Meriam Ibrahim Arrives Safely in New Hampshire with Family

Meriam Ibrahim, recently freed from Sudan where she had faced a death sentence for refusing to deny her Christian faith, arrived in the U.S. earlier this week. Ibrahim traveled with her husband and their children to their new home in Manchester, New Hampshire.  

Members of the local Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church greeted Ibrahim, her husband Daniel Wani and their two children at Manchester-Boston Regional Airport.

Fox News reports that a Sudanese activist who was imprisoned for 45 days for allegedly being a U.S. spy in 2011 expressed the importance of Ibrahim’s release.

"As Sudanese, this story means a lot to us and is beyond a Christian woman being oppressed. It shows the oppression of our people by the current dictatorship regime," Rudwan Dawod wrote FoxNews.com. "It also highlights the collective efforts of people from all different backgrounds that supported Meriam's release."

Gabriel Wani, Ibrahim’s brother-in-law, said the U.S. State Department have granted the 27-year-old mother of two asylum and will soon meet with officials. 

Monyroor Teng, pastor of the Sudanese Evangelical Covenant Church in Manchester, told reporters Ibrahim's release provides him hope.

"People are really happy to receive them when they come home," he said. "It's a miracle to me. I didn't think that something like this would happen because in Sudan, when something happens like that, it's unreal. It happens to so many people. Maybe, who knows, I'm praying for those (other) ladies who are in jail and those who have died."

Publication date: August 1, 2014