I Still Remember Sicker Abdul

The most widely read post I’ve ever written is this one about the first Nigerian school girls who were kidnapped by Boko Haram.  The fourth anniversary of that terrible night is April 14th. Some of those young women have been freed and some have died and some are still missing.

The one I chose to pray for is named Sicker Abdul.  My eyes were drawn to her name and I still wonder about her.  Someone by that name contacted me on social media a while back, but that person was an imposter.  I pray that “my” Sicker Abdul is safe and will one day be free.

Resilience is a priceless characteristic in humankind.  And people who teach resilience skills are unsung heroes.

Please stop whatever you are doing at this moment and read about the Nigerian women who are now free but are trying to be resilient in the face of their trauma.

They live in university housing and they take classes in everything from math to yoga.  They watch movies.  They are trying to find themselves.

Please continue to pray for them. The two women pictured here are among those my 2014 blog post mentioned by name and now they are free.  But many others are not.  Even just for today, just this one time – please stop and pray for those whose whereabouts are still unknown.

Thank you.

Photographs by the amazing Adam Ferguson for the New York Times.