How to live and bear fruit if you do not have any team, your relatives do not understand you, society condemns you, you lose your job because of your beliefs, you are a single woman… in Central Asia, and you have been diagnosed with an incurable disease?
– Gulia, please tell me how God called you to follow Him? How did you believe?
– I was born in Uzbekistan, in a Muslim family, my full name is Guljahon. When I was 32 years old, one Uzbek woman told me the Gospel. Then I first heard about Jesus Christ. After that, she offered me to repent. When I first heard the Gospel, it touched me. Before that, I had never heard such a thing, and it became very interesting to me. That sister gave me a booklet with the Gospel of John. After that, she invited me to church, saying: “Visit the church at least once, and then you will decide whether you want to come regularly or not, but in church you can hear more about Jesus Christ.” At that time, I had an internal resistance: “How can it be that I am a Muslim woman and listen about “some other kind of“ God. Our Muslim people are very God-fearing, they spend a lot of time in prayers, and here I listen to this.” In the church I heard a sermon and when the preacher called for repentance, I went out to the front and repented. During that period of my life, I had many difficulties, and I think that through them the Lord led me to repentance. And that was how it happened – I openly confessed Christ as my Savior before all the people and became a Christian. This was the beginning of my new life.
– Tell me about your family. Who were your parents? Where were you born?
– My hometown is Shakhrisabz. My mother is Tajik and my father is Uzbek. They were very faithful Muslims: they believed in Allah, constantly read namaz, confessed Muhammad as a prophet and the only way to Allah. We often went to various places of worship: to mosques, other sacred buildings, to the stones. But I never heard or saw anyone reading the Qur’an. It was a book that always just lay somewhere.
There are seven of us in the family: four brothers and three sisters. When I first believed, I immediately shared this news with my family. Their first reaction was that I was a traitor, because I betrayed my faith. In reality, I did not betray, but on the contrary, I acquired a real, living faith. There was a lot of oppression from my parents, and it was very difficult to realize, that the hearts of loved ones were closed to God. I had difficulties in my life even before, since I became a soldier at the age of 17 years, I have been experiencing various difficult situations – I was looking for answers, my soul was looking for God. God knew the time when I would believe, He knew all the situations, and when I experienced His presence, I felt strongly that something was happening inside me: I could not hold back tears and realized that I was a sinner. Islam teaches, that Allah forgives everything if you are a Muslim, but in reality, you need to confess Jesus Christ as your Savior, because that was He, Who died for your sins. That was how I became a believer in Jesus Christ.
– How did you understand that God is calling you to this particular service that you are currently carrying out? Tell us a little about the service itself, and how did you see the hand of God in serving precisely this people?
– When I became a believer, I had to know the Gospel well before sharing it with other people. I had mentors who constantly instructed me, strengthened me with the Word of God, they taught me how to preach the Gospel in a Muslim family. I read in the Word that if you believed, now you have to tell the Gospel to others so that they can be saved. And the first people that God sent me were Uzbek gypsies, who are called “lyuli”. And these were exactly the people with whom God blessed me. At first, I did not understand this and did not understand them. This is such a people that cannot even read, but God has prepared for them the most valuable and dearest gift – the Gospel. Their need was very great, they cried a lot, they were never considered people, they said “we are the third-rate people.” And when they heard the Good News, they accepted it. But now you need not just to tell them – now you need to live with them, share their experiences, help. I transmitted all sound teachings to the truly faithful. I myself changed and people were interested in the Christian life, in Who Jesus Christ is. It was important not only to teach the Word, but also to show faith by own deeds. It was necessary to participate in their lives, in sorrows, in household matters, to explain a lot, but through all this, they turned to me. They began to see in me the kindness of Jesus Christ. Not just in words, but in deeds. Together we prayed for healing, for the sick, for comfort.
– Gulia, please tell us about the very first fruits — the people who accepted your message about Jesus. Who were they?
– Two older women. They never went to school, women in these nations usually have many children. And after I told them about God, they asked me: “Can you come again tomorrow? We will gather all our relatives to listen to you.” Those were the first fruits of the Gospel. And later those two women brought to God many of their relatives. As a Samaritan woman in the 4th chapter of the Gospel of John, she led her people to God. I saw the fruits – people of different age: men, women, children. Whole crowds came to me and asked: “Tell us!” Those were His fruits!!! The people began to change, I saw their boldness, zeal, joy that Christ loved them. They asked me: “Where is Christ?”, I answered: “He is in your heart!”. And they were inspired and rejoiced. Those were the first fruits.
– What was the most difficult moment in your ministry, when it was especially difficult for you, and also the moment that brought you special joy?
– Jesus said that whoever received you – received Me, and who did not accept you – did not accept Me. “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” I thought, how can people persecute and not accept? But I went through this. When I started telling the Uzbek people about Christ, ill-wishers found me right in the park, then they came home. There were people who filed a report with the police, telling that I was spreading “some kind of Russian” God. I was called directly to Administration Office of the Main Internal Affairs Directorate and interrogated there. They warned that: “If you continue, big troubles will begin and you will be fined.” I was scared, it was unpleasant to hear those threats. How’s that? I give joy to my people, I’m not a murderer, not a harlot. I talk about the Truth, about what God revealed to me. I wanted to show the love of Jesus Christ through preaching to my people. When they threatened me in the “law enforcement” and harassed my family, I suddenly saw another joy. The Book of Acts says: “Rejoice when you are persecuted for My Name.” I felt this joy, the joy of being persecuted in the Name of Jesus Christ. Through all this, Christ became even more glorified, and I understood even more the sacrifice of Christ and His suffering for us. Therefore, it is important to remain faithful, not to deny faith, serve the Muslim people and never stop, because He really loved us. Glory to Jesus Christ!
– Thank God! You answered two questions at once about difficulties and joys. Is there any other specific case when God manifested Himself in a special way in your life or in your ministry?
– At a certain point in my life, when I was changing, my home church also began to grow – both spiritually and quantitatively; they worked harder, new people began to come, various ministries appeared. In 2017, I was diagnosed with cancer. I heard a lot about this disease and understood that everything ends with death. I began to ask myself: “I’m leaving in the middle of the road, how can I leave everything behind? Shall I have the opportunity to continue the ministry, won’t the disease be an obstacle?” In the midst of this pain, I began to communicate more with God. I grew closer and closer to Him, and felt that I was in His hands, I calmed down and trusted Him. I realized that He is a jealous God. He will find another one, who will serve this people. I am grateful to God for everything, because “with His stripes we were healed.” I saw that in spite of any difficulties, I will not be a loser. Everything is passing. I’ll be with Jesus in any case. And also God shows a miracle, gives me gifts, I have been alive for two years, I am full of strength. I need physical treatment, but not spiritual, I hold on. Thank God that I have no spiritual illness. Glory to Jesus!
– What do you dream about?
– Good question (laughs). Every believer probably dreams a lot. Dreams come in two forms: earthly and heavenly. I dream of heavenly things. Everything that is written in the Word will be fulfilled. I know that Christ will come a second time and really look forward to seeing Jesus. He loved me the way I am – and I want to go to Him like that. This is my dream.
Interviewed by Katerina Chekerenda
P.S. In the summer of 2021, our sister’s Gulia dream came true!
