Donika understands salvation in ways most of us will never experience. Growing up as an Egyptian in Albania, she was part of a very small minority group. Her family came from a Muslim tradition but were no longer following any religion.
Her family never talked about or believed in God because the communist dictatorship in their country at that time didn’t allow people to practice religion. “My parents were afraid to talk about God,” she says. “My mother told me: ‘There is no God.’”
When Donika was a child, she was involved in a life-threatening accident. “Our home caught fire while I was inside of it,” she recalls. “Even though I was just a child, I knew my life was in danger. My mother entered our home and rescued me from the fire. I often wondered how she was able to do that.”
Education was uncommon for girls in Donika’s village, but she attended school regularly. She was obedient to her parents and caused no problems for her family. After completing the schooling that was available to her, she married Bomani. They began their family and had five children together.
In 1990, communism collapsed in Albania, and there were no longer any restrictions for practicing religion. “My family began practicing the Muslim religion because that was our background,” Donika says. “I used to go to the mosque with them, and I tried to pray to Allah. But I felt nothing. Allah was far away from me. I decided not to go to the mosque anymore.”
Donika and her family were also struggling with economic issues at this time. “Our children left Albania and went to other places in Europe to find better opportunities,” she says. “Bomani and I were so poor that we began to sell old things on the streets to earn money.”
Bomani made some new friends, and they had problems with alcohol and gambling. “My husband spent a lot of time with these friends, and he became like them,” Donika says. “He used to come home drunk very often. He started gambling and lost all our money. He became a violent man, and we used to fight every night.”
Donika became desperate, sad and lonely. One day, she cried out: “God, if you really exist, please appear to me.” The next day, a Christian music concert was happening near her home. She stood nearby and listened.
“That was the day I first heard the Gospel,” Donika says. “I heard about the love of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins. I heard that everyone who believes in Jesus Christ will be saved. That gave me a lot of hope and joy.”
Donika gave her telephone number to one of the organizers of the concert. The next day, a believer from the local church called her and invited her to join them for worship and prayer on Sunday. And she did. “I was so happy to be there!” she says. “I heard the Word of God. I felt at home. I felt joy and hope.”
Soon, Donika began studying the Bible with a group of local believers. When she told them about the problems in her life, they prayed for her and her husband. As she prayed and studied the Bible with them, she felt healing in her life. She began to show the love of Jesus to Bomani, and he joined their Bible study group.
Both of them accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. That was eight years ago. “God saved my family and me,” Donika says. “I am so grateful and thankful to Him. The Bible is the source of life and joy for me.”
Now, Donika and Bomani read the Bible and pray together every day. They pray for those in their village who do not know Jesus yet. “There are many people who need God’s Word,” she says. “I know lives will change and people will be saved when they have the Word of God.”
