NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — For the first time since she was snatched from her bed in West Africa and held in captivity, we are seeing and hearing from Sister Suellen Tennyson.

“I am feeling wonderful, but the feeling that overwhelms me is the feeling of gratitude,” said Sister Suellen in a video from the Clarion Herald.

Sister Suellen is a New Orleans Marianite who was kidnapped in Burkina Faso in April. She was held captive for five months before being found safe in Niger.

On August 31, Sister Suellen returned to the Archdiocese of New Orleans 20 pounds lighter. Two weeks later, the Clarion Herald, the Official Newspaper of the Archdiocese of New Orleans released Sister Suellen Tennyson’s story of her abduction.

She said back in April, she was abducted from her bed in Burkina Faso, blindfolded, and gagged without her shoes, glasses, or medicine.

She says her captors placed her on the back of a motorcycle and rode through the night until she was handed over to another group that Sister Suellen says treated her reasonably well.

She claims she was fed spaghetti, rice, and sardines. In addition, her captors provided her with a few pieces of paper and a pen which she used to mark her days in captivity.

Sister Suellen told the paper she slept outside in a tent-like structure with branches and leaves for the roof. That ended when she was given a sofa to sleep on.

At some point, Sister Suellen says she contracted malaria as well.

In August, without warning, she was moved once again, but this time for the better. At the end of the journey, she claims to have been greeted by three men who told her she was free.

She was in the neighboring country of Niger and released into the custody of the FBI, the U.S. Embassy and Air Force.

“Since I’m back, all the medical people are helping me come back to good health,” said Sister Suellen. “My heart is filled with gratitude. I don’t know how to thank everybody.”

She is happy to be home and humbled by the amount of support she’s received.

“I always knew my community and my family and friends were praying but now I’m finding out there were thousands of people praying for me around the world,” said Sister Suellen. “I cannot even comprehend or find a way to express the gratitude that’s in my heart for all the people who prayed for me.”

Sister Suellen’s full story can be found here.

According to the Clarion Herald, Sister Suellen is slowly but surely regaining her strength.