VOM Weekend Devotional: She asked if God was with her. He answered.

This month, we asked VOM workers to share stories from their visits with persecuted Christians who remain faithful in some of the world’s most difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. As you read this story, we hope you will be encouraged and inspired to a bold and obedient faith.

In Matthew 28:20, Jesus makes a promise to his followers: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

Our team met Gloria earlier this year in Southeast Asia. She left home to attend university, where a Christian friend invited her to church. Gloria attended a service and, over time, became convinced that Jesus is the Son of God and the only hope for salvation. She placed her trust in Christ and made plans to be baptized.

When Gloria’s devout Muslim family heard that she was to be baptized, they were determined to prevent it — no matter what. Her parents drove over four hours to her university town, forced her into their car, took her phone and began driving home.

Gloria thought her father was going to kill her. She could feel his rage fill the car. Wedged in the backseat between two siblings so she couldn’t make a run for it, with no way to contact Christian friends or ask for help, Gloria silently called out to God: “Lord, are you really with me?”

With her life in danger, Gloria needed to know that God saw her situation and that he cared. Gloria told us that as soon as she prayed that prayer, she looked up to see an approaching truck. Painted in big letters across the front of the truck was one word:

IMMANUEL.

God with us.

At that moment, Gloria quietly rejoiced. God had heard her prayer. Whatever was coming, she could endure it with the Holy Spirit’s help.

Locked in her parents’ house, Gloria waited and prayed. Two days later, she escaped with only the clothes she wore. Her parents enlisted the police to help find her, and they withdrew her from all her university classes, just a few months before she was to graduate.

When we met Gloria, she was hiding with a Christian family and didn’t know what her future held. Where would she go? Would she be able to finish her degree? How would she support herself? Gloria has many unanswered questions. But as we sat with her, our team didn’t see concern or worry — we saw her trust in God. She knows that he is with her.

No matter what you may face today, the God who comforted Gloria is the same God who walks with you: Immanuel. God with us.

If you would like to support Christians like Gloria, click here.