Twenty of the martyrs were identified as Christians by their families, friends, and churches, number twenty-one was not. The twenty-first martyr was Matthew Ayairga; he was from Chad, and, like the others, he had come to Sirte to find much-needed work. Unlike the others, however, Ayairga was not a Christian when he was first captured but he was kidnapped him with the rest. But as Ayairga spent five weeks with the Coptic Christians in prison, his heart was eternally changed. On the video, an ISIS militant asks Ayairga, “Do you reject Christ?” His resolute response was, “Their God is my God.” Egyptian Christians believe that Ayairga would have had a much better chance at life had he embraced Islam, or at least denied that he was a Christian. But instead, he boldly proclaimed a faith in the God of his companions.
Soon after the men had been slain, one of the Al-Our pastors, Father Makar Issa, explained Ayairga’s confession was not the only positive report, “In the month and a half while the people were kidnapped, the whole congregation was coming to the church to pray for their return, but in their prayers later on, they asked that if they died, they die for their faith, and that’s what happened. Therefore the congregation grew up psychologically and spiritually.” Also, one week after the video was released, 1.65 million tracts entitled Two Rows by the Sea, with a photo of the ISIS militants marching the orange-clad Christians down the beach, were published by the Bible Society of Egypt. “We must have a Scripture tract ready to distribute to the grieving nation as soon as possible,” the head of the Society, Ramallah Atallah, told his staff. Christ’s message was circulated throughout the nation of Egypt, reaching the hurting and lost once again with the message of salvation.
As we learn of these believers martyred for their faith, Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount are a clear reminder of God’s eternal promise: Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Matthew 5:10-12
Date: 9th December 2023
Martyr: Coptic Christians
Location: Sirte, Libya
Source: God’s Generals: The Martyrs
Author: Roberts Liardon
Suffering Saturday 068
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