Persecuted Christians: “We want Jesus to reign over Yemen”
Zaid, a persecuted Christian in Yemen, is holding onto his faith despite the struggle. He has a vision for the Yemeni church.
It was a chilly evening when Zaid* was kicked out of his parents’ house.
He wandered the streets of his city in Yemen, lost, confused. Doubts ran through his mind: “Is this new faith worth it? Is everything I’m going through worth it?”
Zaid’s new faith in Jesus had cost him everything.
‘I started to doubt everything’
Zaid grew up in a conservative Muslim home in Yemen. “I witnessed my parents and family pray and worship since I was young,” he says. “Prayer was an important and hefty obligation.”
Daily prayers were a duty. Zaid was taught that how God felt about him depended completely on how he lived up to his responsibilities. He did all he could to try to prevent God from rejecting him. He followed the teachings and rituals, memorized the Quran, and even defended Islam online.
Zaid was 16 when his doubts started. As a practicing Muslim, following all the do’s and don’ts of the religion, I should be able to enter. “But also, from one small mishap, [I realized] God [could] hate me and all of this effort will be wasted,” Zaid says. “He can stop me from entering paradise for just one slip.”
Zaid realized he had no guarantees of a good life after death, and this thought haunted him. “I started to doubt everything, including this religion that I grew up practicing to its core,” he says. He began to explore other beliefs. says.
After leaving Islam, Zaid spent lots of time researching other belief systems.
Eventually, Zaid came to terms with the fact that he had left Islam – a difficult thing to do since his religion had been so important in his life and in the life of his family. It left a void in his heart. “Although I felt like a heavy rock was lifted off my chest— no more obligations to follow blindly—the confusion remained,” he
And so, determined to find truth, Zaid began to search. He began to research other religions, learning about Judaism, Christianity, Atheism, and more. For someone whose identity had been so wrapped up in Islam, losing it felt like there was a void in his life.
Zaid turned to many things in an attempt to fill the emptiness. “I began using khat [a mild stimulant drug widely used and legal in Yemen],” he says. “I slowly slipped into laziness…the void only grew. My mental health also deteriorated. I started not only taking drugs but also smuggling them. I was completely lost.”
That’s when Jesus found him.
Where do Christians experience the
most persecution?
A Light in a Garden
All Zaid knew about Jesus came from the verses in the Quran that refer to Jesus as a prophet. He had never met a Christian in real life and knew nothing about the Christian faith. He did more research on the internet.
“Slowly, I began to listen to understand and not to argue,” he says. “The idea that God loved us, that He created us in His image, and that He sent his son to die for us were all new thoughts and truths for me.”
Eventually, Zaid decided to call out to this new God that he was reading about and listening to. “One night, before I went to sleep, I asked Him: ‘God, if you exist in Christianity, tell me, and I will come to you. If you exist, tell me: Where are you? Save me.’”
That night, and for several consecutive nights after, Zaid dreamed the same dream.
“I was in a lush, green garden, and I saw a strong light shining. This light was approaching me, and then a voice said, ‘I left the 99, and I came for you.’ I woke up, startled,” Zaid shares, with tears in his eyes as he recalls the vivid dream. “I opened my phone, and as soon as I scrolled, a photo appeared on my screen: a lush, green garden and a figure of Jesus standing there with sheep surrounding him. Written on that photo were the same words I heard: ‘He left the 99 and came for you.’ In that moment, I felt like the world stopped.”
Zaid realized he had received the confirmation that he had been searching for: “I felt a joy unspeakable. I discovered God! In those moments, I realized that the God of Christianity is the real God. Jesus was God!”
And that is how Zaid’s journey with the Lord began.
Your donation will support Christians living out their faith in some of the hardest places to follow Jesus
A ‘public’ baptism
Zaid was desperate to learn more about Jesus. He downloaded a Bible app and began to read.
The idea that God is love was the most difficult for Zaid to grasp. Growing up with a distorted image of God, he had to unlearn what he knew and embrace a new image of God. “I was thirsty,” he says. “I wanted to learn and know more, but how could I do that? I contacted some people online.”
In Yemen, there are no public churches that people can visit and learn more about Jesus. “There were no physical meetings with other Christians; everything took place online,” he says. “For a year and a half, I went on a discipleship journey and grew in my faith in Jesus. Through WhatsApp, I constantly texted with a brother named Alaa* [an Open Doors partner]. I never met him. I didn’t even know what he looked like. I didn’t even hear his voice. We only texted due to security constraints. But I wanted to get whatever I could.”
As he was discipled in his new faith, Zaid decided he wanted to be baptized and obey the Word he was devouring. “Alaa told me that he would arrange it,” Zaid says. “He would send a brother who lived close to where I was, and he could baptize me if I was serious about my decision. Of course I was! I wanted to obey!”
Zaid’s baptism was risky. If he or the man who met him was caught, they could be jailed or even killed. But Zaid knew his commitment to Jesus was greater than any danger.
“I met the man [sent by Alaa] in a public street,” Zaid remembers. “I shook his hand, and we walked together to a public pool. It was a busy day, and the pool was crowded with people. We went down the steps into the corner of the pool.
Zaid was quietly and quickly baptized in a public pool with many people around.
“The man asked me two simple questions [about my faith], then he baptized me—in and out of the water, and we left right away. I didn’t see him after that. That was the first time I met a Christian face-to-face in Yemen.”
After that day, Zaid continued his study of the Scriptures, leaning on the Holy Spirit to guide him and mature his faith. “I realized this Spirit allows me to do miracles in Yemen,” he says. “Sadly, a common reality among young people in my country is that when they meet Christ, they decide to leave Yemen to live out their faith freely. I understand them! However, I didn’t and don’t want that. I want to stay and serve my people.”
But in Yemen, that meant the danger had only just begun.
A disgrace, despised by family
When Zaid began his ministry, he began to encounter spiritual attacks. “Various difficulties emerged with people around me, but when I read my Bible, I always felt safe,” he says. “Jesus told us that in this world, we will have trouble, but He promised us and told us not to worry, to trust Him because He won. Through the pain, the worry, the problems … I trusted Him.”
He didn’t tell his family that he had left Islam, but they saw a change in him. “They would ask me: ‘Did you stop smoking? We don’t see you chewing khat anymore. Did you stop?’ I became sober and much more mature, and those around me noticed that.”
But friends and family recognizing the positive changes also brought repercussions. Zaid knew that if his family discovered the reason behind his lifestyle changes, his decision to leave Islam would be a huge disgrace to them—an unforgivable decision. And that’s exactly what happened.
“I had brought a Bible home and kept it in my room. When my dad saw it, he asked me if I was collecting these and wondered what this book was doing on my bed. I told him that I had become a Christian and stated that Jesus is God, and that I have left Islam.”
"His Word is what sustained and continues to sustain me today. If I had stopped [leaning on] His Word, I would have died.”
The brave disclosure cost Zaid everything. Zaid’s father was a religious figure. To him, his son was an infidel for leaving Islam.
“[My father] beat me badly,” he says. “I had bruises all over my body. It was the first time he had ever laid hands on me. I saw a side of him I had never seen. My father is a kind and sweet man, but his reaction was the opposite. I was beaten once, twice and three times [when] he imprisoned me at home for two days. Eventually, my oldest brother interceded. That was when I was kicked out.”
Zaid was expelled from his own home and disowned by his own parents. “[They told me,] ‘When you come back to your sane mind, come back. Do not tell anyone that you’ve become a Christian; you’ll ruin our reputation. What a disgrace.’” They were the last words Zaid heard from his father. The words cut deep.
Zaid managed to contact two friends from university whom he had told about Christ, and they decided to rent an apartment together in another town. That in itself was a miracle to him.
“God changed everything—He put in me this passion, and His spirit is what kept me strong to continue,” Zaid says. “[We] always recite the verse: ‘If God is with us, who can be against us?’ So I continue to cling to Him. The Bible also says: ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God,’ and His Word is what sustained and continues to sustain me today. If I had stopped [leaning on] His Word, I would have died.”
‘If Paul could do it … I can also do it’
In this new town, God provided a job for Zaid, and he got connected to a local church. “He gave me everything I needed,” Zaid recalls. “I began serving people through the local church. I discipled many people; we would baptize new believers, meet with serious seekers face-to-face, and walk on journeys of discipleship with those chasing hope.”
After a time of active ministry, Zaid felt that God wanted him to do something new and different among Yemenis. “My vision is to live like Paul,” Zaid explains. “He lived in a dangerous place similar to where I live. He was surrounded by Pharisees; I’m surrounded by extremists. Yet, Paul changed his community and transformed it from darkness to light, with and through God. I want to be a mirror that reflects Jesus. By the grace of God, I strive to deliver the Word of God to all the people around me, whether they accept it or not. I’m spreading the seeds; there are many kinds of soil, but I try and do my role.”
"I want to be a mirror that reflects Jesus. By the grace of God, I strive to deliver the Word of God to all the people around me, whether they accept it or not. I’m spreading the seeds; there are many kinds of soil, but I try and do my role.”
Zaid sees other similarities, too. Paul was a persecutor of Christians who eventually risked everything to share the gospel in a hostile environment. This is what Zaid wants: to remain in his country, serving his people, no matter the cost. “If Paul could do it, and he is a person, a human just like me, then I can also do it,” Zaid says. “Since God is in us, we can be a light to those around us.”
Zaid truly loves his country, his people and his society. He asks for prayer for Yemen and its people. “I pray that Yemen changes, that God will rule this country and not Satan. I remain with my family, my brothers, and my loved ones. It is important to wake them up. They live in darkness, and I need them to be well. God leads us because Yemen needs Jesus. There is no peace when the Prince of Peace doesn’t reign.”
Strengthen what remains
Through the help of Open Doors local partners, Zaid is starting a local discipleship house where new believers can meet, live together and be discipled day after day. His vision is to provide a safe place that offers daily Bible studies where believers can discuss difficult questions and tough topics together—a place to equip believers to lead house churches across the country. “The population of Yemen is 40 million,” Zaid says. “My vision is to have 40,000 active house churches. We want to reach a stage where we have one house church for every 1,000 Yemenis, a place where they can enjoy fellowship and grow together.”
But Zaid and other Christians in Yemen rely on your support and prayers to bring this vision to fruition. They know they need the global Body of Christ to strengthen what remains in Yemen—and to grow the people of God.
Zaid’s vision is for 40,000 house churches in Yemen – a nation where Christians experience extreme persecution.
“Not long ago, we asked for specific prayers for a delicate meeting we had, and the brethren prayed for us through a voice note on WhatsApp,” he says. “We played the recording at the beginning of the meeting, and it was indeed an amazing encouragement. Not only for me, but for all the brothers who were present. It was like a spiritual charge, just like when you recharge your telephone battery. This is what happened to us then. We are very much encouraged when we know that we have brothers and sisters who are praying for us. The strongest thing that we own is our prayers.”
Zaid sees the church in Yemen as an extension of the early church, another group of house churches that risked everything to follow Jesus. “I know that He will protect us and will give us the same resources as the early church,” he says. “When the disciples were sent to different places to preach, God was with them, giving them the capability and the resources. We should go to the dark places. We are the light, and we carry the light inside us. We should [reflect] the light within us, so that everybody gets to see it.”
Zaid asks you to pray with him and other leaders in Yemen. “Pray for peace, not only peace from war but spiritual peace,” he asks. “We want Jesus to reign over Yemen. May God open the eyes of the people to see Him. May the Lord continue His work and give me the strength to lead the ministry He called me to do.
“Honestly, as a normal person, I am afraid, yes. But if we don’t take risks, we won’t be able to reach out to our communities. Even the disciples risked a lot; they faced persecution, they were killed, beaten up, monitored … but because of their sacrifices, the Word of God reached us. Someday, the police might take me, or someone might kill me, but God will be with me.”
*Names changed for security reasons.
She and Marcos opened a small school to teach children reading, writing and math, along with music and sports classes. It was there, between lessons, that Beatriz’s ministry began to bloom.
