Out of Grief, Gratitude is Born: Ayman is Free!

In the August 2025 edition of the CTS Connection e-newsletter, we shared an editorial reflection from CTS Alumnus Elizabeth Diop (MDiv ’15) titled “Answering God’s Call, No Matter the Cost: What I Lost When I Spoke for a Detained Colleague – and Why I’d Do It Again.” This story includes updates on her story and her friend Ayman Solimon’s detention and release.  

“I lost my job speaking up for my friend, who was unjustly detained by ICE. Seventy-two days later, I watched him walk free.” Elizabeth Diop (MDiv ’15) experienced incredible loss this summer… the loss of the presence of a colleague and friend in the workplace who was unjustly detained, the loss of her job after speaking up on his behalf and advocating for his release, and the loss of knowing where her next paycheck would come from or how she would provide for her family. 

On September 19, the grief she held inside was finally able to flow freely outward. The news came as Elizabeth was speaking with her counselor, processing her struggles with the forced transition to a new job – one she wanted to love, but that she didn’t feel the same excitement and drive about yet. She remembers, “A notification popped up on my screen, interrupting me, and I saw the news. ‘I think Ayman has been released,’ I told my therapist. He smiled. I didn’t. I didn’t believe it. That hope? Too risky. After we ended the session, I opened up WhatsApp to see a photo – Ayman, his lawyer, and our friend standing together. It was real.” 

She was finally able to exhale fully as she processed the news that after 72 days in prison her dear friend, Ayman Solimon, was free… just weeks before his scheduled court hearing and potential deportation. 

“My breath hitched, eyes welled up, chin trembled, and I sobbed. I cried out the terror I’d been carrying for 72 days… that our friend would be deported. Tortured. Executed. I cried out the rage at the injustice of the whole situation,” Elizabeth recalls.  

The emotions were to be expected. Elizabeth lost her job of 10 years as a chaplain at a children’s hospital for speaking out on Ayman’s behalf. Her colleague Adam also lost his chaplaincy job due to social media posts advocating for Ayman. 

The two could have given in to their grief and retreated, but instead they chose to forge forward in faith, advocating tirelessly on Ayman’s behalf. They spoke to news outlets. They wrote letters. They organized prayer vigils and peaceful rallies to raise awareness. They encouraged fellow citizens to write to their representatives to alert them of Ayman’s unjust detention and ask for his release. 

For 72 anxious days, they maintained hope despite continued detention. 

After the grief found its way outward, joy overflowed. “I breathed in the comfort of knowing Ayman was safe. I laughed out praise to God that we worked together to bring about this reality. I breathed in my own awareness that Adam and me losing our jobs was worth it. That we had been so privileged to be a part of mending a small piece of our world,” she reflects. “72 days of government persecution. Incarceration. Lack of sunlight and fruit and hugs. And suddenly, he was free.” 

Elizabeth wraps up her experience seeing Ayman for the first time after his release best in her own words: 

“I stood in front of him and took him in. I know this situation changed him, but he was still himself. I don’t know that I’ve ever experienced such intense relief. 

We ate lunch. Overwhelmed at the sight of a salad – after months of nothing but a bitter cabbage-and-vinegar mix – he took a bite and said, ‘It’s a dream come true!’ 

The day ended with a press conference about Ayman’s release. 

As is his way, he expressed gratitude to everyone who supported him. ‘I am indebted for my life: for those who advocated, thank you very much!’ He praised God and expressed love for his fellow detainees. 

A guard had asked Ayman if he would come back to provide spiritual care at the jail. ‘Absolutely,’ he replied. ‘To be a volunteer chaplain.’ 

I think I’m going to join him. 

What strikes me is this: Ayman, caged for 72 days, wants to return to that same place to bring care and compassion. His faith didn’t break; it deepened. That’s the story I’ll carry forward – that God was never absent in his cell, in my tears, or in our organizing. 

God was there, suffering with us. God was there, fighting for justice with us. And God will be with us when we return to the jail, where together, we will carry the light that brightens the darkness.” 

In the original story Elizabeth wrote back in August, she reflected on her time at CTS: “We were trained to be truth tellers and faith leaders, to carry the light into dark places, to hold fast to our values, even when it’s costly. Ayman has done this, in every way possible. Adam and I have tried to do it as well. It’s messy. It’s terrifying. And it’s worth it. Ayman Soliman is worth it. And so is every other person detained at overcrowded facilities across the country.” 

Thank God for Ayman. Thank God for Elizabeth and Adam. Thank God for all of you who read the story, heard the news, and joined them in solidarity and action. Elizabeth also shared a prayer she used to pray with her patients and found herself praying for Ayman, and for all of us, these past few months. It reads much like a thank you note from many of us as we thank God for Elizabeth, Adam, and the many others who joined them in successfully advocating for Ayman’s release: 

Creator God,  

Thank you for the gift of these children. 

For their resilience. For their courage. For their incredible potential. 

Please heal their wounds and give them hope. 

Amen. 

May the power of this prayer sustain us all as we follow Elizabeth’s example and lead with integrity, despite great potential cost, in these tense times. May we be bold to walk with our grief, stepping into gratitude and the promise of hope, even when it seems impossible. And – as Elizabeth called our CTS community to do – may we continue to answer God’s call, no matter the cost.