Founder’s testimony

This is my story…

I'm from a Greek Orthodox background and I studied at a Catholic school and was raised to believe that we are righteous ones and I was happy. I’m the youngest of 8 siblings and our home was very loving and I was cared for. I had a beautiful childhood till we lost our mom, I was almost 13 years’ old, it was a very hard and shocking time for me and my family. All my older siblings were studying abroad (one studied in Russia, one in Hungary, one in Greece and one in the US.) and came back when they heard the news.

Our neighbors used to go to the Alliance Evangelical Church in Amman and one day they came to visit us and give their condolences. My brothers weren't very religious at that time, they were very intellectual, very scholarly and they didn't like what they were hearing from these neighbors. To avoid the conversation, they told the neighbors, “Randa will go with you to your church.” They thought that I wouldn’t be affected because I was too young to understand.

I went with them to church and found it was very different from what I was used to. It was a house church, there wasn't pictures for saints or anything like what we see Inside the traditional churches. I started to feel that something was missing in my life, that these neighbors have something I don't have. I kept going a few more times and every time I still felt the emptiness inside. I remember that on New Year’s Eve I went to church, and they were celebrating and playing games. I was looking around and wondering and feeling the emptiness inside me and I thought to myself "why did I come here? I was fine before; I'll leave now and won't come back."

I went back home and went with my brothers to a different party, I was dancing and jumping trying to cover up this strange feeling but that didn't help me either. Later that night, when I went back home, I started talking differently with God. Usually at the Orthodox and Catholic churches you memorize prayers, but that night I knelt near my bed and said: "Lord, if you have something for me that I don't know, please show me." and I went to sleep.

The next day, I was looking for a Bible in my house but I couldn't find one so I went back to church and started to ask many questions. I found out that I'm a sinner and we are all born with sin, and everyone needs to be saved. I asked Jesus to come to my heart and to be the Lord of my life, and to forgive my sins. As it says in 2 Corinthians 5:17 "I'm a new creation in Christ" and from that time I started my journey with Him.

It wasn't easy, I was persecuted by my family. They didn't like it. My father was mad because he thought that Orthodox were the righteous ones and he asked me why I was following those crazy evangelicals. My brother used to come and say to me: "Randa, you are smart enough not to believe those things." I wasn't allowed to go to church, meet any of the believers and they took the Bible from me. The only way for me to build my relationship with the Lord was to keep praying in my room.

The Lord revealed Himself to me many times, assuring me that He will use me as a vessel from Jerusalem to the whole nation. I was 14 at that time and I couldn't really understand what that meant. but I kept growing in my faith. I felt Jesus close to me because of His love and peace.

It was a special father-daughter relationship. I remember one night, my family was having a dinner party and my brothers were making fun and sarcasm and saying: "Randa, you're young and immature to know those things aren't true." and my cousin was there too and he said to me: "Randa, if God is who you say He Is, let Him reveal Himself." and the minute he said it, his glass broke. We had crystal glass at home which my brother brought back from Russia, and they were really heavy. My brothers couldn't believe how something so heavy could break easily, so they tried to break one by themselves in multiple ways; throwing it to a wall, throwing it to the floor, setting it on fire and they couldn't break any. They fixed the broken one and put it back together but you could still tell that It was broken.

Till today I have a picture of It.

They were all staring at me. and after that incident, none of them made fun of me and my God again and I was allowed to go to the Evangelical church again, got my Bible back and I was baptized.

Because I was close in age to my nephews and nieces, God helped me to lead them to the Lord. Then some of my brothers, my sisters and my father also before he passed away came to the Lord.

Even marrying K as an Evangelical was a miracle in my life on how the Lord led my family to accept him and even to be a full time in the ministry was another miracle in my life. My family now loves and respects me and K a lot, they listen to us, they ask for counseling and advice.

That's why in my ministry I focus on disciplining the believers and equipping them to know what they're looking for and to be trained on what to do.

Call Her Blessed has been active in fighting gender-based violence and honor crimes in the Middle East since 2012. God has given us the resources to help rehabilitate victims to a life of value and worth by providing for physical needs, as well as guiding them towards Christ, the only one who can give them lasting hope and rescue.

Hope and Restoration to Middle Eastern Women

Call Her Blessed started as a response to the hopelessness Randa, our founder, saw in the lives of so many abused women. Their families hurt them; their governments would not protect them; and their societies did not care about them. She saw a place where—by providing counseling, protection, and the unconditional, unending love of Jesus Christ—women could find care and empowerment. Since its beginning in 2012, Call Her Blessed has rescued and rehabilitated many women, providing them with education and sometimes asylum so they can build new lives.

Today, Call Her Blessed assists over 1500 refugee families by providing basic necessities and brings in visiting medical teams to provide care in refugee camps. They operate a safe house and offer language classes and professional development for the women in their care. Through all of this and the many other ways we serve, the love of Jesus Christ is displayed and proclaimed.

A Note on Security:You may notice that there are no pictures on this website. That’s intentional. Many of the women we help are still in life-threatening situations. Their safety, and the safety of our volunteers, is our greatest priority. Because of this, we will always use fake names and will never refer to specific countries or cities. We may remove details or even whole stories from this site to protect the families we serve. We are so grateful to be able to share what God has done through this ministry, but the safety of those serving and being served is our first and greatest responsibility.

Phases

Phase 1: Intervention and Compassionate Care

The multi-faceted nature of abuse and persecution in the Middle East necessitates evaluating need on a case-by-case basis, but the intervention phase essentially entails providing for immediate physical needs such as food, clothing, medicine, and even hospital visits for victims of extreme abuse. More moderate cases often mean helping women identify abuse and understand their self-worth. Many do not realize their relationships constitute abuse, and CHB offers guidance in the form of a biblical perspective on a person’s inherent value.

In severe cases, CHB removes women from their situations and temporarily shelters them at the CHB center. The team then secures apartments for women to live in or finds families they can stay with for the long term. Some extreme cases have even required CHB to evacuate women from their home countries.

Phase 2: Counseling and Discipleship

As women continue to receive necessary physical aid, they also receive guidance in coming to terms with their reality and need for holistic healing. In severe cases of abuse, CHB sends women to other organizations that can offer more intense counseling and trauma therapy. For most cases, however, the CHB community creates a safe place for women to talk about and process through their pasts.

The team members share with women how the good news of Jesus Christ can redeem these pasts – as well as the women’s futures. Many women come to Christ during this process of healing! Unfortunately, new believers often face immediate persecution, so CHB provides discipleship largely centered on helping women grow in their faith despite opposition. Christian women who come to CHB specifically because of persecution also participate in this discipleship course.

Phase 3: Education and Training

With continued help from CHB, women can start taking more responsibility for moving forward with their lives. For those who have been relocated, CHB helps find new jobs and new communities so they can begin life anew. The team encourages women under eighteen to finish their high school education and those over eighteen to pursue higher education or a trade school of their choosing and skill set. This critical phase allows women to learn to integrate into society and live independently.

Phase 4: Graduation

Established in a new community with employment, financial security, and safety from their abusers or persecutors, women in this phase no longer rely on CHB’s counseling or financial support. These women often become multiplying disciples, using their own experiences to minister to women in similar situations and share the marvelous hope of Christ.

from our founder

There is a beginning to every story. Phase 1 is the beginning of a woman’s story with Call Her Blessed. Some women have come to CHB because they already knew one of the members of the ministry team. Others have learned of the ministry through a friend or a woman who has been through the program herself. Executive director, Randa, hosts seminars for women in the community. these seminars have opened relational doors that have revealed women facing abuse, creating another avenue for CHB to find women in need of help.

The multi-faceted nature of abuse and persecution in the Middle East necessitates evaluating need on a case-by-case basis, but the intervention phase essentially entails providing for immediate physical needs such as food, clothing, medicine, and even hospital  visits for victims of extreme abuse. More moderate cases often mean helping women identify abuse and understand their self-worth. Many do not realize they are victims of abuse, and CHB offers guidance in the form of a biblical perspective on a person’s inherent value. The team also helps Christian women handle situations of persecution.

 In severe cases, CHB removes women from their situations and temporarily shelters them at the CHB center. The team then secures apartments to live in or finds families they can stay with for the long term. Some extreme cases have even required CHB to evacuate women from their home countries.         

– Randa

Stories from the field

The need is great to provide food, medical aid, shelter, transportation, education expenses, skills training and counseling to enable these women to start new. You can be part of the restoration.

$100 provides food for a young woman for two weeks.
$200 enables a girl to go to school for a month.
$500 gives an abused woman a safe place to live for one month.

All contributions are income tax deductible and are made with the understanding that Call Her Blessed has complete discretion and control over use of all donated funds. Call Her Blessed operates under a charter member of the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability (EFCA) and follows the highest ethical standards.