“I have received freedom” – Pastor Josiah’s story

Pastor Josiah almost lost his whole family to extremist attacks in Nigeria. Because of your prayers and support, he and others are knowing restoration.

Pastor Josiah looks down at the photos in his hands and his eyes begin to cloud over.

“Rowland loved singing in the church band,” he begins, looking through each photo. “Jonathan was never lazy, always up and doing things. Timothy was a quiet person, always calm and resourceful.”

He holds up another. “This is my favourite photo of my wife and I together, the first picture of us as a married couple.”

He gazes at the picture. After a long pause, he continues, “My wife was an industrious woman, hospitable and considerate, to the point that she allowed me to shine in the public eye whilst she looked after our home. Her spiritual life made me proud.”

Josiah begins to weep as he remembers his wife and three sons, lost to an extremist attack.

“I was powerless”

The day is forever etched in Josiah’s mind – the day that radicalised members of the Fulani tribe invaded his home in Nigeria and shot his wife, Rebekah. “I kept hearing voices saying, ‘Open the door.’ As I did so, they grabbed my hands, tied me up and laid me on the ground. My two sons and my eldest daughter, Salama*, were already there.

“As we were taken, I could hear Rebekah crying, ‘I’m going to die!’ But I was powerless; I couldn’t do anything.

“The kidnappers took us, and we started walking to the bush. We didn’t stop until 7am when we got to their camp. I kept thinking about Rebekah. Did she die? Was she still alive?”

“Where is Jesus now?”

Josiah and his family spent two and half months in captivity, barely surviving on meagre portions of food. Their kidnappers’ hostility towards Christianity was fierce. “They said, ‘You follow Jesus. Where is He now?’ If I just bowed my head, they would say, ‘He’s praying!’ and aim their weapons at me. We could only pray in our hearts.”

In January, Josiah’s sons were supposedly sent to retrieve the ransom payment for their lives. “The day my daughter and I were set free, I was told that our ransom had been paid. They left us at the roadside and from there, my daughter and I walked back towards the village. My brother saw us coming and carried us back. I asked him where my sons were.

“That was the day I was told my boys, Jonathan and Timothy, had been killed by the kidnappers when they’d been sent to collect the ransom.”

Only a few months later, his younger brother and his third son, Rowland, were also killed in extremist attacks.

“I felt like the world was crumbling in on me, as if I was alone with this pain,” Josiah laments. “I kept thinking, ‘Why did this all happen to me?’ When I remember Rebekah and the life we had together, I ask God, ‘Why?’”

“I have received freedom”

In his grief, Josiah was met by Open Doors trauma caregivers. One of them, Philip*, began to meet one-to-one with Josiah to help him process his loss.

“When I came to the trauma centre, my anger and bitterness reduced and I have received freedom,” he explains. “I realised that forgiveness is almost impossible without God. It has helped me to heal from the bitterness and hatred, and I have forgiven them.”

Josiah now plans to share all that he has received with others deeply affected by persecution. He sees clearly the pattern of violence infecting communities across Nigeria, but he also sees the impact of your support.

“My brethren in Christ, I want to say thank you for the relief you have given,” he says. “Don’t think your prayers are not being felt – they are. Through them, I have understood the love of believers. Believers’ prayers brought me out of the bush. So, I am pleading and praying that you keep on supporting through your prayers and help.”

*Name changed for security reasons