For 12 years, Mariam Ibrahim and Rev. Dr. A. Roy Medley knew each other only by name. On the evening of Oct. 27, they finally stood face-to-face.
A death sentence for her faith
In May 2014, a court in Khartoum sentenced Mariam to 100 lashes and death by hanging.
Her father was Muslim, but her mother raised her as a Christian. Under Sudanese law she was considered Muslim. So, her faith was prosecuted as apostasy, and her marriage to a Christian man, Daniel Wani, as adultery.
She was eight months pregnant. Soon after being sentenced, she gave birth to her daughter while chained to the floor of her prison cell.
Half a world away, Roy Medley was serving as General Secretary of American Baptist Churches USA and chair of the National Council of Churches governing board. He spoke out at once, condemning the sentence as a “violation of the fundamental human right to religious liberty” and calling on the world to oppose “such a heinous act.”
Then he went further. He joined an interfaith delegation of Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, organized by a Muslim American, to meet with Sudan’s ambassador to the United States.
“When I learned of Mariam’s arrest and unjust death sentence by the court in Northern Sudan, I could not be silent,” Medley recalled.
In that meeting, he told the ambassador he and others were willing to travel to Sudan to be with her and make their case there.
“I did not imagine our presence that day would add to the international pressure that resulted in her release the next day,” Medley said.
Even after her release, Sudanese authorities blocked her from leaving the country. She took refuge at the U.S. Embassy until, in July 2014, she and her family finally left Sudan for good.
Mariam built a new life in the United States and became an advocate for religious freedom herself, telling her story in her memoir, “Shackled.” Medley went on with the work he had always done.
A name becomes a face
The two did not meet until 12 years later on the evening of Oct. 27. It happened in Hoge Chapel, Columbia Church in Falls Church, Virginia, where 21Wilberforce presented Medley with the 2026 Frank Wolf International Religious Freedom Award.
Before the presentation, Congressman Frank Wolf told the audience about a trip to Romania in 1985, when people of faith pressed crumpled notes into his hands bearing the names of loved ones imprisoned for what they believed. “Someone hands you a name,” he said. “What do you do with it?”
His question served as a continuing call to action.
Then Wolf introduced a woman whose name the world had once refused to put down. Mariam Ibrahim stepped forward and met the man who had spoken for her.
“Meeting Dr. Roy Medley in person was an emotional and unforgettable moment for me,” Mariam said. “My heart is filled with gratitude for him. I will never forget what he did for me and my family during one of the darkest chapters of our lives.”
“When I was imprisoned in Sudan because of my Christian faith, Dr. Medley stood with me. He raised his voice when I could not speak for myself. Through his advocacy, he helped bring international attention to my case and gave my family hope when our future was uncertain.”
A lifetime of standing with others
“What touches my heart even more,” Mariam said, “is that his commitment did not start or end with my case.”
That commitment is what the Frank Wolf award recognized. Over five decades, Medley has confronted segregation in the American South, stood with American Muslims as neighbors after Sept. 11, and raised his voice for persecuted Christians and Rohingya Muslims alike.
Today he leads the Burma Advocacy Group, a coalition of more than 20 church and advocacy organizations representing the Burmese diaspora in the United States.
Accepting the award, he called on everyone in the room to join him in that work: “Let us together hew a rock of hope.” His full remarks can be read here.
For Medley, the joy was mutual. “Meeting Mariam for the first time was an extremely joyful experience for me,” he said. “I shall forever be grateful for the opportunity to have joined with others in securing her release from prison and a sentence of death. May God continue to lift up God’s face upon her and give her peace.”
And for Mariam, the evening was a chance to say what she had carried for 12 years.
“Dr. Medley, from the bottom of my heart, thank you. Thank you for standing with me when I needed a voice, for caring about my freedom, and for standing beside my family in our darkest hour. I will carry that gratitude with me always. May God bless you abundantly and continue to use your life to bring hope to those who suffer for their faith.”
Mariam’s story began with a name on a court docket in Khartoum, and it changed because people who had never met her refused to stay silent.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Lou Ann Sabatier of 21Wilberforce and originally published by the Baptist Standard.
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