She has worked at a hospital site for several years as a house helper and we have helped her and her six year old son in the past. N. has counted on us as parents after her own father died a year ago.

After years of being beaten and of having her hard-earned possessions taken by her husband who used them to support his alcoholism, she filed for a divorce. She is now 20y ears old and her husband is 35, having been married at the age of thirteen in her remote western village.

A few days after her arrival, we heard that her husband was in the area carrying a knife with the intent to kill her. We found a safe home for her and the following day her husband was in our compound asking questions of our landlord’s family. They honestly, and providentially, forgot that anyone was staying with us.

We are working to find her a (secure) situation while the legal process, including obtaining the guardianship of her son, (it is customary for the father to get custody of the children) follows its course. Pray for her safety and her growth in the knowledge of the Lord during this difficult time in her life.

This is not an uncommon situation, as 83% of women here are victims of abuse in their marital and family relationships. In a few remote districts, girls are married at ten years of age. Every year we hear reports of women who are scarred by acid attacks or even killed by in-laws who are not happy with her, or the dowry that she has given. Of course, this is the extreme, but there is a general attitude of incivility or abusiveness towards women in many areas of life.