Friends; I first shared this post with you in January 2020. Today marks the 5th anniversary of this young lady’s captivity and persecution at hand of ISIS-WA (aka Boko Haram in Nigeria), and my heart remains burdened. On February 19, 2023, Leah Sharibu will have been a prisoner for FIVE years for two reasons. First and foremost, it’s because she refuses to renounce her Christian faith. The other reason, I believe, is that God has a purpose for her life that we can’t understand.
I share this story again this year. I pray at the start of each new year that I won’t have to come February. God continues to allow this imprisonment for His reasons, ones we can’t begin to understand. I’ve been praying daily for this young lady since first learning of her plight from her mama in October 2019. Please join me this week in praying for her safety, protection, health, and God’s mighty hand upon her. However He is choosing to use this faith-filled child of God; please ask Him to bring comfort to her still-grieving family. Now, Leah’s story.
Lonely and afraid, you tremble when he motions you to come with his AK-47 rifle. He’s killed five of your classmates in recent days. Are you next to die? His face covered with a dark balaclava; approaching, you see his cold, lifeless, soulless eyes peering at you.
You wonder, Is he in pain from chewing Khat that has stained and is rotting his teeth? Why does he always wear a mask? Why does he hide himself? He barks his command to you; “Get on the truck! You may go home to your family.” As you turn, his bony fingers dig into your shoulder, spinning you around to face him again. His dark eyes, like those of a shark, pierce your soul. You hear delight in his voice as he demands “You must first claim your allegiance to Allah!” You sense the evil smile behind his words.
”Do this and you can go home.” The moment of decision has come. Terrified, mistreated, beaten, and starved for weeks now, your freedom is but a few steps away. In your small voice, you utter, “I cannot. I am a Christian.”
“I will kill you if you do not do this!” he shouts. Do you rip yourself from his grasp and run for the truck? Perhaps surrender your beliefs and tell him what he wants to hear? You know it’s not true, but you can be free. In this moment, what do you do?
Fourteen-year-old Leah Sharibu stood on her Christian faith and her belief in Christ. She refused to renounce her faith and claim allegiance to Islam. Because of her decision, now nineteen-year-old Leah remains a prisoner of Boko Haram somewhere in Nigeria. Deemed a “Slave for Life” by their supposed sharia law, the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) has designated Leah a Religious Prisoner of Conscience. You can read more about this faith-filled child at https://www.uscirf.gov/leah-sharibu-0.
I learned about Leah at a missions meeting in October 2019. As the story unfolded, I remembered a 20-second news story. Better known as Boko Haram, ISIS-West Africa terrorists kidnapped “the Dapchi girls” from their school on February 19, 2018. Not long afterwards, the news reported their release. Here’s what western news media didn’t, to my knowledge, report to us.
On the fateful day of the attack on the Dapchi school in Nigeria, ISIS-WA terrorists kidnapped 110 young girls. Five were subsequently murdered. The terrorists later released 104 of them (mostly Muslim) after they claimed allegiance to Islam. One brave young teen stared into the face of hatred and terror to claim Christianity as her faith and Christ as her Savior. Leah Sharibu remains captive today because she refuses to renounce her faith in Christ.
I learned this on a crisp fall morning as I listened to Mrs. Rebecca Sharibu, Leah’s mother; share this heart-wrenching story with our global missions team through her interpreter. Days earlier, Mrs. Sharibu shared this same story with then Vice President Mike Pence and congressional leaders in Washington, DC; hoping to bring attention to her family’s plight. What struck me as I met this brave woman before the meeting began, and throughout her speech, was her brokenness. I sensed in her not a spirit of fear from being in a strange country, surrounded by people speaking a strange language, but one of a weary warrior.
As she spoke, her soul cried out in anguish; her words bringing us into this horrific nightmare. Seldom lifting her head during our time together, we heard her sorrow and watched the tears fall from her tortured face. I wondered, How many more times must she tell this terrible story before they return her precious child? A pause signals her need to summon the courage to go on with her talk. How painful it must be for a parent to speak for a beloved child who is frightened, alone, imprisoned in some undisclosed location, with her condition unknown.
Listening as my heart cried out for her family, Mrs. Sharibu stated something that will long stay in my memory. Ms. Gloria Samdi Puldu, Rebecca’s interpreter, struggled to speak as she translated her tear-filled words. “I do not know that in the face of such terror, my faith would be strong enough to resist my armed captor. I do not know if my faith is that strong.” In that moment, in a quiet conference room in rural Connecticut, I felt God touching the heart of every attendee. I cannot tell you if there were any dry eyes in that instant. I can assure you mine, the eyes of a once-proud elite and battle-hardened warrior, were not.
Is your faith strong enough to withstand the trial? #StandUpForChrist #TunawahLeah Click To TweetAs Rebecca Sharibu neared the end of her presentation, a mother’s heartfelt plea rang out. With hands raised to heaven, her face looking upward, she asked “Ku chigaba da tunawa da Leah a cikin audwowin ku.” Translated from her native Hausa language, her request was “Please continue to remember Leah in your prayers.” With that simple plea, the entire room stood as we joined hands and spontaneously prayed for God’s divine protection and resolution of this family’s horrific trial.
Following our meeting, I asked permission to escort Mrs. Sharibu, Ms. Puldu, and others to our host’s Prayer Walk on the grounds of their corporate headquarters. Erected and dedicated some years earlier as a gift to the company’s founder by its employees, I had been introduced to this peaceful place over a year earlier. In fact, I visited here daily while working with our hosts on a challenging, time-constrained opportunity. I explained how this powerful place held a special connection for me to our God. Each afternoon, I would walk the path to the site and feel the stresses of the day being released a little more with each step. I shared with them how I spent a few moments at each stone, considering how the scripture verse written upon them applied to my life. As Gloria translated each stone, our tears flowed in the moment’s beauty.
Before returning inside, the five of us joined hands and once again prayed for Leah, her family, her captors, and God’s amazing grace. As I held this dear woman’s hand, I could feel the strength of her love for her daughter coursing through me. I silently asked God to help me find the words to bring her peace. Before leaving, Mrs. Sharibu held my hands in hers, looked into my eyes and quietly uttered “Tunawa Leah. Tunawa Leah.” Tunawa (pronounced too-nah-wah) is the Hausa word for Remember.
Please join with us in prayer for the safety and release of Leah Sharibu. #FreeLeah Click To TweetAs I was driving back to the hotel after this powerful day of prayer and praise, the Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 3:18 rang true in my heart. God revealed to me how when Christ’s love is in us, we must extend it in His power throughout the universe and not limit it to our little corner of this world. We do this when we join in righteous prayer. I ask that you join with me and others around the world in prayer for the safe return of Leah to her family. Please help me share the message to #FreeLeah.
As I’ve updated this for 2023, my soul stirs. I realize how we Christian-Americans could soon face this same level of persecution; and may be faced with making that same decision. Will I choose faith over fear?
God’s blessings,
Thank you for sharing this story, J.D. I will pray for Leah too. Her strong faith is an inspiration to us all. I hope I could be that strong too.
Thank you Ms. Barb. I can’t imagine what it must be like for this young woman. I wonder if she feels the world has forgotten her. I pray she always remembers that God has not, and that He is with her in each day of her captivity. Thank you for joining with me and others in praying her faith remains strong.
Ever since the first time I saw you share this she has been in my prayers. I pray for her by name and will continue until she is released my friend.
Thank you my faithful and faith-filled friend.
I will most certainly keep praying for Leah, J. D., and want to thank you for the update. Maybe, this year, she will come home to her family . . .
If it be God’s will Ms. Martha. I can’t understand God’s purpose in keeping her prisoner, but I know He has one.
I’m glad you keep bringing Leah to our attention. There’s so much about the story that wrenches my heart. She is a modern Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Dear Jesus, rescue your daughter and her family.
So true Ms. Debbie. The latest I’ve heard is that she is still alive and has had a second child. I can’t imagine the horror she’s experiencing, but pray daily for her strength for one more day.
Praying and knowing God is listening. Thank you for reminding us of her story and the need for prayer.
Absolutely; and thank you so much for praying Ms. Melissa. As you stated, “God is listening.”
Father, be glorified as you already have through this brave family’s life. Release this precious one, and if not, give her courage and strength to stand for you no matter what it costs.
Amen. Much the same prayer from me each day Ms. Lori. Thank you.
I will tunawa.
Thank you for this.
Rosemarie
Thank you for remembering Ms. Rosemarie. So often, these stories make the headlines for a few minutes and then are forgotten. I pray daily that one day God allow me to share that she’s been released and has come home. I suspect she’ll never be the same innocent and sweet little girl who was kidnapped in 2018, but I pray also her faith intact and that God can use her and her story to help others.
J.D., I have been thinking about Leah a lot lately and have been praying for her.
Like you, I continue to have hope that through Jesus, that she’ll be released.
Nonetheless, she is free indeed.
I’m with you Ms. Connie. I pray daily that her faith remains intact and strong.
Continuing to pray for this brave woman and all those who suffer for His name. God give them strength to remain faithful.
Thank you Ms. Terri. I suspect that more and more will suffer persecution and the violence in this world continues to ratchet up. While we must guard against it, we must also remind ourselves that we we are no longer of this world my friend.
Every time you share Leah’s story, it breaks my heart, and it convicts me. What an amazing faith. Thank you for this urgent reminder to pray for Leah.
I’m with you Ms. Karen. I sometimes imagine what it must be like as a parent and it breaks my heart all the more. To know that I could not protect a loved one must be unbearable.
Thank you for resurrecting this post. I don’t remember seeing it before. What a brave young woman. I’m sure she would say her strength comes from Christ. I pray for her release and continued grace and help and strength for her and her mom.
Thank you for joining in the prayers Ms. Barbara. Much appreciated ma’am.
Since I read of this precious young woman on your blog, I’ve been praying for her. May God sustain her and release from this horrific bondage. Thank you for faithfully sharing Leah’s story.
Blessings to you,
Tammy
Thank you Ms. Tammy. My hope is that one day we’ll simply need to pray for her healing and recovery as her safetfy will be ensured. Most of all, I pray for God’s protection of her faith.
This story has gripped my heart every year. Persecution is such a bitter pill to swallow yet it serves a more divine purpose that we cannot understand. I often pray for the persecuted. I prayed for one man who was enslaved in China for a number of years and was finally, finally released. I don’t even remember his name now but his torturous ordeal left deep scars physically and mentally. His family didn’t give up either. I can only imagine the rewards he shall receive in heaven.
With Leah being so young, I pray she is not doomed to a lifetime of slavery. Thank you for the reminder.
Thank you Ms. Karen. I so wish I would never have to share this story again, but that isn’t God’s plan. So as long as He sees fit to use Miss Leah in this way, I’ll continue to shout from my small mountaintop. God’s blessings ma’am.