – but she’s transformed since she met Jesus. “After becoming a Christian, the biggest change in my life was that I had to love everyone and learn to forgive others,” she says. “I can’t live with anger anymore. I used to quarrel with others, lie and do many bad things, but now I don’t do such things. After receiving Christ and reading from the Gospels, I can now love others and treat them well.”

When asked if she has forgiven the women who humiliated her, Jorina is clear: “Yes, I forgive them. It was difficult. They wanted to check for a ‘seal’ on my body, but Christ knows us without that, and we receive salvation through Him. They too can receive that same salvation. I pray that for them.”

Church community

Through every season of her walk with God, Jorina never loses sight of what first led her to Jesus. The Bible is her source of strength through every difficult situation. “We should be obedient to God’s Word,” she says, referencing Matthew 19:29: “My God said, ‘If anyone believes in me and leaves their home, children and everything for me, then in eternal life, they will receive a hundred times more than what they have left behind.’”

One of the blessings Jorina experiences is her church community. Christian friends were the first she felt able to tell about her humiliating persecution, and their support brought her much-needed healing. Now she is determined to help other Christian women who, like her, are vulnerable for their faith and gender.

Ananna training

Jorina is a facilitator for ‘Ananna’ – which means ‘unique woman’ in Bengali. It’s a discipleship programme funded by Open Doors local partners, and gives women the precious opportunity to learn the fundamentals of the Christian faith and understand God’s design for women.

“We need this because, in Bangladesh’s Muslim culture, people often don’t give value to women,” says Jorina. “But, as believers, we value women and want them to know Jesus Christ. We want to pray for them and to encourage them.

“Just like me, the women I am working with now should also participate in the Ananna training. They really need it. Not only those women but also their family members can come to know more about God through this. Pray that they can get the training. Just as I am receiving these opportunities, pray that they, too, can receive the same opportunities to serve and work for the Lord.”

“You always stand beside us”

The Ananna programme is one of several ways that your prayers and gifts can help Jorina’s ministry. “When I go through persecution, or when any of our church members go through persecution, [Open Doors partners] always stand beside us,” she says. “When we didn’t have a place to worship or hold our church services, we received support to build this house church.

“During any persecution, we call [Open Doors partners]. Then they are present with us, offering support in legal matters and financial assistance, if needed.”

Without this committed support, these women would be very vulnerable. With it, they can help the whole church be resilient. It’s only possible with your prayers and gifts. So many Christian women – in Bangladesh and many other countries – are repeatedly told they have no value and are ‘just as good as dead’. The See. Change. campaign rejects this lie – and aims to ensure that women like Jorina are seen, valued and empowered to fulfil their God-given potential. Today, will you help this vision become a reality?