Sunday Afternoon Reads: Kidnapped Girls, Whispered Prayers, Resilient Faith

The Bulletin

Christianity Today

News, News Commentary, Society & Culture, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.4 • 586 Ratings

🗓️ 26 January 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2014, the Islamic terrorist organization Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls from the small town of Chibok, Nigeria. One of the young women, Naomi Adamu, and her friends smuggled a Bible into captivity, and for seven years the Scriptures were a source of their strength to resist. Upon the hostages’ release, Wall Street Journal reporters Drew Hinshaw and Joe Parkinson interviewed Naomi and many others for their book Bring Back Our Girls, and wrote a 2021 cover story for Christianity Today in which they shared the role that their faith played in their captivity. As Boko Haram continues to kidnap and displace innocent people in Nigeria and religious conflict abounds, this piece offers an account of the ways that God can be at work in the darkest places. READ THE PRINT VERSION: Whispered Prayers, Hidden Bibles, Secretly Scribbled Verses: Inside the Resilient Faith of the #BringBackOurGirls Hostages - Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw Bring Back Our Girls - Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw GO DEEPER WITH THE BULLETIN: Join the conversation at our Substack. Find us on YouTube. Rate and review the show in your podcast app of choice. ABOUT THE GUESTS: Drew Hinshaw is a senior reporter for The Wall Street Journal and the co-author of the books Bring Back Our Girls and Swap: A Secret History of the Cold War. He has been nominated six times for the Pulitzer Prize and has also written for The New York Times Magazine, Time, Al Jazeera, The Atlantic and Rolling Stone. ABOUT THE BULLETIN: The Bulletin is a twice-weekly politics and current events show from Christianity Today moderated by Clarissa Moll, with senior commentary from Russell Moore (Christianity Today’s editor-at-large and columnist) and Mike Cosper (senior contributor). Each week, the show explores current events and breaking news and shares a Christian perspective on issues that are shaping our world. We also offer special one-on-one conversations with writers, artists, and thought leaders whose impact on the world brings important significance to a Christian worldview, like Bono, Sharon McMahon, Harrison Scott Key, Frank Bruni, and more. The Bulletin listeners get 25% off CT. Go to https://orderct.com/THEBULLETIN to learn more. “The Bulletin” is a production of Christianity Today Producer: Clarissa Moll Associate Producer: Alexa Burke Editing and Mix: Kevin Morris Graphic Design: Rick Szuecs Music: Dan Phelps Executive Producers: Erik Petrik and Mike Cosper Senior Producer: Matt Stevens Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This paid message is from Pew Research Center.
0:03.5	The U.S. Census doesn't track religion, but Pew Research Center's religious landscape study does.
0:09.3	Since 2007, it's provided a comprehensive look at the ever-changing role of faith in America.
0:15.0	With responses from more than 35,000 Americans, the religious landscape study provides authoritative data on religious beliefs,
0:22.5	practices, and identities across all 50 states. To explore how faith shapes your community,
0:28.1	visit pewresearch.org slash RLS.
0:34.9	Hi, I'm Clarissa Mall, producer and moderator of the bulletin.
0:43.3	Welcome to this month's Sunday afternoon read.
0:49.9	For the last 20 years, Islamist terror groups like ISIS and Boko Haram have proliferated in Nigeria,
0:57.0	largely under the radar of Western countries. However, recent killings by these groups have drawn the attention of parties as wide-ranging as comedian and commentator Bill Maher, rapper Nikki Minaj, and President Donald Trump.
1:12.5	On Christmas Day 2025, Mr. Trump ordered a strike on a village in northwest Nigeria,
1:18.4	claiming to target ISIS, an Islamist group he said was terrorizing Christian communities.
1:24.3	Groups like ISIS and Boko Haram operate in Nigeria with the goal of creating a pure Islamist state
1:31.1	and enacting Sharia law. The name Boko Haram roughly translates to Western education is forbidden.
1:39.2	Their tactics are violent and have led to the deaths of tens of thousands of people and the displacement of millions.
1:46.4	The story you're about to hear begins in 2014 when Boko Haram kidnapped over 200 Nigerian girls.
1:54.4	Unlike previous violence and kidnappings, this news went global. The Twitter hashtag Bring Back
2:00.6	Our Girls was created, and eventually
2:02.8	figures like Pope Francis, Michelle Obama, Kim Kardashian, and Justin Timberlake were engaged
2:09.3	in social media activism. Wall Street Journal reporters Joe Parkinson and Drew Hinshaw were
2:15.2	captivated by the global movement to rescue these girls,
2:18.6	and they reported on the story for years, eventually publishing an award-winning book based on
	...

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