Written by: Open Doors Africa
Article source: www.opendoors.org.za
The subject of rape is well known to us in South Africa with calls for our police to sort out the backlog of rape cases in our country. And many of us likely know someone who has been raped.
It’s not easy to talk about, especially for survivors of rape. And it’s not just in South Africa – across the world, rape is prevalent in many societies, leaving many women in pain.
On our continent in sub-Saharan Africa, it’s being used to silence the Church as women are targets of kidnapping and rape by extremists. Last year 1 700 were sexually assaulted or harassed in the region. Many because of their faith in Jesus.
Many cases of rape go untold, with survivors living with feelings of shame and guilt in silence.
Then there’s Rifkatu. What happened to her was so horrifying that we can’t share all the details with you, as it’s violent and distressing.
But God…
After she was raped, this young sister in Christ was left degraded, ashamed and angry at what had happened to her.
But again, the healing power of God that transcends the pain of this world has broken the chains of pain and shame that she felt.
Through an Open Doors trauma healing centre, God started working in her heart.
Rifkatu’s journey to healing isn’t over but today, along with her husband, Pastor Zamai, and their little girl Maryam, she has been transformed from a woman stigmatised by society because of what happened to her, a daughter of God, who has found healing thanks to your support.
We pray that you will be encouraged and challenged by Rifkatu’s testimony, knowing that the present sufferings we all face are fleeting and that through Christ we can overcome anything.
RIFKATU’S TESTIMONY
Displaced. Abducted. Abused. Rejected. These are just some of the “pains” that Rifkatu* has carried to the cross of Jesus.
Just four weeks after her and her husband, Pastor Zamai* celebrated their wedding day, Rifkatu closed her eyes and silently prayed as one man after another raped her, brutally and repeatedly inside a Fulani militant camp. She was kidnapped by Islamic extremists, who are intent on persecuting Christians.
When Rifkatu was finally freed, something inside her had changed. “I started thinking, is this my wife, the woman I know and married?” Zamai remembers with sadness.
But thanks to your support, Rifkatu was able to find healing at our trauma care centre, which cares for thousands of women who have experienced violent persecution because of their faith.
Deep healing is in process for her and many like her.
“Something I will never forget is taking our pains to the cross,” she says. “Everyone wrote their pains on a piece of paper. We sang songs and burned our pieces of paper at the cross. They told us as the ashes go up, our pains are going up to God.”
Watch her story:
Zamai credits the time at the trauma centre with helping him to recentre his focus on the hope of Jesus. “Truly if we had not had the opportunity to come for this trauma healing, maybe to this day, our relationship wouldn’t have been mended,” he says. “When I went for the training, it encouraged and strengthened me and made me change my attitude and thinking. Because of that, I have embraced the situation with faith that God Almighty knows it all.”
“We want our voices, these women’s voices, to be heard,” says Asebe*, a trauma care provider who volunteers at the trauma centre supported by Open Doors. “Let the world know what is happening to Christian women in Nigeria. Their rights are not being protected. They are being traumatised; they are being abused because of their faith. And we want this to stop.”
“Let there be advocacy. Let them come with assistance in any way they can. Let them also pray, because what humans can’t do, I believe God can do.”
Here are three ways you can stop the violence and start the healing:
1. Sign and share the petition
Add your name to Open Doors’ Arise Africa petition or if you’ve already signed it, ask others to sign it too. The petition will be open until 2026, but please send your signature as soon as you can to help us build momentum and raise enough signatures to present it to the African Union, European Union and the United Nations.
2. Give a gift to bring healing to these deep wounds.
Your best gift today can help believers in Africa like Rifkatu with things such as emergency shelter, medical care, an education and trauma care.
- Pray for Rifkatu’s continued emotional, spiritual and physical healing. Pray this family will keep following Jesus and be strengthened by God’s love.
- Give thanks that trauma healing centres, supported by you, can bring healing to thousands of persecuted Christians each year.
- Lift up to God the 1 700 believers who were sexually assaulted in sub-Saharan Africa last year because of their faith and pray the Lord will heal their pain.
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Date published: 23/08/2025
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