August 2017 Persecution Magazine (2 of 4)

KIDNAPPINGS
& FORCED
CONVERSIONS
Christian women
around the world face
abductions and attacks
every day.
By Amy Penn
Imagine that you are a young teenage girl living somewhere
like Nigeria, Egypt, or Pakistan. Imagine that
you’re going about your daily life – perhaps you’re
attending school, shopping at the market, or working
to help your family survive. Because you’re a
Christian though, life is challenging as you and your
family experience discrimination and hatred at work,
home, and school, but you persevere.
One day, a Muslim man approaches you and
demeans your faith and calls you an infidel. He tells
you that you are too pretty to be a Christian and pressures you
to convert to Islam.
But you keep walking, head down, trying to keep the annoyance
from escalating into something truly frightening. But then,
in broad daylight, in the middle of your neighborhood teeming
with neighbors and police, he and another man grab you and
throw you into the back of a car.
Immediately, a bag is put over your head and everything goes
dark. You’re in a moving vehicle, surrounded by men defiling
your religion, calling you names and touching you. You’ve
heard of this happening to other girls and women, but now it’s
happening to you. The worst part is that you know the rest of the
story and are in terror of the hell you about to descend into, and
all you can think is, “This can’t be happening to me.”
When you arrive at your destination, the men remove your
blindfold. The first man who approached you again demands
that you convert to Islam. When you refuse, he and the others
begin to verbally and physically abuse you. They strip off your
clothes and then begin to rape you…over and over again.
They threaten to kill your family, but you still refuse. When
they see how stubborn you are, they remind you of the shame
you will face when you return home. To your family and
4 PERSECU ION.org
AUGUST 2017
INTERNATIONAL CHRISTIAN CONCERN