SOUTHEAST ASIA — Rose waited anxiously through the night, checking for a text message from Sari, a new believer she had been discipling. The two met when Sari came to attend college on the island where Rose, an International Mission Board worker in Southeast Asia, lives.

Sari’s family was not pleased when they heard she had been baptized. It went against their animistic beliefs, and according to the village witch doctor, it brought bad luck to Sari’s family.

When Sari returned home to her village to help with an urgent family need, she knew she would be facing persecution. Rose was eager to hear how Sari’s family had received her.

When Sari finally texted, Rose’s concern only grew. Sari’s family wanted to invite witch doctors to the house to help cleanse the bad luck from their family. The witch doctors wanted to complete a ritual that included restraining Sari and throwing rocks at her.

All Rose could do was pray for Sari and mobilize others to do the same. Since it was the middle of the night in Asia, Rose texted church partners in America. Many began to pray for Sari to endure.

Amid her family’s anger and violence, Sari continued to share the gospel with them.

“It’s enough for me that they hear the truth about my God,” she messaged Rose.

Though the ritual was supposed to last three days, the witch doctors’ ceremony was interrupted on the second day by a group of Christians. The believers had no idea what was happening, but they felt led to come to the family’s house and share the gospel with them.

Not only did God deliver Sari, but He also provided another way for her family to hear the gospel and understand His love for them.

“We firmly believe that was only because of the prayers of God’s people, and the church crying out to the Lord [for Sari],” Rose said.

Sari’s faith in God grew through this experience, and since then she has continued to grow in Christ. Recently, she began helping Rose lead Bible study groups and disciple others.

“We are family. The church is our family,” Rose said. “We will weep with those who weep; we will rejoice together; we will sit with them in the hard places, and the day they stand is the day we will too.”

Sari’s experience is not unique. Many believers in Southeast Asia, and around the world, face persecution and rejection from their families and communities when they put their faith in Christ. Pray they will endure and grow in their faith in Christ. Pray that their persecutors will become their family in Christ.

(EDITOR’S NOTE — Stella McMillian writes for the International Mission Board. Names in this article have been changed.)