Sri Lanka: A 20-year prayer request

Priya has endured so much for Jesus. Pray with her that God will change her husband’s heart

In mid-March, some of Priya’s* friends from church visited her home. After spending some time with her, they prayed for her and left. Her husband, a Buddhist, who was also at the house when Priya’s friends visited, initially did not object.

However, once they left, he beat Priya cruelly. “I told you not to go to church. Now the believers are coming here,” he shouted.

In their 20 years of marriage, it was the first time her husband hit her because of her faith. But it wasn’t the first time he had oppressed her for her faith in Jesus. And in Priya’s part of Sri Lanka, opposition for faith in Jesus is all too common.
Priya accepted the Lord when she was 20 years old, after witnessing her brother being healed by prayer. “On that day, I decided that I would continue to follow God,” Priya explains.

However, her marriage quickly became a source of sorrow for Priya, culminating in physical abuse. Even though their marriage was based on the condition that Priya would be allowed to attend church, pray at  home and follow her own religion, the situation changed soon after their wedding. The promises made by her husband were all broken.

Her husband, along with his family members, began to oppose her faith. “How can you not become Buddhist if your husband is Buddhist?” her mother-in-law often asked.

And now, every Sunday, tension fills the house as Priya prepares for church. “Why do you need to go to church? Just leave your Lord!” her husband shouts.

Whenever Priya starts to read the Bible or pray, her husband becomes furious. “Two years ago, he burned my Bible,” she says. “A few months ago, he tore and threw away my new Bible,” she said.

Her husband’s drinking habits have added to her misery. “Whenever he came home drunk, he would start insulting the church and my faith,” Priya says .

But even amidst all the struggles she faces, Priya has decided to be with the Lord, and that will never change. There are times when she prays to the Lord in tears when her husband is not at home. “I even told my son to conduct my burial rituals in a Christian way when I die,” she said sorrowfully.

Open Doors field partners recently met with Priya and strengthened her in prayer. Her struggles are ongoing, but our partners are carefully and quietly looking out for her in hopes she doesn’t face more persecution from her husband.

Please continue to pray for Priya and that God will answer the prayer request she has faithfully prayed for over 20 years: her husband's salvation.

*representative image used