Asabe: finding God in the dark

Amid such grief and loss, how could someone find the strength to heal, let alone forgive? Asabe’s story is one of profound pain, and yet also one of God’s power to redeem even the darkest nights of the soul. Please be aware that this story contains details of persecution that readers may find particularly distressing.

The day Asabe’s* husband and sons were taken from her is etched into her mind – scars on the inside, just as her skin reveals scars of the burns she suffered that night.

She remembers the words her attackers uttered as they forced their way into her home in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State, Nigeria – an area that suffered at least 28 attacks by armed militants throughout 2025.

“When they entered, they kept boasting and speaking in Fulani,” Asabe recalls. “They said, ‘Where is your God? He should come down so that we kill Him before killing you, His followers.’”

Lost to the flames

It was midnight on 14 April 2025 when the calm of night was shattered by piercing gunshots. Peace was transformed into chaos, a secure home turned into a death trap as the extremists invaded the village and surrounded Asabe and her family’s house.

When they managed to get inside, the first to be killed was Jerry, Asabe’s eldest son. “When the door opened, they came in and took my son, Jerry. He was 14 years old and they slaughtered him like an animal. Then they picked James and Jacob.”

Only ten and two years old, James and Jacob were burned alive. 

Helpless, Asabe, her daughter Joanna and her mother-in-law hid in the bathroom and blocked the door, even as their attackers tried to force it open. Moses, Asabe’s husband, hid in the ceiling, knowing that he would be next if he was found.

Unable to get to the remaining family members, the militants set the house on fire and fled. Asabe, Joanna and her mother-in-law couldn’t escape because of the burning heat of the bathroom door, so they screamed, praying that someone might hear. Nearby villagers came to their rescue and the three were evacuated.

Then Asabe saw Moses.

“I stood and watched my neighbours carry my husband in their arms,” she says. His injuries were so severe that the doctors couldn’t save him. He died in hospital.

“He comforted me”

In total, 52 people were killed that day. Across sub-Saharan Africa, believers witness similarly horrific events that forever alter their lives.

Asabe’s physical injuries weren’t the only thing that plagued her in the months that followed – her sense of guilt from that night was a heavy weight that couldn’t be removed easily. “When it happened, I kept thinking that had I known they were coming for us, we wouldn’t have slept in the house that night,” she says.

The day of the funeral, Asabe couldn’t attend. Nothing of her three sons and her husband had been recovered from the fire that consumed her home. She had only the precious memories of her family with which she could grieve.

Joanna, now Asabe’s youngest at only six years old, became a source of deep comfort to her mother. “I had faith that God used my daughter to help me,” she explains. “Joanna says to me, ‘A day is coming that God will gather the evil and punish them.’ We have been rescued, and I will one day see her dad and her siblings.

“The third day after the incident, I became strong and stopped crying, and God sent the Holy Spirit, and He comforted me.”

Finding strength in God’s words

The months that followed brought waves of depression and health struggles for Asabe. At times, she even considered ending her life. Anger, bitterness and resentment threatened to consume her – until she was invited to a five-day trauma care programme at the Shalom trauma centre, supported by Open Doors.

Church became a place of renewed peace and learning as Asabe came to terms with her grief and trauma. “I went back to study the scriptures and found strength in the book of Job,” she says. “I read chapter one and stopped at chapter three. What I learned from these verses is that God is the one who gives everything, and He is the One who takes them back at the time He deems fit. Even my children that I am mourning for – when God was to give them to me, He did not consult me, and when He chose to take them, He was not obligated to consult me.”

The power to forgive

While the people who killed her husband and sons were radicalised members of the Fulani people group, Asabe cannot help but be reminded of that tragic night when she sees other Fulani people. Nevertheless, she seeks to make these interactions opportunities to share her faith and the little she has. Last Christmas presented one such opportunity.

“Where I live now, we are close to a Fulani settlement. Six Fulani ladies were passing when I heard a man shouting at them. Anytime Christians see Fulani, they think they are there to stir up trouble,” Asabe explains. “I said he should call them over to me. They came to me and I told them, ‘My children, sit down.’ That day, I gave them food, and they ate. I also put chin-chin [a Nigerian biscuit especially shared during Christmas] in a bag and gave it to them because God has said I should forgive them.”

But she also knows first-hand that forgiveness requires daily surrender. “Because I am flesh and blood, even if I forgive, sometimes I become so angry with them again, as if it happened today,” she says. “Sincerely I have forgiven them, because even if I see a Fulani, I will greet him. I am praying for them that God will change them.”

The work isn’t over

Thanks to your help, the Arise Africa petition has reached over one million signatures! Every voice added to the petition is another added to the cry for justice, restoration and protection for persecuted believers in sub-Saharan Africa – believers like Asabe who have lost their spouses, children and homes.

But the work is far from over. Your prayers are essential as we prepare to hand the petition to the UK government on Thursday (12 November). Please pray for the ongoing impact of the petition with those in power.

Asabe also asks for your prayers: “I thank you for all you are doing for the gospel. Pray for me so that I will also pray for others as you pray for me.

“Please help me pray, because losing my husband has brought a lot of problems for me. He died and left me with two children, especially the little one. The oldest is married, but the youngest is with me. Please pray for me that she will grow to know Jesus. Please join me in prayer. because sometimes I feel as if the incident just happened today, and I will continue to cry.

“Please pray that God will help displaced Christians, because we are facing a lot of persecution in Nigeria. I am not the only one. There are many widows like me in Nigeria whose husbands were killed. Please pray for us, that God will strengthen us, and that God will make these attacks stop so that we can go back to our home.”

Despite the extent of suffering and grief Asabe continues to carry, she looks forward with eyes of faith that shine with hope. She testifies, “God has left me for a purpose, and I am asking Him to help me fulfil that purpose.”

*Name changed for security reasons