FGGAM MEDIA CENTER just received this news release:
Advocacy Group, Concerned Christians Host Prayer Vigil for Leah Sharibu on Her 17th Birthday
May 14 Prayer at 4 p.m. ET Will Lift Up Leah Sharibu, Held Captive in Nigeria Since February 2018
WASHINGTON—The International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), a coalition partner of Save the Persecuted Christians (STPC), will host a special prayer vigil for kidnapped Christian teen Leah Sharibu, who has been in Boko Haram captivity since February 2018, on Thursday, May 14—Leah’s 17th birthday.
On Feb. 19, 2018, Leah, then 14, was kidnapped by a Boko Haram faction, the Islamic State West African Province, one of the most violent terrorist groups in the world, along with 109 of her female Dapchi schoolmates. In the days following, five of the girls died in captivity, and 104 were released on March 20, 2018. Leah alone was kept because she refused to renounce her faith in Jesus Christ and convert to Islam, as demanded by her captors.
WHO: International Committee on Nigeria (ICON), a coalition partner of Save the Persecuted Christians
WHAT: Prayer vigil for kidnapped Christian teen Leah Sharibu, who will turn 17 on May 14
WHERE: Online via Zoom
WHEN: 4 p.m. ET Thursday, May 14
WHY: To pray for Leah Sharibu, in Boko Haram captivity since February 2018, for her safe release, for her family, for the defeat of terrorism in Nigeria, for other girls in captivity and that world leaders would call for action in Nigeria
HOW: Learn more and link via Zoom standwithnigeria.org/pray-for-leah
“Leah Sharibu is the face of ongoing, genocidal terror annihilating Christians in Nigeria,” said Dede Laugesen, executive director of Save the Persecuted Christians, which advocates on behalf of hundreds of millions of Christians facing heavy persecution worldwide. “Her courageous faith in the face of terror inspires her countrymen and Christians worldwide. Unknowingly, she represents thousands of Nigerian girls and boys who have been ripped from their homes and made slaves to Boko Haram. In coordinated efforts, our coalition has labored long and hard for the presidential appointment of a U.S. Special Envoy to Nigeria that America may lead the international community as a bold voice for these most vulnerable children.”
For nearly two years, Save the Persecuted Christians and ICON have called for the U.S. special envoy to Nigeria and the Lake Chad region because of extreme and heightened violence there. In January, the groups delivered an open letter to President Donald Trump about the urgent need. In March, just before the national emergency, ICON launched its #SilentSlaughter campaign with a press event at the National Press Club with Tony Perkins, Johnnie Moore, Dr. Richard Ikiebe and Save the Persecuted Christians President and CEO Frank Gaffney. In June 2019, Save the Persecuted Christians and ICON brought Rebecca Sharibu, Leah’s mother, to Washington, D.C., to meet with the Vice President’s office, among others.
The mission of Save the Persecuted Christians is to save lives and save souls by disseminating actionable information about the magnitude of the persecution taking place globally and by mobilizing concerned Americans for the purpose of disincentivizing further attacks on those who follow Jesus.
With so much of the world’s Christian population being imprisoned and/or harassed for their beliefs, such as children, teens and young women in Nigeria like Leah Sharibu, the need has never been greater for the sort of grassroots campaign STPC’s SaveUs Movement is working to foster. Its efforts are modeled after a miraculously successful one that helped free another population suffering from heavy persecution—Soviet Jews—by penalizing those in the Kremlin responsible for such repression. Through this movement, Save the Persecuted Christians endeavors to provide American policymakers with the popular support they need to effect real change worldwide and alleviate systemically the suffering being experienced by so many of those following Christ.
