The Lost Girls

Pray for the Lost Girls.

A headline and plea to the world by newspapers, magazines, television commentators, and even the First Lady of the United States to remember almost 300 adolescent Nigerian girls who were kidnapped by the infamous group Boko Haram in early 2014, and who have not been seen since.

Boco Haram is a militant pro-ISIS group of thugs who have been involved in murder and mayhem throughout their home turf of Nigeria, and whose goal is to institute an Islamic state there; including the establishment of sharia law. And like the ISIS thugs of Syria and Iraq, the “anything goes” religion which they follow allows them to practice torture, murder, beheadings, looting, pillaging and kidnapping at will; where and to whom they jolly-well choose.

The kidnapping of the Nigerian girls has long since faded from the headlines, and while the Nigerian government and military have made a show of finding and rescuing them, it seems their efforts have mainly been a farce.

By now those precious, mostly Christian girls have endured whatever whims Boco Haram fighters have had for them, including physical abuse, rape, forced “marriage,” and conversion to Islam. And no doubt any hope of rescuing the majority of these young ladies is lost, as it is believed that many have been sold to other rebel groups, or tribesmen, and transported to countries such as Chad and Kenya.

We become so acclimated to news stories like this one, and when the next one pops up on the screen it is as if the previous one no longer exists, or at least no longer holds our interest.

… But these are people.

I can only imagine the emotional suffering of the parents of these dear young ladies, and the inclination they must have by now that they will never be reunited with their children again; wondering if they are being abused, or whether, indeed, they are still alive.

For whatever it matters, I have not forgotten them. I pray for them on a daily basis, often using the name of one, in particular, a girl named Gloria Mainta, as a sort of a stand in for all the rest.

I pray that as many of them, as possible, might find a way to escape, as a few have, and return safely to their families, or at least that they might be decently treated.

God bless and keep you, Gloria, wherever you are.

By William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from "(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary" Vol. 6