500 Days On: Where Is God? | Sojourners

500 Days On: Where Is God?

Screenshot of Chibok Girls: 500 Days in Captivity/YouTube/Odyssey Networks

Five hundred days in captivity is a long time for anyone, let alone teen girls. But this is exactly the case for 219 students kidnapped and still missing. Under the cover of darkness on April 14, 2014, the terrorist group Boko Haram, dressed as military soldiers, abducted 276 female students from the Government Secondary School in Chibok, Nigeria. They plundered and burned the school to the ground and forced the young girls into large trucks. A total of 57 girls escaped on their own, but 219 grieving families still await news of their daughters' fate.

Based on the reports of other Boko Haram abductees, it's believed the Chibok girls have been sold as child brides, forced into sexual slavery, turned into unwilling weapons of terrorism. Shocking revelations ... as this story has virtually disappeared from the headlines.

What if this had happened in the United States or Europe?

The days have turned to weeks and months, and now, incredibly, five hundred days (as of Aug. 28) have passed since that infamous abduction. Here in New York City, there is a tireless group of interfaith women determined to keep the spirit of these missing children alive and in the global mindset.

They have committed themselves to pray and to march; to advocate, convene, and converse; to rally and publicize this atrocity until the Chibok schoolgirls are found and brought home with a plan for restorative healing and reclamation.

A tall order by any stretch β€” but these are women of deep faith, strength, and conviction. Some are mothers themselves β€” all are committed to raising their collective voices for girls whose lives have been stolen, their hopes for an education extinguished, and their bodies violated. There is no space for fatigue and rest when children are in the grip of terrorists and governments are impotent in finding them.

It’s been 500 days... #bringbackourgirls

Must we not do what Deuteronomy 16:20 says, and pursue justice at all costs? Are we not to "loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the heavy burdens and to let the oppressed go free, breaking every yoke," as Isaiah 58:6 offers?

These are resonating scriptures. We, global citizens and people of faith, are the chroniclers of our time. We cannot see injustice repeatedly and do nothing. We cannot stand idly by witnessing the horrific treatment of women and young girls. What is the benchmark for tolerance of barbarity? When is enough truly enough? When do we reach a critical mass of people finally saying brutish treatment of one half of humanity must end?

Freedom to choose education should not warrant violence. Freedom to make decisions about their bodies, their thoughts, and their actions should be a natural expectation for young girls anywhere β€” and not a right that is cruelly snatched away. We rise and fall together.

"If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it," says 1 Corinthians 12:26.

I am part of a collective of women standing in solidarity and righteous indignation for stolen schoolgirls and the lives they left behind. We are women embracing our faith in a big God: confident justice will come, recognizing nothing is as resilient as the heart of a woman determined to boldly live again, reclaiming what was taken.

Prayer in combination with action and advocacy is a potent force for change. I believe we all have a spiritual mandate as we move through the world. What does the Lord require of us? Is it not to do justice, love mercy and walk humbly? Who is my neighbor? Am I not my sister's protector? Who is my brother? Do we not belong to one another? Are we not responsible for each other?

I say a resounding, "YES."

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