Chaos and Desecration
Armoured vehicles rumbled down streets. ISIS troops began freeing the first of what would be about one thousand prisoners. Gunfire broke out. A woman who had planned to celebrate this day as her wedding day died in a blast. ISIS fighters ripped down the cross on the Syriac Orthodox Cathedral of Mar (meaning “saint”or “martyr”), Afram. They replaced the cross with loudspeakers proclaiming that Islam, not Jesus, was the way; and, everywhere, chaos reigned. People dragged possessions to cars; traffic jams closed roads; and, screams of panic echoed. Amid it all, Abu received sporadic phone reports from his friend in Mosul, who, at one point said, “The Iraqi army is now fleeing the city.”
Trapped Between Fear and Faith
During the following weeks, Abu secured permission from an ISIS judge to permit his mother and sister to stay in Mosul; but, a few weeks after, ISIS swept into Abu’s city, just as he had feared. More Christians hastily packed and fled, but Abu and his wife, Rukia, could not leave Sara and Dleen in Mosul.
An Ultimatum of Terror
For sixteen days – that to Abu seemed like sixteen years – ISIS occupied the area where Abu lived. “Please, come get me, Abu,”pleaded his mother during yet another phone call from Mosul. “It is not safe here. You must …”A man’s hardened voice cut in on the line. “Let me state it more clearly,”the ISIS soldier declared. “If you do not come get these two infidel dogs, they will either be converted to Islam with guns at their heads or thrown onto the street.”
Date: 2nd November 2024
Martyr: Abu Fadi
Location: Iraq
Source: Tortured for Christ (The voice of the martyr)
Author: Richard Wurmbrand
Suffering Saturday 115
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