Source: www.csw.org.uk
Date: May 13, 2023
This weekend, please lift up a special prayer for Leah Sharibu in Nigeria. Tomorrow is Leah’s 20th birthday, and yet another that she will spend as the hostage of terrorists.
Leah was just 14 years old when she was taken – the sole Christian among a group of 110 girls abducted from their school in Dapchi, northeast Nigeria, by members of the Islamic State West Africa Province in February 2018.
One month later, all of Leah’s surviving classmates were returned to their families following government negotiations. But Leah was not among them. At just 14 years of age, she had refused to renounce her faith and convert in exchange for her freedom.
As we wrote in our blog in February – on the fifth anniversary of her abduction – news of Leah’s well-being has been frustratingly limited. This is why we must pray today for renewed, fruitful efforts to secure her freedom.
Read through Psalm 23:4-6 below and pray:
- For Leah to be filled with a fresh assurance of God’s goodness and love, and the love of her family and friends who long for her safe return.
- That God will provide Leah with all she needs to get through each day. Even in the presence of terrorist captors, may God’s presence be closer still.
- That the terrorists who declared Leah a ‘slave for life’ will have a miraculous change of heart, leading to her unconditional release.
- That Nigeria’s incoming government would have a sense of urgency and an effective plan to secure Leah’s freedom.
- For the comfort of the Holy Spirit to abound, even in the darkness of fear, despair or hopelessness. May Leah know that she is not forgotten and not alone.
Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
(Psalm 23:4-6)