A dream of Jesus in Brunei leads to 30 years of women’s ministry

Sara* is not from Brunei, but it’s where she grew up. She also didn’t come from a Christian home. But there was a mural of Jesus that someone had painted on the walls of a church – a church that Sara would pass every day on her way to and from school. As she passed it, she would slow her steps. One day, she even stopped to sketch the mural.

When she was 12 years old, she had a vivid dream of a man in white. “In my dream, I heard a voice call me ‘My child’, and I thought, who would call me that?” says Sara. “But when I turned around and looked at that man, I knew He was Jesus.

“He put his arms around my shoulders, and I remember having a conversation with Him. He showed me the family home I grew up in, and then He said something so peculiar. He said, ‘I will save them too.’ I had no idea what that meant. I was only 12 years old.”

When she woke up, Sara rummaged through her things to find the drawing she made of Jesus and was amazed to find that it was the same person.

Ministering to married women

God continued to speak to Sara in dreams. She began attending church and got baptised when she was 17.

The night before her baptism, she had another dream, where she saw a dove. “This time, I felt like the dove brought me out of earth,” she says. “I was in outer space, and I saw the earth in front of me. Then I heard a voice saying, ‘You do not belong to this earth, I will bring you home to paradise.’ During this time, I didn’t know much about the Holy Spirit, but that’s what God showed me.”

Year after year, Sara continued to grow in her faith. She got married – but sadly, it ended in divorce. Her husband did not share her faith and was unfaithful to her. The pain of the divorce is still strong, but Sara believes that God has a plan and a purpose for her life.

Sara has lived in Brunei for 27 years, continuously serving the people in her church. Despite the tragic ending to her own marriage, she feels called to minister to married women. “I realised there are many women who are struggling in their marriages, and I believe that God has placed me here to help women build strong marriages and strong relationships with their loved ones,” she says.

Forgiving is ‘a daily choice’

Brunei is currently number 48 on Open Doors’ World Watch List. The country fully implemented Sharia (Islamic law) in 2019, but it seems to have had little effect on Christians in the country so far.

When local partners met Sara recently, she asked for prayers, saying, “Please continue to pray for me as I make the choice to forgive my ex-husband for all his wrongdoings every day. It really is a daily choice.”

Local partners are looking into more opportunities to fellowship and disciple Sara so she can stand firm in her faith in Jesus.​

*Name changed for security reasons

please pray

• Give thanks to God for Sara’s faithful ministry to the women in her church these last 27 years
• That God will help Sara to heal from her divorce and give her the strength to forgive her ex-husband
• For Open Doors partners as they continue to serve believers in Brunei like Sara.

please give

• Every HK$100 could give a Bible to a persecuted women so she read God’s word
• Every HK$200 could give a month of vital practical support to a persecuted woman
• Every HK$300 could provide discipleship training to strengthen a woman facing persecution.

*Any excess funds from this appeal will be used to strengthen other persecuted Christians where urgent help is needed.

give today: Women