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This month marks an especially difficult day for Rebecca Sharibu. For the last seven years, May is a yearly reminder that the baby she gave birth to is not here to celebrate her birthday with her family.
On February 19, 2018, Leah Sharibu and her classmates were kidnapped by Islamic extremists from their finishing school in the Nigerian town of Dapchi. Leah was only 14.
When Leah’s Muslim classmates were released a month later through backchannel efforts, Leah refused to denounce her Christian faith. As a result, her captors, Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), forced Leah to stay with them. When the families ran to pick up their daughters, Rebecca soon realized that Leah was not among them.
Still in captivity today, Leah Sharibu turned 22 on Wednesday, May 14.
Since the attacks on the school, Open Doors local partners have walked with the Sharibu family. They regularly contact them and each year ask for special prayers for Leah.
They are resolute in their commitment to stand with this broken family: “After seven years, many have forgotten about the Sharibus, but we have not. We will continue to pray and advocate for Leah's release and walk with the family until our sister comes home—and long after that.”
Recently, Open Doors local partners spoke with Rebecca who invited them (and us) into intimate moments as she commemorated her daughter’s upcoming birthday.
Psalm 123
For Rebecca, Scripture has become a source of comfort and strength as she continues to grieve her daughter’s absence. As she sat looking at the birthday cake with Leah’s photo, Rebecca shared:
“Often when I think about Leah, just always when I’m sitting or eating or doing something else, there is this verse that I read, and it encourages me,” she says, quoting from Psalm 123:
Watch Rebecca share this powerful passage
A birthday prayer
As Rebecca placed a candle on Leah’s cake, she shared a birthday wish—and prayer: “ I am cutting this cake on behalf of Leah. In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am hopeful that next year, God willing, she will be the one cutting the cake with her hands and we will celebrate together.
“My desire and hope is that God will make it possible that next year, we will spend Leah’s birthday together with everybody. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Then she offered a specific message for Leah, talking to her daughter as if no one else is in the room:
“Today is your birthday, Leah. Wherever you are in this world, I am praying for you. I greet you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, I hope you are doing fine. I wish you Happy Birthday. I hope one day you will be back. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
Listen to Rebecca’s prayer
The last birthday with Leah
Rebecca vividly remembers the last time Leah celebrated with her family—May 14, 2017—when her daughter turned 14.
She holds a yellow dress trimmed in lace. “These were the clothes she wore on her birthday, because she likes them very much. Even going to church, she preferred to wear these clothes.
“We could not bake her a cake, but we still had a celebration. I sang for her,” she says, breaking out into song: “’Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,’ and she laughed. She was happy. She has sadly not celebrated another birthday at home since then.”
Tragically, Leah Sharibu has become the public “face” of an ever-growing crisis: the kidnapping of women, young girls and children in Nigeria and throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Leah is one of thousands kidnapped by extremists, often because of their Christian faith and refusal to denounce Jesus.
In the last decade—since the kidnapping of 276 girls in Chibok, which gained national headlines—Nigeria has seen more than 1,700 children abducted, according to Amnesty International. When these children are girls, many are forcibly married to their abductors. In the case of the Chibok girls, at least 20 women were reportedly forced into marriage to Boko Haram fighters. There have also been reports that Leah was also forcibly married and has children.
Additionally, according to Open Doors research, Nigeria is the country with the largest number of faith-related kidnappings in the world. During the 2025 World Watch List reporting period, at least 2,830 Christians were kidnapped in Nigeria. Women and young girls who are abducted face death, slavery (sexual and physical) and forced marriage.
The effect of this threat on the church is difficult to overstate. Families, communities and churches are severely weakened when women and girls are kidnapped. This ongoing abduction and sexual violence crisis against women are part of why Open Doors has joined with the church in sub-Saharan Africa to launch the multi-year Arise Africa campaign.
There is a desperate need for trauma care, biblical discipleship and emergency aid. You can help right now. The African church has called on us to raise 1 million voices of prayers and petitions for Christians across sub-Saharan Africa.
Rebecca shared her gratitude for your prayers and asks us to continue to remember Leah—and all those held captive for their decision to follow Jesus.
“I am pleading with you, brothers and sisters in Christ, to continue praying for Leah and all those in captivity to be released,” Rebecca said, adding that she has spoken to Alice Loksha, who was a nurse with UNICEF at a displacement camp in northeast Nigeria. Also a Christian, she was a captive with Leah. After six years, Alice escaped her captors on October 24, 2024.
“[Alice] told me that Leah is doing well, and that I should not worry because one day Leah will come back. So, I am pleading with you, just like we have been praying for Leah night and day. Will you join our hands and keep on praying concerning Leah and others in captivity … that God will bring them out safely?
“On behalf of myself and my entire family, we are expressing our gratitude to you for always remembering Leah whom you have not forgotten. You always remember her. We are grateful. May God Almighty bless you with Heaven. Thank you very much.”
Join us in thanking God that Leah is still alive. Pray for her and the thousands of other young girls and all believers in captivity for their faith.
Pray that Rebecca Sharibu will find the support she needs to live without her daughter and be there for her family.
Pray that God will strengthen Rebecca and all of Leah’s family and friends as they continue to pray for her release.
Pray also for Leah Sharibu and the still-missing Chibok girls who remain in captivity and will spend another birthday without their families, in the hands of Boko Haram/ISWAP.
Pray for the release and safe return of Leah—and all the captives. Pray that they will soon celebrate life, once again, with their families.
