Sister Suellen Tennyson.Photo: Peter Finney Jr./Clarion Herald
A New Orleans nun is speaking out for the first time after she was kidnapped and held captive for five months in Africa.
Sister Suellen wasserving a missionat a convent in Yalgo when the pre-dawn attack took place, theHeraldpreviously reported.
Five months later, Sister Suellen was “freed peacefully” without ransom to the FBI, U.S. embassy and Air Force personnel in Niger, per theHerald’s latest report.
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Sister Suellen told the outlet that she is deeply grateful to have survived the ordeal, and thankful for everyone who helped her return home safe and sound.
Sister Suellen was kidnapped from the medical mission residence in Yalgo, which she shared with two other Marianite sisters and multiple employees since 2013.
Sister Suellen Tennyson.FBI
After she was blindfolded and gagged, the attackers sat Sister Suellen on a motorcycle and drove for hours through West Africa before passing her off to a second group, the newspaper reported.
While being held captive, the nun used paper and a red pen she was given to mark the days. She was not given any books, and relied on her memory to recite prayers and recall Bible verses.
The nun had no clue where she was. Per theHerald, he recalled telling a captor at one point, “I can’t run away — I can’t run, and I don’t know the way!' "
“Prayer sustained me,” Sister Suellen told the outlet. “I went through my Mass every day. I did each part of the Mass and received spiritual Communion. During the day, at least three or four times a day, I would do a spiritual Communion. That was the thing that kept me going because I had nothing.”
Freedom came suddenly in August, when Sister Suellen was handed off to a new group of men in Niger, per theHerald. Initially, she was concerned that she was being traded off to another group of captors, but soon learned she was finally free.
“One of the men came to me and said, ‘You can take that jacket off.’ And he turned to me and he said, ‘You’re free!’ I said, ‘What? I’m free? Who are you?’ "
Sister Suellen was medically transported back to Louisiana and has remained at a safe haven in the Archdiocese for the last two weeks.
Marianite leader Sister Ann Lacour previously told theHeraldthat Sister Suellen was “totally worn out” following the ordeal.
“I told her how much people love her, and she doesn’t have anything to worry about,” Sister Ann said at the time. “I told her, ‘You are alive and safe. That’s all that matters.’ "
“Of particular concern are the gravity and number of armed Islamist group attacks against teachers, students, and schools,” the organization says on its website, adding, “Few efforts have been made to hold those responsible for these abuses to account.”
source: people.com
