The Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) executed 12 Christians, including a 12-year-old boy, after they refused to abandon their faith and convert to Islam. The murders occurred on August 28 outside of Aleppo.
“In front of the team leader and relatives in the crowd, the Islamic extremists cut off the fingertips of the boy and severely beat him, telling his father they would stop the torture only if he, the father, returned to Islam,” revealed Christian Aid Mission. “When the team leader refused, relatives said, the ISIS militants also tortured and beat him and the two other ministry workers. The three men and the boy then met their deaths in crucifixion.”
The boy’s father was a “ministry team leader who planted nine churches.” One woman allegedly yelled “Jesus!” right before the terrorists beheaded her. Militants took eight aid workers, two of them females, to another village. They proceeded to rape the two females before they executed them.
“Villagers said some were praying in the name of Jesus, others said some were praying the Lord’s Prayer, and others said some of them lifted their heads to commend their spirits to Jesus,” described one source. “One of the women looked up and seemed to be almost smiling as she said, ‘Jesus!'”
The barbaric radical Islamic group has executed more than 11,000 people in “Iraq and Syria since its establishment of a self-proclaimed caliphate in June 2014.” ISIS captured Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, in that month. For over 2,000 years, Christians and Muslims lived peacefully with each other. But when ISIS invaded, the Christians were told to either leave, convert, or pay a subjugation tax. They kidnapped the majority of the females to sell on their sex slave market while they slaughtered the males in front of their families.
“It is like going back 1,000 years seeing the barbarity that Christians are having to live under. I think we are dealing with a group which makes Nazism pale in comparison and I think they have lost all respect for human life,” explained Patrick Sookhdeo, founder of Barnabas Fund. “Crucifying these people is sending a message and they are using forms of killing which they believe have been sanctioned by Sharia law. For them what they are doing is perfectly normal and they don’t see a problem with it. It is that religious justification which is so appalling.”
In July 2014, Andrew White, the vicar of the only Anglican church in Iraq, told BBC Radio 4 that Christianity is coming to an end in the Middle Eastern country.
“Things are so desperate, our people are disappearing,” he said. “We have had people massacred, their heads chopped off. The Christians are in grave danger. There are literally Christians living in the desert and on the street. They have nowhere to go.”
“Are we seeing the end of Christianity?” he continued. “We are committed come what may, we will keep going to the end, but it looks as though the end could be very near.”
Christians have spoken out about the treatment they endured from ISIS. They said ISIS destroyed churches and statues of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary, and raised the black flag in Mary’s place. Terrorists robbed the Christians at checkpoints, taking the earrings women were wearing.
“There is not a single Christian family left in Mosul,” said Bashar Nasih Behnam, who left with his two children. “The last one was a disabled Christian woman. She stayed because she could not get out. They came to her and said you have to get out and if you don’t we will cut off your head with a sword. That was the last family.”
1 comment:
This appalling and heartbreaking. And true. Our dearest friends form Seminary days have been in Jordan for 40 years. The refugees from Irag and Syria have filled their camps.500 Iraqi Christians have come into their church since Nov.
Their stories are incredible. This week my friend wrote and said that Some of them say,like Joseph, that Isil meant this for evil but God has used it for their good. When I asked her about the attitude of the Syrians she said that the truth is that Assad was better for the Christians. They has freedom and protection and were able to build and attend churches.She also said the chemical weapon thing had been used from both sides. We read this in this blog a couple of years back from Rosenberg. Remember him asking for prayer when they were going to show the movie on the life of Paul in the Royal Theatre in Damascus?The Kingdom of God is advancing even as many are driven out and or slaughtered. Also we need to remember from some reports that Russia has taken out Isil that they are not bombing in Iraq. One of the most regrettable things about church to me today is that we do NOT pray weekly for leaders around the world so that there is freedom for the Gospel to be preached. And we do not pray for these precious believers, old and young, being viscously killed for their faith in Jesus. We are ONE in Him and yet we do not pray and act on helping.Prayer is the biggest thing our friends ask for.The war in the heavenlies is HUGE compared to what the nations are doing or not doing.We Know this is not a war against flesh and blood but of the powers of satan, for a season , given as many still are coming to faith. With our eye on the Door, we need to engage in praying faithfully for the Lord's people so that many will join them.
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