{"id":9586,"date":"2019-11-05T11:27:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-05T11:27:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/?post_type=conexion&p=9586"},"modified":"2020-01-23T11:20:53","modified_gmt":"2020-01-23T11:20:53","slug":"hope-for-the-beaten-and-bullied","status":"publish","type":"conexion","link":"https:\/\/ifesworld.org\/en\/blog\/hope-for-the-beaten-and-bullied\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope for the beaten and bullied"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

I stared at the face in the mirror: I hate you<\/em>, I said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

I did. I hated myself. I hated my\nlife. I hated my father who beat me. I hated my lonely childhood. I wasn\u2019t safe\nor happy at home or at school. From Grade 1 to Grade 12, I was bullied \u2013 just\nbecause of my name. Every other child at school had a Muslim family name, while\nmine happened to be Christian. But it was just a name! I certainly wasn\u2019t a\nChristian. None of my family were. I didn\u2019t believe in God and I hated the idea\nof a God being a Father.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Speaking to God<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

Somehow during my first year at\nuniversity I found myself going to a Christian camp. The speaker was an\napologist. I was fairly well-read and knew enough about evolution and other\nscientific theories to argue against the existence of God. Or so I thought. But\nthis man had answers to my questions. All of them. One by one, he broke down my\nobjections, corrected my misconceptions and found holes in my reasoning.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

The next morning, I spoke to God: Maybe you\u2019re here. But I didn\u2019t see you in\nany place I\u2019ve walked in my life. Where are you?<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

As soon as I\u2019d prayed, it went out\nof my mind. But that night, the speaker turned to us and said: There is someone here who has asked God if he\nwas there in his life. God is answering you today: he is here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

I went to a quiet place and cried. I spoke to God again: I want to be with you<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\"\"
 \u00dcmit Bulut –  Unsplash <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
\n

From 5 to 50<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

Life was not suddenly easy after\nthat. I still had a lot of problems. But God was at work in my heart and life.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

My friend and I were encouraged by\nan IFES staff worker to start a Bible study on campus. We began with five and\ngrew to 50. The Christian students in that group later left university and\nbecame a church. Now I work part-time in psychology and part-time with the\nsmall IFES movement here. We have between two and three hundred students\ninvolved: Christians, nominal Christians and Muslims.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Help for the helpless<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n\n
\n

I met a student at a conference\nrecently. She had been sexually abused by her brother and felt like her life\nhad ended. Eight times she\u2019d attempted suicide. I listened to her for two\nhours. It was a desperate and, humanly-speaking, helpless story. I didn\u2019t say\nmuch, but I promised her that Jesus was able to help her. That day was the start\nof a new life for her. Today she believes in Jesus and is studying psychology\noverseas because she wants to help others who have been abused.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

\n

Her background is not unusual. Many\nstudents in this country are struggling with the pain of broken families,\ndivorce, abuse and addictions. I would love our movement to be a place where\nstudents can bring their problems and find freedom, healing and hope in Christ.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"featured_media":9587,"template":"","area":[461],"theme":[1214],"class_list":["post-9586","conexion","type-conexion","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","area-mena","theme-pioneering"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHope for the beaten and bullied · IFES Conexi\u00f3n Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I stared at the face in the mirror: I hate you, I said. I did. I hated myself. I hated my life. I hated my father who beat me. 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