Adel was born in a little Indonesian village in 1977. The majority of the families in her hometown were Christians, and Adel was raised to love the Lord. She grew up serving her community and teaching her village’s children about Christ.

She met and married her husband, Methu, and they had two children whom they loved very much. For a while, they lived together in peace. But in 1999, radical Muslims from the neighboring villages visited and began disrupting the quiet life Adel’s family had loved.

At first, thirty men, women, and children gathered around a banner with the words “Love Peace” written on it. One of the men proclaimed loudly that people of both religions should live in peace together. While Adel’s neighbors thought it was odd since there had not been any fighting between them, they received the gesture with open hearts.

Four months later, they heard about one of their neighbors who had tried to leave the island but was stopped by Muslim men. Then a few months after that, Adel was woken from a midday nap by a commotion. Her neighbors were pointing at a stream of smoke in the distance. A nearby Christian village had been set on fire. They learned that 3,000 Muslims were on their way.

Adel ran to gather to family, grabbing her Bible from her home before running out of her house. She stayed with the village’s children on a slope, a short distance from the village, while Methu and the other men of the village tried to hold the attackers off. They were successful for four hours, but eventually, they were overcome.

The entire village was set on fire, and the men, including Methu, ran to gather their children and flee. But the Muslims began firing their guns at the villagers, who fell to the ground to crawl away through the grass.

Adel’s family spent the night in the jungle, trying their best to shelter from the rain. The attackers found them again the next morning, firing from a distance. And Adel knew she had to pause and prepare her children for what could happen.

“Christina and Anto, please look at me and listen very carefully. If we are caught by those of the jihad, they will ask you if you want to become a Muslim. If you say no, they may kill you,” Adel’s heart was breaking over the suffering of her children. They looked up at her and said, “We want to follow Jesus.” And so there, under the threat of death, in the wet jungle of Indonesia, Adel led her two children to the Lord.

The next few days were difficult for Adel and her family. They were captured by the Muslims; her husband Methu was shot, and her young son Anto was killed by a machete. Adel was beaten and tortured for hours. At each blow, she shouted back at her attackers, “The blood of Jesus is all-powerful!” praying for strength and courage. She felt that God was miraculously protecting her since she knew she should have been dead long ago.

After they brought Adel back to their village, the men interrogated her asking where the other Christians had hidden, but she refused to tell them. They held her captive for almost a year, and her only piece of comfort was that her daughter Christina was with her and learning that Methu was still alive and free.

Adel faced brutal beatings and threats as the jihadists ordered her to forsake Christ and become a Muslim, but she and the other captives refused. Eventually, Adel was forced to marry one of the men, and she and Christina were forced to live with him.

Adel often felt hatred for her captors growing inside her, and she battled it daily with much prayer.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity in captivity Adel, Christina, and Adel’s new daughter Sarah, were able to escape and reunite with Methu.

Now they continue to spread the gospel while hiding from their captors, constantly under the threat of captivity again. Through many hours of fervent prayer, Adel found forgiveness in her heart for those who had mistreated her so cruelly. She was able to withstand the most horrible persecution because of the strength she found from prayer.

The trials we face may not be as dramatic as the ones faced by Adel and her family. But we should be encouraged to find the strength to face them as she did, by devotion to prayer.