Maria Joseph. Janada Marcus. These are just two of the many men and women taken captive in Nigeria and forced to convert to Islam by Boko Haram.
In the past 13 years, this terrorist group has been responsible for the deaths of more than 75,000 Nigerians.
JANADA MARCUS
The time that that they kill my father in front of me. They kidnapped me. We lost everything. This is a time I have difficult in my life.
Janada and her family were captured by the group and her father was killed for refusing to sexually assault his daughter.
Boko Haram is known to use any means possible to convert people to Islam. Often, they change their captives' names, keep them in cages and prohibit them from keeping their Christian traditions.
For Janada, her mother's constant prayers helped her keep her Christian faith during her captivity.
JANADA MARCUS
It's my mother. She used to pray to us every day. She used to tell us that their own religion is no good. It's our own that is good. Because our own religion doesn't tell us to own this person to be our own or to punish this person, to force him to follow us.
After escaping the terrorist group, both Janada and Maria sought refuge at a trauma center in the city of Maiduguri. There, they received counseling and care.
MARIA JOSEPH
Their counseling helped me to begin to start my life again and to meet others.
Aid to the Church in Need created an initiative called, Listen to their cries, to bring awareness to the situation of Boko Haram survivors. The two women specifically asked Pope Francis to help.
MARIA JOSEPH
He should do whatever he can to help Christians.
The initiative focuses not only on the stories of those men and women suffering in Nigeria, but its goal is to bring the testimonies of people in need around the world to light.
OJ/KG
