Sofia Alexandre vividly remembers what life was like before she found hope.
“I grew up in a Muslim home,” she said. “Trying to navigate life as a young, Muslim girl from a traditional Islamic home while still living in the secular world was hard.”
Sofia’s life was dotted with hardships and overshadowed by trauma.
She wasn’t permitted to do much outside of her home. She could spend time with female friends as long as they came to her house.
When it was just the family behind closed doors, her father frequently took his anger out on Sofia and her siblings as well as her mother.
“Walking through my teenage years was challenging because I was holding all of this pain that came from enduring his abuse,” Sofia noted.
Keeping up appearances, though, was always expected.
“In our home, you didn’t talk about how you were struggling and you didn’t go out in public without a smile on your face,” she said. “I was suffering internally, but externally had to act like everything was just fine.”
When Sofia turned 15, she began to receive marriage offers, a practice common in Islamic culture. She remembers agonizing over the thought of an arranged marriage that could potentially lead to a life of abuse like her mother’s.
By the time her 18th birthday rolled around, Sofia was consumed with what looked to be a hopeless future.
“At the time, I was working at the YMCA and I started taking a Zumba class,” she said. “It was here that I met a woman named Brenda who changed everything for me.”
Following the Holy Spirit’s leading, Brenda got to know Sofia, loved her for who she was, invited her to church, and introduced her to Jesus.
“For the first time in my life, my heart was filled with hope,” Sofia exclaimed. “I felt like a weight had been lifted from me and the dread of my future disappeared.”
“I knew I would have a hard road ahead of me because I had converted and become a follower of Jesus,” she continued. “But I wanted my mother, especially, to know this hope that I had found.”
Sofia found comfort in God’s word as passages in James 1 and Matthew 5 quickly became pillars in her life.
“Consider it great joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you experience various trials, because you know that the testing of your faith produces endurance.” (James 1:2-3 CSB)
“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven is theirs.” (Matthew 5:10 CSB)
Today, Sofia and her mother are closer than ever as they talk on the phone frequently and visit several times a year.
“She was initially so ashamed of me when I converted to Christianity,” said Sofia. “But I was determined to show her the love of Jesus. I was so intentional about sitting with her, even if she didn’t want me there.”
“I would just talk to her,” Sofia continued. “and tell her how much I loved her and honored her. I wanted her to see that Jesus was way more than she could have ever imagined.”
For Sofia, her life is now overflowing with hope as she continues to grow in her relationship with God every day.
“Even when I didn’t know about Jesus, He knew me,” she said. “He saw me. He loved me. He filled voids I thought could never be filled.”
For those who might be searching for hope in their own life, Sofia offered these final thoughts.
“God is not afraid of your searching or your questions,” she concluded. “There is true life-changing hope to be found in the One who laid down His life for us.”
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