NEPAL — Pramila* has faced rejection by her family and her husband in Nepal several times since becoming a Christian, but she won’t let go of her faith in Jesus. But she has received support from Open Doors to move on with her life including help to start her own shop.

Pramila* – Nepal:

I felt bad when everybody tormented me and verbally abused me. I felt as if I was alone in the world and there was nobody with me. I couldn’t read the Bible, but when I remembered God’s words, I felt peace in my heart.

Pramila had been raised in a Hindu family in a rural village in central Nepal. She grew up with a disability, her hands and legs were partially paralysed. But life changed when Pramila was a teenager and her grandmother took her to church.

Pramila:

Before I went to church, my hands and legs were always burning and I couldn’t wear slippers. Within a month of regularly going to church, I could put on slippers. My hands and legs were withered, but gradually they got better and I became well. Then I started believing. But whenever I returned home from church, my parents used to scold me. They used to tell me, “Don’t go to church, remain a Hindu. If you go to church, it’s as if you’re dead and no one will care for you anymore.” But I replied, “If I am healed, I will go to church. I don’t care what anyone says about me.”

Pramila had to leave home. She later married a man who said he was a Christian but was never interested in going to church.

Pramila:

At first he said that he would be satisfied with someone who could cook and wash his clothes and so I got married. But later he started verbally abusing me, saying that he had married a disabled person and no one should marry a disabled person. In the middle of all of this, I became pregnant and had a daughter. After that he said he didn’t need me and he went away and left me.

Pramila’s mother had by now become a Christian and invited her to stay at her house, along with her brother and sister-in-law. But Pramila’s mother fell ill and after she died, Pramila was left in an uncertain position again.

Pramila:

After my mother died, the villagers started to say, her brother kept her because of her mother. Now the mother is no more, who will take care of her? And then my brother and sister-in-law said, we can’t feed you, now go, pack your bag, your daughter and beg from people. They told me to leave, but where was I to go? There was no place for me, so I walked along crying. Then I thought of committing suicide and went to buy poison. But then there was my uncle’s family. I explained the situation to them and then they brought me to their house. Then one of your staff called me and I came to know about your organisation. I was given support to open a shop and now I run that shop. I give thanks for the people who helped me, they have done so much for me. I will always remember them in my prayers.

*Name changed for security reasons

About Open Doors UK

For over 60 years, Open Doors has worked in the world’s most oppressive countries, empowering Christians who are persecuted for their beliefs. Open Doors equips persecuted Christians in more than 60 countries through programs like Bible & Gospel Development, Women & Children Advancement, and Christian Community Restoration.

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