Meeting Danmaya
It was a long, hot drive to the tin-roofed house in southern Nepal where our VOM team met Danmaya. The air conditioner in our taxi couldn’t quite keep up with the heat, and we alternated between running it full blast to try to stave off the swelter and rolling down the windows to let the hot, steamy air blow across our sweating faces. When we arrived at our destination and ducked into the brick house where Danmaya lives, it was even hotter than our taxi, like one of those brick pizza ovens only with plastic chairs inside. It’s not Danmaya’s house; she just lives there. The house actually belongs to her Pastor. He and his family live there, too. The house has only one room. The Pastor welcomed us and pointed me to a plastic chair. He sat on the one bed in the room. His wife sat on the floor. He shared some of his testimony, then talked about Danmaya.
Choosing Christ
When a Christian friend shared the gospel with Danmaya six years before we met her, it was impossible for her to know how much it would cost to follow Jesus. Danmaya willingly received the gospel, the good news, and committed her life to following Christ. She was weary of trying to please the millions of Hindu gods, and she felt in her heart the truth of God’s love demonstrated through Jesus Christ.
When she told her husband, he didn’t think her faith would last. He told her to keep it to herself so she wouldn’t bring shame on their high-caste Hindu family. But Danmaya’s faith didn’t stay the same. It grew, and soon it was too large to keep to herself. Eventually, it could not be contained in their simple home. About a year after she first accepted the gospel message, Danmaya asked to be baptized. Now her husband knew this wasn’t a fad or phase his wife was going through. She wasn’t going to hide or keep quiet that she was no longer a Hindu; she was a Christian, and soon everyone would know.
Persecution and Faith
“This is not our custom,” he told her. “Give up your faith. Otherwise I will leave you. I don’t want you being with me since you are a Christian and I am a Brahman (high-caste Hindu).” Eventually, he threw Danmaya’s possessions outside. She was no longer welcome in her own home. Later, he took a new wife.
In Nepali culture, it’s customary for an abandoned wife to return home to her parents, or to the home of an older brother, where she will be provided for. But Danmaya’s own parents would not take her back unless she renounced her faith. Where would she go?
Jesus warned His followers that “a person’s enemies will be those of his own household” (Matt. 10:36). Danmaya experienced the truth of His promise. She wouldn’t deny Christ, though her unwavering commitment to Him cost every family relationship she had in the world. But through these losses and the fear for her future—Where would she go? Who would provide for her?—God granted Danmaya a sense of peace and His presence.
Joy Amid Trials
When her earthly family kicked her out, her spiritual family opened their doors and took her in to the small brick house we sat and sweated in. Hearing Danmaya’s story, I suspect it’s easy to picture a downtrodden, angry woman left in homeless desperation by her husband. But when I met this childless, deserted woman, she glowed with the joy of the Lord. She doesn’t consider being crammed into this stifling brick house a consolation prize. She considers it pure joy—James 1:2. How has she stayed strong in her faith through such trials?
To Be Continued…
Date: 14th October 2023
Martyr: Danmaya
Location: Nepal, 2012
Source: When Faith Is Forbidden: 40 Days on the Frontlines with Persecuted Christians
Author: Todd Nettleton
Suffering Saturday 060
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