I wrote this article for Yahoo! Voices.  It hasn’t been edited and published yet.  But I reserved my rights so that I could share this story with you.  Her attitude and faith are so inspirational that I wanted to share them with you ASAP.
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So often the stories I cover are steeped in sadness,
desperation, and darkness.  However, in
Deborah Peters, there is lightness in the tragedy and a resolve to stand strong
and fight the fight. 
On May 13, Deborah was the first Boko Haram survivor to come
to Washington, DC and speak.  She hopes
that her story will encourage Christians to persevere.  So read, and be encouraged!
Deborah was born to a Muslim mother and Christian father,
who was a pastor.  She had one
brother.  They lived in Chibok, the same
town as the 300 kidnapped girls.
In November 2011, Boko Haram burnt down her father’s
church.  Her mother also fled the town
this month.  Her father, not to be
deterred, just rebuilt the church.  So
Boko Haram decided he needed to be killed.
On December 22, 2011, three militants from Boko Haram
entered her house and pulled her father from the shower. They demanded he
renounce his faith.  Her father
referenced Matthew 10:33 in holding fast to Christianity.
“He told them that he
should rather fie than go to hellfire,” Peters said of her father.  “So, he then told them that [Jesus] said
anyone that denied Him, He’s gonna deny them in the presence of his Dad in
heaven.  So my dad refused to deny his
faith and they [shot] him three times in his chest.”
The militants, believing that her brother might become a
Christian pastor if allowed to live, shot him twice in the chest and once in
the mouth.
Deborah was so shocked she didn’t realize what was
happening.  The militants bound her in
between the two corpses and left.  The
next day, the army arrived and took her to the hospital.
Deborah, with the help of human rights lawyer Emmanuel
Ogebe, came to the United States through a program established after 9/11 to
aid victims of terror.  Despite all that
has happened to her, she still stands strong in her faith and encourages others
to remain strong in theirs.
“I hope if people hear
my story, I think they will understand,” Peters said, “and they will know more
and more of what God said and they will understand what it means to stand
strong and have courage.”
Matthew
10:33
33 But whoever disowns me before
others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.
SOURCES
Biblical Recorder. www.BRnow.org
The Christian Post. www.christianpost.com
International Christian Concern. www.persecution.org
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