Rev. Joseph Lowery to Lead "Bring Back Our Girls" Prayer Vigil Sunday

The Rev. Joseph Lowery will lead a “Bring Back Our Girls” prayer vigil on Sunday, May 18, on behalf of the nearly 300 Nigerian girls kidnapped a month ago from their school. The vigil, sponsored by The Lowery Institute, will be held from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. in the parking lot of Central United Methodist Church, 501 Mitchell St., in northwest Atlanta.

On April 14, hundreds of armed militants stormed the Chibok Government Secondary Girls School, located in a remote area in northeastern Nigeria, and forced more than 300 schoolgirls into trucks, set fire to a room in the school and drove into the forest. About 50 of the girls managed to escape their captors, identified as members of Boko Haram, an Islamist extremist group that has killed thousands of people during violent attacks in recent years.  

“We ask people of faith from across the Atlanta metro area to join us on Sunday as we petition God for the divine care and protection of our sisters in Nigeria until they are found and safely back in the arms of their families,” Reverend Lowery said.

He will be joined by the Rev. Yvette Massey, senior pastor of Central United Methodist Church, and others in this effort. They hope to increase awareness about the girls’ violent abduction and captivity, now entering its second month, and echo the mantra “Bring Back Our Girls,” which has become the public outcry around the world at community demonstrations and in postings on social media websites.

“We denounce this act of violence targeting schoolgirls in Nigeria who only want what we all want for our children – a good education and the chance to reach their fullest potential in life,” said Cheryl Lowery, executive director of the Joseph & Evelyn Lowery Institute for Justice & Human Rights at Clark Atlanta University. “As Nigeria and its international partners continue to search for them, we pray for a nonviolent end to their capture and that their captors will be brought to justice.”

In the case of inclement weather, Sunday’s prayer vigil will be held in the sanctuary at Central United Methodist Church, located at Martin Luther King Jr. and Northside drives.