Kidnappers released Kevin Rideout, an American missionary pilot held hostage for nine months in Niger, last Friday, according to his missions agency, Serving in Missions (SIM).
Throughout Rideout’s captivity, one missionary familiar with ministry in Niger (we’re leaving out his name to protect his work and will call him M) gathered on Zoom every Wednesday night with at least 30 other missionaries around the world to read the Bible and pray for Rideout’s safety and release.
“We were always hopeful that he was alive,” M told CT. “We are grateful to God that he heard us and he was released unharmed. This has been our prayer.”
Three unidentified men kidnapped Rideout from his home in Niger’s capital of Niamey in October and took him to the western Tillaberi Region, where militants linked to the Islamic State are active. Since then, the US government has made rescuing Rideout a priority, lifting sanctions on Malian officials so that its drones and planes could fly over Mali to gather intelligence on terrorist groups and search for the pilot.
Several sources told Reuters that eastern Libya’s military commander Khalifa Haftar helped broker a deal that led to Rideout’s release, while another source said Haftar’s forces freed the hostage through a military operation in Mali.
Rideout’s abduction reveals the growing insecurity and Islamic extremism in the West African country. That, combined with tightened government restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), has made it more difficult for missionaries to continue serving in fields such as humanitarian aid, health care, and education.
As more Western missionaries withdraw from the region, M, who is originally from Nigeria, hopes that local Nigerien Christians can step up to fill the void.
“We have to wake up from slumber and take up this work, because this work is for the church,” he said. “It’s not for Westerners. It’s for every believer. So that is what [we] must encourage the church to do.”
In April, Niger’s government suspended 2,900 of the country’s 4,700 registered local and foreign NGOs and development agencies, as part of a “cleanup” as the country seeks greater national sovereignty. The military has also accused NGOs of lacking transparency and supporting “terrorists.”
M sees the impact the withdrawal of foreign workers is having on Niger’s Christian hospitals as they are forced to operate with fewer doctors, nurses, and pharmacists. As a former nurse, M offers administrative advice to the workers and shares the gospel with their mostly unbelieving patients.
“We [Christians] may be small, but God is helping us,” he said.
Another missionary I interviewed agreed that the country had welcomed foreign workers until recently. He worries their withdrawal will hurt aid but, like M, sees it as an opportunity for the Nigerien church to advance.
“Nigerien Christians are always seeking the approval of foreign [missionaries],” he said. “But this is an opportunity for the church to grow.”
In recent years, high-profile abductions of foreigners have increased in the Sahel Region. Terrorists kidnapped 30 foreigners in Mali and Niger last year, compared to just four in 2024. In early August, Algerian military rescued a German national two weeks after armed criminal groups in Niger kidnapped him.
The al-Qaeda affiliate Jama’at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimeen (JNIM) uses foreign workers as bargaining tools with governments. Ransoms account for an estimated 40 percent of JNIM’s yearly revenue, according to the Institute for Economics & Peace.
Attackers also target the Christian community. Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List ranked Niger as the 26th most dangerous country for Christians, especially for Muslim converts and Christians in rural areas. Last Christmas, armed men fired into a church in Niger’s Dosso Region. They killed a couple while survivors fled to the bush and neighboring villages.
A third missionary said Rideout’s release was a relief for Christians who had prayed for him. He added that the pilot’s abduction reminded him of the challenges of doing missions in Niger.
“If you’re not called to Niger, you can’t function here,” he said. “It is very risky for us in the land.”
The missionary said locals are hopeful for a day when the door will be open again for foreign missionaries to return to Niger. “For now, fear is real,” he said. “But nothing good can be done without faith. We need to have faith.”
