The Promise of Ayub (Job) in Nebraska
I have always been devout. As a child I attended the Lutheran school where my mother and I were baptized. I listened to the stories of the Bible and adapted them to my own life. When people chastised my beloved mother or I for the circumstances of my illegitimate birth, I reminded them of Mother Mary and Jesus. We never deserved the scorn of others. Many of all faiths and no faith reminded me of that.
As a Muslim convert, the Bible and my former Lutheran faith are a part of my Islamic faith in God, Allah in Arabic.
After my escape from our trafficking, it took time to remember anything about my faith. I finally remembered the story of the prophet Ayub, Job who gave me the promise of better days with his patience, perseverance and faith in the face of incredible tragedy.
For those unfamiliar with his story, Job was a wealthy and devout family man. A satan suggests that Job is only devout because God has protected him from suffering. God agrees that the satan can take anything from Job but his life.
Job loses his health, wealth and family. He believes that God is causing his suffering but doesn’t know why. His community believes that it is because of something Job did. Since he has been devout, he questions God’s justice in his suffering. God proves to Job that he doesn’t possess the complex knowledge to question Him.
While Job never lost his faith in God, he had to learn to blindly trust. He repented for passing judgment on God. In return, God defends Job’s character and restores his losses.
While I have never lost my faith, I have questioned God and humanity for my suffering. I struggled to understand why we were left in such a situation by everyone, including God. I lost my beloved mother, my family and everything we owned while struggling with my lifelong illness that disabled me in 2008.
I had to have faith in those who had seemingly abandoned me when we were trafficked on September 13, 2022 to protect the children involved. I escaped on May 9, 2024 by phoning the Fremont Police Department and reported our abuse. May 9th is the day Job is commemorated by my original church, the Lutheran Church. I find the coincidence comforting as I restore the life that our traffickers took from me with the help of our community of various faiths and no faith.
Our community has seen my humility, honesty and commitment to understanding in the face of tragedy. They have been patient with me as I struggle to understand, remember and recover from the trauma. They are showing me that justice can be found here. I need not be afraid. When I walk with humanity, I walk with God. For God resides in the heart of every living being.
My name, drsy means my lesson in Arabic. My eternal gratitude for teaching me the lessons learned by Job and reminding me that I can have faith in humanity and God to be just.
I hope to make you proud as a lesson about the realities of human trafficking and the promise of better days for survivors, those who support them and their communities because
Every life matters, especially yours.
God bless Nebraska and especially her people.
