On a normal afternoon, Samuel and Mariama Garba of West Africa listened for the sound of their son David’s bike tires in the dirt as he pedaled his way home from school. When 2:45 p.m. passed, the Garbas didn’t think much of it, assuming David had stopped somewhere along the way. But as the sun began to sink lower in the sky, worry set in. Where was their son?
Darkness fell as Samuel and Mariama began knocking on the doors of their friends and neighbors, asking anyone who was home if they had seen David. After countless house visits, the Garbas moved on to hospitals and clinics, fearing their son had possibly been in an accident. Stop after stop turned up fruitless. In a moment that would send a chill down any parent’s spine, the Garbas even decided to visit the morgue, wondering in anguish if their son had died. He was not there either. Exhausted from searching but resolved to continue on, Samuel decided it was time to report their son as missing to the police. Then, he and Mariama fell to their knees in prayer.
Samuel Garba serves as a pastor and East-West national partner in West Africa. His country has a population of 26 million, but less than 2% identify as Christian. The remaining 98% of the population practices Islam. Samuel is not unfamiliar with persecution for his faith, though constitutionally his country does have freedom of religion. In 2015, Samuel’s church, along with 45 churches across West Africa, were burned in a series of riots by Islamic extremists, leaving 10 dead and more than 170 injured. Throughout the years, the Garbas and other West African Christians have routinely needed to spend the night at a police station or somewhere outside of the city due to threats from extremists.
“I know I have gone through so many things,” Samuel said, “but what happened to my son last year— having him kidnapped—was the hardest persecution in my life.”
Minutes turned into hours and hours turned into days as the Garbas and local authorities continued the search for David. Three days later, a man saw a missing persons post on Facebook and recognized David, who he’d seen with a group of boys a few days before. This tip led the police to David’s location, 15 miles away from his home. Much to the joy of Samuel and Mariama, David was rescued and returned safely, but not without a harrowing story to tell.
The morning before his kidnapping, David was approached by two of his friends who asked if he was fasting in observance of a Muslim holiday. When David replied he was not—and that he did not believe in Muhammad as a savior—his friends took offense and reported him to a local gang. The next morning, David was kidnapped and driven 15 miles from home, where he was told to renounce his faith and accept Islam. He refused, resulting in repeated beatings over the course of his three-day captivity. By the grace of God, David remained steadfast through his persecution and still remains strong in his faith today.
While the entire family is continuing to heal from the trauma of David’s kidnapping, one thing endures—the Garbas continued commitment to the spread of the gospel among their Muslim neighbors and friends in West Africa.
“I will never leave because of persecution,” Samuel maintains. “This is the nation that God gave me the responsibility to share His Word, to raise the Kingdom of God here. For those people who don’t understand persecution, I want to say, ‘Don’t pity us.’ I think that persecution is worth it. Jesus has gone under a lot of turmoil, threats, and He was even killed. But He said, ‘God, forgive them.’ So, we forgive.
“My life belongs to God, I have given it to Him, and I will work for Him. I am not afraid of the gospel of Jesus. Never.”
Names have been changed for security purposes.
Watch Samuel's story and learn more about Christian persecution in East-West's Midyear Report.