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At just 14 years old, Sari's heart was awakened by a truth she had long sought.
When a stranger gave her a tract about Jesus, she felt deeply drawn to it. "At that time, I felt empty with the religious teachings I had followed," she says. "I felt that something still didn't sit quite right, and I kept searching for the real truth. And what I read in that gospel tract changed everything."
"My decision to follow Jesus was irreversible."
Sari, Indonesian believer
For the first time in her life, she encountered the Truth she had been longing for: Jesus. Filled with uncontainable joy, she chose to leave her former religion and follow Him.
But because of where she lives in Indonesia, the cost of her newfound faith was immediate.
Sari's family, stunned by her decision, chose silence over support. "Don't speak of this with the neighbors," her parents warned her, fearing backlash from the community.
But Sari's joy couldn't be hidden. She began to share Jesus with her friends at school. When a teacher discovered Sari's boldness in her new faith, Sari's joy turned into a storm of intimidation. Her teachers pressured her relentlessly. "My decision to follow Jesus was irreversible," Sari says. "I just longed for my friends to know Him too." Yet the constant hostility from her teachers and some of her peers pushed her into depression, and eventually, she made the painful choice to leave school.
But God didn't abandon her. He led her to the Women Training Centre (WTC), a one-year training run by Open Doors local partners for persecuted women. There, she learned sewing, knitting, and at the same time, she was spiritually strengthened. A year later, WTC gifted her a sewing machine.
Now, seven years later, that same machine still hums under her hand. "I am so grateful for this sewing machine," Sari says. "Not only have my sewing skills improved, but the clothes and products I've made with it have helped sustain me financially to this day."
Now, at 21, Sari is a university student, majoring in management after attaining a scholarship to study. But even this blessing comes with a challenge. Because local authorities made it nearly impossible to change the religion listed on her ID card, she applied using her original identity. Her university recognizes her as a Muslim. "I'm afraid to reveal I'm a Christian," she admits. "If they find out, they might take away my scholarship. It's what allows me to keep studying."
The price is heavy. In her first year, she was required to attend Islamic religious classes—wearing a hijab and reading the Quran. "My heart was torn every time," she confessed. "But I had no other choice." She failed the Islamic course twice. But then, something unexpected happened.
"God softened my lecturer's heart," she said. "To pass, I only had to send a video of myself reciting the Quran. I still remembered how to do it." So, she passed.
"It's the price I've had to pay for not being able to change my ID," she reflected. Yet even in secret, even under pressure, Sari's light continues to shine—faithful, quiet, and unshaken.
Please take a moment and stand with your sister in prayer: