Lana was kidnapped, interrogated, and tortured.
But never once was she alone.
New Faith
Born and raised in a traditional Muslim family, Lana* grew up in a part of Asia where Muslim religious practices are heavily enforced. Sharia laws were strictly followed and practiced. In such a restricted environment, Lana began searching for truth beyond what she was taught.
Her journey to Christ began when a friend invited her to church for a Christmas service. Though everything in her mind resisted, her heart was stirred. Lana recalled, “The moment I entered the church during worship, I felt peace like never before. Tears just wouldn’t stop flowing. I didn’t understand the sermon, but I could feel God’s presence on me. I came out a different person.”
The longing to experience that peace again led her to attend church secretly. She even asked the local pastor to give her Bible lessons every Sunday after the service. This went on for over eight months, but Lana struggled.
“I couldn’t understand anything about Christianity even after those eight months,” she admitted with a chuckle. “But I knew one thing,” she continued, “He will never leave me, and if I stay with Him, I will be saved.”
While she was still trying to grapple with the concept of Christianity, Lana had a vision. She saw a bright light and heard a voice saying, “People will leave you, but I will always be with you.” That night she prayed and fully gave her life to Jesus.
When her parents found out, they reported her to the authorities.
"People will leave you, but I will always be with you."
Abduction and Interrogation
It was after this that Lana was walking down a street when a black van stopped in front of her. Before she knew what was happening, she had been grabbed and pulled into the van. She had no idea where she was going until they arrived in the middle of a jungle, at a correctional centre meant to “reform” people like Lana and restore them back to Islam.
There, the Islamic religious leaders poked and prodded Lana with questions about her faith and if they weren’t satisfied with her answer, she was punished. She endured multiple sessions of interrogation.
It was during one of these interrogation sessions that Lana felt the Holy Spirit’s presence. She boldly asked the religious officers, “Which prophet never received revelation?”
She didn’t even know the answer herself, but the Spirit inspired her to respond to her own question, “Jesus didn’t receive revelation because He is the revelation. He is the word of God.” This left the officers dumbfounded and convinced she was “possessed by a Christian ghost.”
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“I truly met Jesus in the lockup, not in Bible classes.” Says Lana. “I had no Bible with me, but the Holy Spirit was there, teaching and reminding me of truths I didn’t even know I knew. I felt like everything I couldn’t understand during those eight months of Bible study was revealed to me in my lonely room.
“Despite knowing only one worship song, my soul kept singing.
“I was filled with joy and peace. I recited the Lord’s Prayer every day. God opened my spiritual eyes. I understood the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit through His presence.”
After a few weeks of rehabilitation, the religious teacher at the centre questioned Lana again about who she believed and when she said she believed in Jesus, her faith was tested again – this time through physical torture. The officer brought out a belt with thorns through it and gave her the first lashing.
Lana recalled, “I prayed, and I felt the presence of God in that room the same way I experienced his presence in church.”
“After that first hit, I couldn’t feel any more of the lashes. I could stand even though I was bleeding. God’s presence was stronger than the pain I felt.
“I asked God, if there was anything He had planned for me to do outside of this centre, then please let me out of this place.”
Escape
Days later, while doing some chores at the rehab centre, the Holy Spirit prompted Lana to look in front of her through the window. There was a small hole under the fence. She heard a voice say, “You will go out through there.”
Lana kept this thought in her mind and prayed for a proper opportunity, which ended up coming just a few nights later. A heavy rain not only knocked out the power, making it completely dark, but washed out the hole enough for Lana to be able to squeeze through it. She was reminded of the vision God had given her much earlier – that he would never leave her.
Lana heard a voice tell her she would escape through the fence.
Lana made her way to a road. There, a man passing by helped her by dropping her off at a town where she knew a Christian couple had lived. This couple took Lana in, protecting and discipling her until she was able to get back on her feet again.
For eleven years, Lana didn’t return home. In that time, she enrolled and graduated from Theological school, got married, and continued to grow in her faith in Jesus. But during that decade, she was able to be in communication with her family and share the gospel with them. Slowly, they accepted her and her faith. Eventually, her mother even came to know Jesus.
Today
“Today, I work with a Bible translation team. We’re translating Scripture into my native language so others from my area can finally hear God’s Word.
And through it all, one thing never changed:
Jesus never left me.
Even in the darkest place, I was never alone.”
