Elderly Christians Escape from ISIL

Fresh news is filtering out of Iraq about the treatment of Christians being detained by ISIL, after a group of 10 elderly Christians, some with disabilities, managed to escape.

The group told a “World Watch Monitor” source working in Iraq that they were pressured to speak out the Islamic Shahada,  a confession of faith that is spoken when converting to Islam. One of the women from the group said “We did not want to become Muslim; we just wanted to leave”.

“They gave us little food. But when we were taken to Mosul, we were held in a hall with other people and there was another hall beside us too and we could hear more people there. They were rounded up and detained as well. One day, a member from IS came and called some of our names and said ‘Stand up, we will call you soon!’ We thought that they will kill us, but later they took us and we asked them ‘When are you going to let us leave?’ An IS member replied – ‘Not without ransom’.”

Another of the Elderly Christians relates: “They had thrown us out from our villages and  homes, so they could occupy them. We managed to survive thanks to the assistance of some Muslim families who brought us food and what we needed.”

The group was eventually taken to the Kurdish region of Iraq, where they were granted official approval to enter and find refuge.

There are, purportedly, several Christians being held against their will throughout the region held by ISIL, and the church is trying to negotiate their release, having already paid  money to set them free: “among them is a 3-year-old girl that ISIL has demanded thousands of dollars to release.”

• Pray for Christians refugees across Iraq, Syria and Kurdistan. Pray for Christians organisations working with them to express hope, love and the compassion of Christ.
• Pray for those still being held against their will, that ISIL will release them without harm. Pray for success for negotiations for their release.
• Pray for peace and stability in this region.

Psalm 29 vs 11: May the Lord give strength to his people! May the Lord bless his people with peace

source: https://www.worldwatchmonitor.org