We are grateful to be together again as a family. After these many months apart, there are few words adequate to express what it means simply to be reunited.
We are profoundly thankful to the United States government and to all those who worked tirelessly for Kevin’s safe release, and to SIM for its steadfast care and support throughout this long season.
We are also grateful for our SIM family around the world, and for the countless friends, churches, and brothers and sisters in Christ who faithfully petitioned the Lord for Kevin’s protection and release.
To our own family, who never stopped praying, hoping, and believing, we are more grateful than we can say.
Throughout this experience, we have held closely to the promise of Scripture: “The LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6).
We have known the truth of that promise in very real ways. Even in the hardest and most uncertain moments, the Lord was present and faithful. Our joy in being reunited is also accompanied by grief.
For decades, the Lord has given us a deep love for Niger and for the people of Niger, among whom we have been privileged to live and serve.
Niger and its people are woven deeply into our lives and into the calling God has given us. We continue to love them and carry them in our hearts and prayers.
For now, our greatest desire is simply to be together as a family. We are thankful for the prayers and kindness that have surrounded us, and we ask for privacy and space in the days ahead as we reconnect, rest, and begin to heal together.
Above all, we give thanks to the Lord, who has been faithful to us in every season.
Kevin and Krista Rideout
You might also like
Richard and Valérie Morris have spent decades helping mission workers understand the spiritual realities they may face — from confronting fear and oppre...
Widows in Benin are rebuilding their lives through an unexpected gift: two goats that offer income, dignity and the reminder that they are deeply loved by ...
Mission worker Dominique has spent the past eight months serving women in Nigeria’s Plateau State, where hundreds of widows are rebuilding their lives af...
We asked mission worker Ryan, how do learn to love the people and culture you serve?
You don’t need a passport to be part of God’s global work. From prayer and financial partnership to elevating mission stories in your church, here are ...
Galius had a tough childhood in Namibia. He lost his mother at childbirth and his father also passed away when he was a teenager. Today, Galius is st...
They come for the games, but they leave with something far greater. Across the world, Sports Friends camps are creating opportunities for young people to d...
We are grateful to confirm that our good friend and brother in Christ, Kevin Rideout, has been released after over nine months in captivity.
In Ethiopia, mission is taking new forms. Technology is opening doors into places once unreachable, and local believers are stepping forward with deep cult...
In northern Ghana, youth worker Charity has spent years building relationships with young people and their families. She encourages them in their faith wh...
Across the world, young people are showing a growing openness to faith: from Thailand to North Africa to Central Asia. As spiritual hunger rises among Gen ...
An encounter with rural ministry as a teenager changed the course of Samuel's life. Years later, God led him, his wife and their children from Ethiopia to ...