Sept. 11, 2014, began as a happy day for Mary Patrick. She and her older sister were walking to a wedding in a nearby village with the bride-to-be and the bride\u2019s younger sister. But their lives, like those of many other young women in Nigeria, changed forever with the terrifying sound of yelling and gunfire.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary, who was 24 years old, quickly hid in a nearby house with the others when the Boko Haram attack began in Adamawa state, in northeastern Nigeria. They hid in the house for four days before being captured while trying to escape.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe only thing I was thinking when they took me is that I will die,\u201d Mary said. \u201cI know they will kill me. I\u2019m just praying to God everything that I do that is wrong, that the good Lord will forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The horror that Mary faced during four months of captivity with Boko Haram became clear to a VOM worker when he tried to buy her a meal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wanted to buy food for her and bought some meat,\u201d the VOM worker said. \u201cShe told me she couldn\u2019t eat the meat. She said, \u2018In the camp they used to eat human flesh, so every meat looks like human flesh.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n BRAINWASHED AND ABUSED<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boko Haram\u2019s campaign to establish an Islamic territory in northern Nigeria has resulted in the slaughter of thousands of Christians, including a reported 10,000 people in 2014, and has forced more than 1.5 million people from their homes. The insurgent group also has kidnapped hundreds of young women like Mary, brainwashing them and using them for whatever purposes they desire.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary\u2019s brainwashing began as soon as she arrived at the Boko Haram camp, in another part of Adamawa state. She quickly found herself behaving like the dozens of other young women in the camp, some of whom were \u201cChibok girls.\u201d The April 2014 abductions of 276 girls from a school in Chibok, Borno state, brought international attention to Boko Haram\u2019s practice of kidnapping and abusing young girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mary said the more than 50 Chibok girls she met were among the most vicious prisoners she encountered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe [Boko Haram] train women how to shoot, how to bomb,\u201d she said. \u201cThey even taught how to shoot a gun, how to kill somebody, bomb places like churches, wood houses and schools.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The women were told these attacks were the work of God. Mary even carried out an attack on her own church, but she said she tried to shoot away from people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Boko Haram\u2019s brutality scarred Mary deeply. She watched as they killed her older sister for disobeying orders to murder a man who had refused to renounce his Christian faith. She watched as her friend, abducted on her wedding day, and her friend\u2019s younger sister were married off to Boko Haram commanders. And Mary was repeatedly raped during her time in captivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSometimes five men at the same time,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter this one, this one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Mary was forced to recite verses from the Quran week after week and even was given a Muslim name, her Christian identity began to slip away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI just forgot how to pray, how to read the Bible,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I was Boko Haram, the only thing is Muslim prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n ESCAPING TO NEW LIFE<\/p>\n\n\n\n After four months, Mary saw an opportunity to escape. One night when the Boko Haram terrorists were drunk, she and an older woman fled into the bush.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The escape came just in time. Mary was days away from being forced to marry a man who had raped her several times and had killed her sister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When Mary made it home, she learned that her father had died of a heart attack following the abduction of his daughters. She is now the only living member of her family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A VOM worker helped Mary work through the trauma she suffered in captivity. After several months of freedom, Mary is still recovering small pieces of her identity each day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe is a bit bold now and she is outspoken,\u201d the VOM worker said. \u201cIt is like she is trying to manage her situation, finally.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite Mary\u2019s unimaginable suffering, she said that her captivity, escape and time living with the VOM worker\u2019s family have ultimately deepened her faith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBefore, I didn\u2019t go to church, I didn\u2019t read Bible, I didn\u2019t pray,\u201d she said. \u201cBut now, I go to church every day; I pray so that God will forgive me all my sins because I don\u2019t want to go back to my life in the past. I am now a born-again Christian. I am thankful for my life.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n As her faith matures, Mary is learning how to forgive. It is something she struggles with as her emotional wounds are still healing. When asked how she would respond to members of Boko Haram today, she pauses to consider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI forgive them, but … if I catch a Boko Haram I will not leave him,\u201d she said. \u201cI will kill him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n VOM provided Mary with a scholarship so she can attend a university. As she heals and rebuilds her life, Mary asks for prayer \u2014 but not just for herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI would be grateful to have other people pray for Christians in northeastern Nigeria because they are suffering the most,\u201d she said. \u201cI am thankful to God for what happened to me, but I would ask for prayers for strength for all Christians in northeastern Nigeria.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Learning to Rest in God’s Sovereignty Sept. 11, 2014, began as a happy day for Mary Patrick. She and her older sister were walking to a wedding in a nearby village with the bride-to-be and the bride\u2019s younger sister. But their lives, like those of many other young women in Nigeria, changed forever with the terrifying sound of yelling and gunfire. Mary, who was 24 years old, quickly hid in a nearby house with the others when the Boko Haram attack began in Adamawa state, in northeastern Nigeria. They hid in the house for four days before being captured while trying to escape. \u201cThe only thing I was thinking when they took me is that I will die,\u201d Mary said. \u201cI know they will kill me. I\u2019m just praying to God everything that I do that is wrong, that the good Lord will forgive me.\u201d The horror that Mary faced during four months of captivity with Boko Haram became clear to a VOM worker when he tried to buy her a meal. \u201cI wanted to buy food for her and bought some meat,\u201d the VOM worker said. \u201cShe told me she couldn\u2019t eat the meat. She said, \u2018In the camp<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43],"class_list":["post-367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-field-stories","tag-nigeria","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\n