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"For Islamic leaders in my village, it feels as if all Christian women are just as good as dead," Jorina says.
This sounds shocking—and it should. But in northern Bangladesh, where Jorina is from, it's an all-too-common sentiment. Even though the Constitution of Bangladesh guarantees religious freedom and secular rule, more than 90% of Bangladeshi citizens are Muslim. This means that conversion to Christianity from Islam can carry serious consequences.
Additionally, the surrounding culture has created a social mindset that women are less valuable than men. Jorina understands that her identity as a woman and a Christian makes her doubly vulnerable—and a double target.
This understanding is more than just a feeling—messaging from radical Islamic leaders gives her community the freedom to treat her badly, even to the point of threatening her life. She has been publicly humiliated, and the lives of her family put in danger.
But Jorina knows her true identity is in Christ and that He respects and values her.
That's how she can persevere despite the often painful realities of her life.
Jorina grew up as a Muslim and married a Muslim man—or so she thought. It turns out that the man she married was secretly searching for the truth and had been learning about Jesus from other believers. Jorina was intrigued, but even then, her status as a woman kept her from learning about Him.
"I was interested to know more about it, but the problem was, according to village culture, a woman cannot talk and sit together with a stranger," Jorina remembers. "One day, with a brave heart, I asked my husband, 'Who is this man? What are you talking about with this stranger? I am very interested to know. I want to join you.' My husband said, 'Yes, you can.'"
Finally, Jorina could sit with her husband and the believer to learn about Jesus. She was surprised when the man used verses from the Quran to talk about Jesus.
"He was reciting from the Quran, and my husband and I were confirming those verses from our own Quran," she says. "After he left, my husband and I sat together, thinking about what to do next. Before leaving, we were given a Kitab al-Muqaddas (the Holy Bible). As Muslims, we needed to follow all three holy books—Injil (the Gospel of Jesus), Tawrat (the Torah), and Zabur (the Psalms) so we asked ourselves, 'Then why do we only follow the Quran?' And also, in the Quran, it is mentioned that until the Tawrat, Zabur, and Injil are established, there is no value in you."
For the next two years, the couple continued learning about Jesus while also studying Islamic literature. Eventually, they were convinced that the Bible was true, and they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior and were baptized.
Naturally, Jorina and her husband were excited to share the joy of their new faith with others. But the area where they lived was predominantly Muslim. When they told others they were now Christians, the community's attitude toward the couple changed almost overnight.
"When we received Christ, we didn't feel the need to hide it from others," Jorina explains. "We believed we needed to share the truth with others as well. When we started sharing this truth, people began calling us 'Christians' instead of our names."
To the other women in the community, Jorina was now different. Her faith set her apart. Women who had once been her friends and others she had interacted with every day changed in an instant. She recalls one particularly painful incident.
"One day, 10 to 15 women from our village took me to a place with them," she says. "When they called me, I didn't understand why. I thought they called me to hear the truth that I knew and shared with others. I went with them, and we all entered a house. Then they said to me, 'We know that after becoming a Christian, they put a seal on you. Now, we will check your body for that seal.' When they said that, I felt really embarrassed."
The urban legend in this part of Bangladesh comes from a mistaken understanding of Ephesians 1:13: "When you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believed in Him, you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit." Some people believe Christians are literally "marked" after they follow Jesus.
Jorina tried to tell the women they were mistaken, but nothing could change their minds.
"I told them, 'I don't have any seal on my body,'" she remembers. "They said, 'Shut up! We know you have a seal on your body.' I couldn't believe how any of this was even possible. There were so many people (all women), and I was too embarrassed to undress myself. I was thinking, 'How could I possibly undress myself in front of them?' As there were many of them, they were all saying so many different things. I had no choice; I undressed in front of them, and they began searching for the seal. They checked everywhere on my body, trying to find the seal, but there was no such seal. I couldn't share this with anyone else because it was a very sensitive issue and a deeply shameful incident for me. I cried a lot in that room. After a while, they kicked me out, and I returned home. When I got back, I didn't share this with anyone. How could I? How was it even possible to talk about such a thing?"
As a woman, a wife and a mother of two children, the whole incident was deeply humiliating, especially for someone raised in Bangladeshi culture. In Jorina's context, women are expected to cover themselves and wear modest clothes; these women knew very well what they were doing when they forced Jorina to strip. They knew how inhumane and shameful this treatment would be for a woman. But it didn't matter to them... because Jorina was a Christian and to them, she was an infidel.
The day is one of the most painful in Jorina's life; the memory still makes her cry. At first, she felt helpless and broken, unable to speak about what happened. Eventually, she told her church friends. Their support brought her much-needed healing.
There was a time in Jorina's life when she would have responded to such a horrific incident with hatred and a thirst for revenge. But now, she chooses to follow Jesus and obey His words.
"After becoming a Christian, the biggest change in my life was that I had to love everyone and learn to forgive others," she says. "Now, when someone says a hurtful thing, and for the past incidents that happened to me, I must forgive them. I can't live with anger anymore. I used to quarrel with others, lie and do many bad things, but now I don't do such things. After receiving Christ and reading from the Gospels, I can now love others and treat them well."
Even with a strong faith, Jorina lives with the constant threat of future attacks—aimed not just at her but also her family.
"After [our conversion], in the eyes of the Muslims, we were seen as terrible people," she says. "They hated us and treated us differently. My husband's family also began pressuring us, saying they would not give him any inheritance. According to Muslim law, you are entitled to 12.5% of the inheritance from the mother's side of the family, but my husband's brother took away his share without my husband's consent. When my mother-in-law passed away, they didn't even allow us to attend the funeral service. My husband received death threats from all sides, even from his brother's son, who threatened to kill him. They were saying, 'In all our generations, they are the only ones ruining our family's reputation in society by becoming Christians.'"
Jorina's two children also experience discrimination in the community and their schools. She remembers her son coming to her one day saying: "My friends always tell me that since we are Christians, we have no religion and can't go to Heaven. They also tell me that they will burn us alive."
All Jorina could do in that situation was pray and commit her son to God's safety. She knew that filing a complaint was futile. The local authorities would do nothing to help a Christian family like hers.
Through every season of her walk with God, Jorina never loses sight of what first led her to Jesus. The Bible is her source of strength through every difficult situation. "We should be obedient to God's Word," she says. "My God said, 'If anyone believes in me and leaves their home, children and everything for me, then in eternal life, they will receive 100 times more than what they have left behind."
Despite everything she has endured and still endures, Jorina has chosen to faithfully serve God. She and her husband continue to share the gospel with their Muslim neighbors and as a result, people have come to know Jesus. They are nurturing these new believers through a small house church.
For several years, Open Doors has partnered with the couple's ministry. "[Open Doors partners] have supported us in various ways," she says. "When I go through persecution, or when any of our church members go through persecution, they always stand beside us. For example, when we didn't have a place to worship or hold our church services, we received support to build this house church. During any persecution, we call [Open Doors partners and a sister who works there]. Then they are present with us, offering support in legal matters and financial assistance if needed."
Open Doors' field partners also built a tube well for Jorina's family because the Muslim villagers cut off their access to clean water.
Jorina has also begun to pass along the wisdom she's gained to other women.
Having experienced the challenges of being a Christian woman in her Muslim community, Jorina understands the value of discipling and empowering women and showing them their value in God's sight. In 2017, she began training to be a facilitator of one of Open Doors' partners' discipleship programs called "Ananna" (which means "unique woman in Bengali"). Through this training, women learn the fundamentals of the Christian faith, spiritual disciplines and God's design for a woman.
"It took me five years to graduate from the Ananna program," she shares, "and after that, I got the opportunity to work as an Ananna teacher. We need this because in Muslim culture, people often don't give value to women. But as believers, we value women and want them to know the way to Heaven and have the opportunity to become Ananna teachers as well."
Jorina believes the most effective way to strengthen and grow their church is by discipling the next generation of believers through Sunday school.
"In our church, there are 20 to 25 families, and there are children in those families," she says. "We will not live forever, but I want this place to be a strong foundation for Jesus Christ. I want the children of this church to grow up and work for our church so the Good News of Jesus Christ will spread out from here, and everyone will know. They already know that people are coming here and that there are Christians here; I want this to continue."
Jorina's life has become a testimony for the Lord's faithfulness. Through her and her family, people are coming to Jesus. People in their neighborhood know that they lead a house church. This puts them at greater risk of attacks, but Jorina is not afraid—she knows the Lord is with them.
Jorina says: "If we must die, let it be for the Lord; if we are alive, let it be for the glory of the Lord. God can work through us."
Jorina shares specific prayer requests:
