Forgiving Her Parents

As a 16-year-old in Sierra Leone, Mariatu had a chore of collecting firewood in the forest. She and other girls from her community would spend hours gathering firewood.

One day, as Mariatu gathered wood, a Christian friend shared the gospel with her. Mariatu was intrigued but feared what her family might think, as her father was an imam at a local mosque. “My family did not see the church as anything good,” she said.

When the friend invited her to attend a church service, Mariatu agreed in spite of her fears.

The following Sunday, Mariatu did not tell her family where she was going. She slipped away easily because of her regular firewood-gathering duty. But entering the church that morning was life-altering for her.

“I was joyful,” she said of hearing God’s Word for the first time. “It went to my heart. The Word of God, I understood it. It was very clear the first time.”

That day, Mariatu placed her trust in Christ.

But someone had told Mariatu’s family where she had gone. “When I came back [from the church], they never accepted me into the house,” she said.

Mariatu would spend two years without a real home until Christian friends invited her to attend a sewing training course that included a place to live and discipleship.

“It helped me grow spiritually,” she said. “And I praise God. Besides my faith growing, I was also learning how to sew.”

When she was 21, Mariatu graduated from the training program. Though she had not spoken to her parents since the day she had been kicked out of her home, they still attended her graduation celebration.

“I have the great joy today [because] my parents who persecuted me came to witness and to see what God has done in my life,” Mariatu said. “I spoke to [them] because I had been taught from the Word of God to forgive.”

As Mariatu begins her new life, she does not expect any support from her parents. But she does believe she will have the opportunity to share her faith with them, and she plans to do so as soon as possible.

“By the grace of God,” she said, “I will do that.”