Jesus in the Heart of One Inspiring Woman

*Frances’s name has been changed for her safety

This morning we heard an inspiring testimony of faith from a brave woman named Frances. She is a Somali mother of two, and was a practicing Muslim. Somalia is one of the most dangerous and unstable countries in our world, and as a woman she had few rights and little power. At a dark period in her life, Frances decided that she wanted to stop living. She bought a bottle of poison, and that night, she went home and wrote a goodbye letter, telling God and Mohammed that she loved them but could not continue with her life. As she was about to drink the poison, however, a great light appeared, and there was a heavenly man seated on a throne with a crown of gold. Frances was startled. She asked this man who he was. He did not speak, but instead wrote in black letters on Frances’s chest, "Jesus." As a Muslim, Frances did not know who Jesus was, but she knew that this was a divine intervention, so she asked Jesus if it was His will for her to live instead of die. In response, the vial of poison was suddenly knocked to the ground. Frances knew that this was a sign that she was to live. The very next day, she found out everything she could about this Jesus. She secretly began to attend church, and asked people about Jesus. They told her that to find Jesus, she needed to be born again. One day in service, a pastor asked Frances if she wanted to accept Jesus as her Lord and savior, and that if she did, she would be born again and saved. She did that very day. And from then on there was a peace in Frances’s heart.

But now that she was a Christian, Frances could not live in Somalia without being persecuted. Muslims call Christians "infidels" and (at least in Somalia) Muslims are not allowed to share a meal with Christians. The more radical Muslim groups seek out to kill all Christians. Frances spent years hiding, and eventually came to Kenya as a refugee. But her love for Jesus was not confined to hiding. She had a burden on her heart to spread the love of Jesus to her Somalian people and bring peace to a warring nation. Her first ministry is to find a safehouse for Somalian women whose stories are similar to hers: a Christian refugee, trying to survive.

It is very difficult for Frances to worship the Lord publicly. She has known many people who were attacked by a Somali Muslim terrorist group. They are infamous for pretending to be refugees who have converted from Islam to Christianity, getting the trust of Christian Somalians, and then betraying that trust by bringing in the rest of their group and murdering all the Christians they have discovered.

One woman she knows also came to love Jesus and His message, and she converted to Christianity. When she returned home, her husband beat her and drove her out to a deserted area and contacted the terrorists to come and murder his infidel wife. They tied her hands and feet with rope and beat her again, leaving her to suffer. She would not renounce her devotion to Christ, and they were going to kill her. But this woman prayed to God and asked if it was His will that she die there or continue to live. At that moment, the ropes binding her hands and feet were cast away, and the terrorist guards were not around her. She escaped with the Lord’s grace and continues to tell her testimony today of the miracles of the God she loves.
Frances’s faith and trust in the Lord is strong and unwavering. She is known in Kenya as the Somali Pastor who helps women. But when people ask her on the street, she tells them that she is not this woman. The Holy Spirit informs her, and she is able to discern who is a genuine refugee and who is not. She has picked out members from terrorist groups before and has saved her fellow Christians from persecution.

Frances lives an incredibly difficult life. She is devoted to Christ, but must be intensely careful at all times. She never lets anyone into her home except her two children, who are also Christ followers, and she wears a wig to disguise herself so that people will not know she is a Somalian. Whenever she picks up the phone on the streets, she cannot express herself and proclaim her love for the Lord. Frances and her fellow Somali sisters cannot attend church in Kenya because Kenyan churches do not allow Somalians to worship with them because they fear the same terrorist group that plagues Christian Somalis every day. But Frances is a wonderful servant of the Lord. During her time with us, she spoke the name of Jesus with the highest praise every chance she had, and she praised God for the burden that He placed on her heart to help women like her.