An ICR field worker visited a Muslim village with an ICR partner in Ethiopia last year. By chance, she saw 17-year-old Ayana and greeted her. “I noticed straight away that something was different,” the field worker said. “She had an incredible radiance and smiled at me straight away – this was very different from the other villagers, who were reserved.”

Then the field worker noticed Ayana wore a small cross necklace, and she asked her if she believed in Jesus. Ayana led the field worker a little ways away from the rest of the village, and they sat down under a tree.

“I came to faith three years ago,” Ayana said.

She was ill and when to a hospital in another place. There, someone from a local church visited the hospital and prayed for her. Ayana was healed, and she gave her life to Christ. When she returned to her village, she was the only one in her family who was a Christian. Her family was against her faith and treated her with a lot of hatred. The rest of the village excludes her from much of the village life.

But it didn’t matter, because Ayana felt so different inside.

“Jesus changed everything,” she said. “After I received Jesus Christ, I became stable and became very happy.” she said.

“The people hate me. They don’t accept me, but through this whole process, God stands with me. I have faced many challenges, like my family prevents me from going to prayer services,” she said.

“But what happened to me cannot be described. Now I have a vision to serve Jesus,” she said.

*name changed, not a picture of Ayana