Egypt Sentences 71 People to Life in Prison for Burning Christian Church

Undated file photo of Egyptian prisoners. (Photo: Reuters)

Undated file photo of Egyptian prisoners.

Christian Post Report – An Egyptian court has handed out life in prison sentences to 71 people for burning a Christian church in in the Giza province village of Kafr Hakim in 2013.

CNN reported that the people were part of a mob that chanted for Egypt to become an “Islamic State” as they torched and looted The Virgin Mary Church in 2013, following anti-government unrest. Christians were heavily targeted in Egypt following the fall of former President Mohammed Morsi, which later led to the Muslim Brotherhood being outlawed.

Reports said that 52 out of the 73 defendants were tried in absentia, with 21 already in prison. Two minors were additionally given 10 years in prison and fined the equivalent of $1,300.

Reuters noted that the verdict can be appealed.

Hany El-Sayed, a defense lawyer for some of the defendants, said: “There is no proof against the defendants … even the church’s priest said he didn’t see any of the defendants after the incident.”

Morsi himself was sentenced last week to 20 years in prison for carrying out unlawful arrests and torture during his time in power. It was the first verdict Morsi has received since he was brought down from power, and is one of several trials he is facing.

Morsi could have received the death penalty for the more serious charge of inciting the killing of protesters, but was cleared by the court.

Retired Field Marshall Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi, who won the presidential elections in 2014, has been hailed by some Christians for protecting them and helping bring an end to the violence that swept the nation in 2013.

“Many Christians, and even Muslims, think that Sisi saved them from the Islamic groups and he is the hero and savior that we are all waiting for. In Egypt you have to choose from two choices: Military or Islamist. So, if I am Christian, for sure I’ll choose the military even if I don’t like them,” Mahmoud Farouk, executive director of the Egyptian Center for Public Policy Studies, said at the time.

There has been a serious clampdown on Muslim Brotherhood members during Sisi’s reign, and the group has been forced to go underground. Thousands of people have been jailed for participating in the group, while hundreds of others have received death sentences for taking part in the bloodshed during the 2013 unrest.

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Indoctrinates In The Cradle

ISIS Indoctrinates In The Cradle

 A photo believed to have been taken by ISIS members of a baby lying beside a gun, a hand grenade, and an ISIS birth certificate has been released online. The photo’s caption warns that the child will grow up to be a threat, pointing to the vast youth indoctrination program that the terror group is running in the region.
“By showing the birth certificate, and the fact that the group are indoctrinating babies, I think ISIS are indicating they will be around for a long time,” a terrorism expert at the Australian National University told Daily Mail Australia.

Read more at http://www.christianpost.com/news/isis-photo-of-baby-lying-beside-gun-and-hand-grenade-released-caption-warns-child-will-grow-into-a-threat-138293/#2Iygm4z6SgRlpvoh.99

Source : Christian Post

‘A.D. – The Bible Continues’ Returns Sunday with Increased Violence, Persecution of Early Christians

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett Preview 'A.D. - The Bible Continues' Episode 5

Roma Downey and Mark Burnett Preview ‘A.D. – The Bible Continues’ Episode 5

After four episodes, “A.D. – The Bible Continues” is returning to NBC this Sunday with a brand new fifth installment revealing more about the early church, including extreme brutality against Christians.

The latest episode of “A.D.” will follow Claudia (Joanne Whalley) who struggles with her husband Pontius Pilate’s (Vincent Regan) brutal methods and must decide the fate of 10 women’s lives. Furthermore, Sunday’s episode will see Peter and John arrested again, but the pair survive trial thanks to the aged priest Gamaliel. Also, in a violent turn of events, a young Christian, Stephen, is stoned to death for his cries against the Temple.

Offering a recap of the season so far, series co-creators Roma Downey and Mark Burnett pointed to the death and resurrection of Jesus as well as the coming of the Holy Spirit. Then, the famed husband-and-wife team offered a glimpse at what viewers can expect this Sunday.

“Now, full of the Holy Spirit, Peter, John and the rest of the disciples share their new faith, which is beginning to sweep over Judaea,” Downey previewed.

Chiming in during the clip, Burnett added, “In each episode of ‘A.D.,’ the apostles and their followers are met with increasingly brutal resistance and widespread persecutions to destroy them and of course the message itself.”

“A.D. – The Bible Continues” episode 5 will air on NBC this Sunday, May 3 at 9 p.m. E.T. The encore of last week’s Episode 4 will air directly before the new installment.

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  • “A.D. – The Bible Continues.”
    (Photo: Courtesy of NBCUniversal MediaVillage)
    A photo from episode 5 of NBC’s “A.D. – The Bible Continues.”
  • "A.D. - The Bible Continues"
    (Photo: Courtesy of NBCUniversal MediaVillage)
    A photo from episode 5 of NBC’s “A.D. – The Bible Continues.”
  • Stephen in "A.D. - The Bible Continues"
    (Photo: Courtesy of NBCUniversal MediaVillage)
    A photo from episode 5 of NBC’s “A.D. – The Bible Continues.”

“It’s our prayer that this show serves as a catalyst for furthering the gospel and encourages you to be bold in your faith,” Downey noted during this week’s preview.

After each episode of “A.D.,” fans can tune into NBC’s first-ever digital talk show, “Beyond A.D,” hosted by Jason Kennedy. New guests are featured each week to discuss the television series, but this Sunday will see Pastor John Gray of Lakewood Church, comedian Ron G and the Christian rock band The City Harmonic join the show.

Source : Christian Post

A Subtle Snare

And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.
— 2 Corinthians 11:14

Christian Post Report – When I was a kid, I collected snakes. I am not really sure why, but I used to be fascinated by them. I had all kinds. I would read books about snakes. I would go out looking for them and bring them home. And I was bitten by snakes many times. I discovered that you never really know what a snake is thinking. Snakes aren’t expressive creatures; they are cold-blooded reptiles.

  • Greg Laurie
    (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)
    Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014.

Snakes are nothing like dogs. You know where you are with a dog at any given moment. When a dog looks at you with his tongue hanging out and his tail wagging, you know he is a friendly dog. But if the dog shows his teeth and the hair on his back is standing up, then you know he isn’t happy. You always know where you stand with a dog.

But you never know with a snake. A snake has the same expression all the time. A snake will suddenly bite you, and you won’t even see it coming.

In Genesis we’re told that “the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made” (3:1). Notice that he didn’t show up and say, “Hi, I’m the Devil. Maybe you have heard of me? I hate God, I hate you, and I want to destroy you. I was wondering if you wanted to hang out. I have some ideas.”

The Bible does say that Satan was a serpent, but it doesn’t say that he slithered. He slithered after he was cursed (see Genesis 3:14). We don’t know what he looked like, but there was something fascinating, interesting, and appealing about him. He was somehow attractive, and sin is always attractive.

The Devil may be wicked, but he isn’t stupid. He comes with subtlety.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

Used with Permission

Source : Christian Post

Infant Boy Miraculously Rescued From Nepal Earthquake Rubble After 22 Hours of Being Buried Alive

Rishi Khanal (Photo: Reuters)

Rishi Khanal who was pulled out from a collapsed residential building following the April 25, 2015 earthquake, speaks to a security guard at a hospital in Kathmandu on Wednesday.

Christian Post Report – A 4-month-old baby was rescued from a destroyed building in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on Wednesday, after being buried alive nearly 22 hours after the earthquake hit the country, while a 28-year-old man who had given up hope of being found was also rescued after surviving 80 hours under rubble.

The baby boy, named Sonit Awal, was reported to be in stable condition, miraculously without any internal injuries. His rescue has brought hope and good news to the area flattened by a 7.8 point earthquake that has killed over 5,000 people and could possibly have killed close to 10,000.

“I had some hope but by yesterday I’d given up,” Rishi Khanal, the adult man who was also rescued, told the The Associated Press. “My nails went all white and my lips cracked. I was sure no one was coming for me. I was certain I was going to die. There was no sound going out, or coming in. I kept banging against the rubble and finally someone responded and came to help. I hadn’t eaten or had anything to drink so I drank my own urine.”

Khanal was also rescued by a Nepali-French search and rescue team. He had been trapped in the room of an apartment building with three dead bodies and no access to food or water. Rescuers were surprised to find Khanal, given that he was on the second floor and had five floors collapse upon him when the earthquake hit. He managed to keep yelling for help, and officials were able to pull him from the destruction after five hours’ work.

“It seems he survived by sheer willpower,” Dr. Akhilesh Shrestha, the doctor who treated Khanal, said.

Now, after undergoing surgery to amputate his leg, Khanal is resting comfortably in a hospital in Nepal. Reports state that the hospitals are woefully full of people who survived the earthquake, which affected areas in India, Tibet, and Bangladesh.

nepal quake (Photo: Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar)

A man runs past damaged houses as aftershocks of an earthquake are felt a day after the earthquake in Bhaktapur, Nepal April 26, 2015. Rescuers dug with their bare hands and bodies piled up in Nepal on Sunday after the earthquake devastated the heavily crowded Kathmandu valley, killing at least 1,900, and triggered a deadly avalanche on Mount Everest.

Stories such as those of Awal and Khanal bring good news to an area suffering from a shortage of basic supplies. It’s extremely rare for people to survive in such harsh condition, and now doctors are concerned that there could be an outbreak of disease in the wake of finding so many dead bodies and having a shortage of clean water.

“In the next few days or weeks, I am sure that there will be an outbreak of epidemics,” Guna Raj, who works for an NGO specializing in providing santitation, told Reuters.

Source : Christian Post

American Idol Finalist and Believer Clark Beckham Doesn’t Want to Be Limited to Christian Music, Doesn’t Think God Wants Singers to Be Isolated to One Genre (Interview)

Clark Beckham (Photo: AMERICAN IDOL XIV: Clark Beckham. CR: Michael Becker / FOX. © FOX BROADCASTING CO.)

Clark Beckham is a hopeful on “American Idol XIV”

Christian Post Report – Each week Clark Beckham subjects himself to judgement and criticism in the music competition that made names such as Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Fantasia Barrino and Jennifer Hudson famous. Still, that’s a small price to pay for the up-and-coming Christian “American Idol” XIV hopeful who has plans of cementing himself as a secular music artist while being a light for God.

Beckham, 22, is deeply rooted in his faith as a graduate of the Christian college Lee University and underwent a life changing experience being touched by the Holy Ghost. Now that he has made it into the top five of the coveted American Idol competition, the singer-songwriter and musician has showcased his range as somebody who can fit into multiple genres.

For some time, he battled with the idea that a devout Christian such as himself must sing Christian contemporary music if he reached a level of success where his voice could inspire a multitude of people. These days, Beckham is confident in his calling and spoke to The Christian Post about why he decided he did not feel the need to fulfill people’s expectations for the type of music he is supposed to sing.

“I know through a lot of confusing years and prayer trying to figure things out, a lot of people said ‘you’re a Christian and you do music that means you sing Christian contemporary music.’ You lead worship,” Beckham told CP. “But I don’t think God wants us to be isolated. I don’t think He wants such a distinct wall between church and secular.”

The singer admits that the word secular can be “scary” for some people, but is looking beyond people’s expectations for him.

“I want to write songs and sing songs about this world, about people, about this life that God has created through redeemed eyes. That’s what I want to do,” Beckham said. “I think He created music, and I think He likes good music. I don’t think we should be separated, I think we should go out into all of the world even musically.”

Beckham’s decision to become a musician did not happen overnight. At the age of 18, he thought it was the right time to try out for “American Idol.”

After graduating high school, he was preparing to attend Lee University in what should have been one of the most exciting times of his life. However, Beckham was dealing with the end of his parents’ marriage, after relying on them as a unit throughout his adolescence.

“I’m an only child and all of my friends’ parents were getting a divorce but my parents were perfect, you know? I thought my parents were never going to get a divorce, that kind of thing,” Beckham told CP. “So when they did, it was right after I had an incredible moment at a church youth camp. I felt closer to God than I ever have.”

That intimacy with God helped the singer to recognize that his desire to appear on “American Idol” as an 18 year old when the talent competition came to Nashville was not in line with God’s will at the time.

“I said, ‘God if this is something you want me to do’ and He very clearly said, ‘No’ to me,” Beckham recalled. “At the time He said, ‘no I don’t want you to do that right now.’ I tried to figure out what He meant by that.”

During this time, Beckham had to reconcile with the fact that he was grieving his parents’ separation. One day, the young musician decided to sit on his bed and pray to God for help during his broken moment.

“I said ‘God, You said that You would fill everything in every way, that You are all in all and blessed are those who mourn … You said that.'” Beckham recalled praying. “‘So God I need You to be the comfort of a mother that I don’t feel anymore, and I need You to be the warm safe feeling of a father that I don’t feel anymore.’ I’m telling you, instantly I felt the Holy Spirit come into the room and embrace me.”

The moment that followed was life changing for Beckham and fulfilled a need and purpose that “American Idol” never could.

“The only way I can explain it is it felt like He just came and God wrapped His arms around me. At that moment I was whole when I should be broken and empty,” Beckham told CP. “And He did what He said He would do. He filled me completely.”

A sense of peace enveloped the singer who said he became “obsessed” with the Holy Spirit ever since. He became free from past addictions, sins and struggles ever since.

Still, Beckham is the first to admit that he makes mistakes. However, waiting on God’s approval to audition for “American Idol” was not one of them.

Four years after God told him no, Beckham’s friend revealed that God told him to relay the message that God’s “no” at 18 meant “not yet.” Now, Beckham is in the top five of the music competition and insists that his strengthened spiritual foundation is what will carry him through the strenuous music competition and beyond.

“No matter how much I mess up if it’s on a stage, spiritually, morally … no matter how hard I fall one thing remains. That’s His love and His mercy,” Beckham told CP. “It transcends the mercy of ‘American Idol,’ it transcends the mercy of America voting. I might get voted off but no matter what I do for the rest of my life, God will never vote me off. So that’s something that I’m grateful for.”

Source : Christian Post

Kirk Franklin Is Defending and Commending Fellow Gospel Star Erica Campbell’s New ‘Trap Gospel’ Sound

  • Kirk Franklin
    (Photo: Reuters)
    Kirk Franklin performs during the concert “Rebuilding the Soul of America – One Year Later,” dedicated to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, in New Orleans, Louisiana, August 29, 2006.

Kirk Franklin is defending his fellow gospel singer Erica Campbell for her decision to create a new sound called “trap gospel.”

Christian Post Report – Campbell, the Mary Mary singer who has ventured into solo music territory, released an album remixing of much of her debut music with Help 2.0 last month. One of the singles she has been pushing is called “I Luh God,” which blends God centered lyrics over trap music production.

While some may be weary of the new sound fusing gospel and trap music, veteran gospel music artist, writer and producer Kirk Franklin came to Campbell’s defense when appearing on NPR recently.

“I just commend her efforts, man. I think that trying to make a message that’s old as many millennia and try to make it culturally relevant, it’s always a tough job,” he said. “I always try to remember the heart of the person doing it and I am very, very good friends with Erica. She has a great heart for God, she has a great heart for ministry and I just believe that the heart always wins.”

Trap rap “is defined by the content of its lyrics, but it also comes with a trademark sound: booming 808-style sub-bass kick drums, twitchy sixty-fourth-note hi-hats, dive-­bombing tom fills, and chilly cinematic strings,” according to a Chicago Reader report.

Franklin fused hip-hop and gospel music with his 90s hit “Stomp” featuring Salt-N-Pepa star Cheryl “Salt” James, and he spoke to NPR about some backlash he received as a result.

“It’s very hard when you hear churches talk about you,” Franklin told NPR. “Some people start to question your heart, and when some people start to question your motives, it could be very hard for you because you’re in your early 20s and you don’t really understand what all the fuss is about, because you’re doing just what’s real to you.”

Franklin has garnered numerous Grammys, GMA Dove Awards and Stellar Awards. The musician has mastered the art of creating quality gospel music for two decades and insisted that the most important quality in the music is sincerity.

“It should reflect wherever we are and our personal spiritual growth with God. If that’s not our top priority, then our artform is going to be very shallow,” Franklin previously told The Christian Post. “It should not be just for the sole purpose of the artform itself…if it’s that, we’ll suffer. We have to make sure people can feel the sincerity of our own testimony and our own journey so they know this is something that is really real for us.”

Franklin previously told The Christian Post that he believes gospel music should be in tune with the culture of the world instead of focusing solely on the church.

“People don’t live at church, they live in the real world. So music has to reflect that how people live, what they’re doing as they go through their trials in life,” he told CP. “So I just hope and pray that we’re always able to tap into that and be that voice for people.”

Source : Christian Post

Application Form To Marry a Man’s Daughter – Some Laughter

A man asked his daughter’s boyfriend to fill an application in order to marry his daughter, view the form below

APPLICATION FORM TO MARRY MY DAUGHTER

FILL THE FORM IN YOUR OWN HANDWRITING AND IN BLOCK LETTERS

I _______________ hereby apply to marry your daughter Miss____________. I am _____ years old.

Please answer the following questions honestly.

  1. Are you a Christian ? Yes/No
    2. Do you have a degree or diploma? Yes/No
    3. Are you still a virgin? Yes/No
    4. Are you working? Yes/No
    5. Do you have a car? Yes/No

If your answer to any of the above questions is NO, do not continue. Leave my house and don’t look back.

If all your answers were YES, Then continue…

  1. In 50 words or more, Describe the disadvantages of cheating in marriage.
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
  2. With the aid of a diagram, Explain how you can give respect to your father-in-law and mother-in-law.
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
  3. Suppose your wife says “Honey, I need money for my hair at the saloon”, what would be your answer?
    __________________________________
  4. Explain any TEN causes of divorce.
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
  5. What does the term ‘good husband’ mean to you?
    __________________________________________

Continue filling after the Advertisement


6.Do you have both dad and mum together? Yes/No
If No explain why?
_________________________________________

  1. Were your parents legally married? Yes/No
    If YES for how long?________________________

If the time of their marriage is less than your age, Explain why you were born out of wedlock. _________________________________________

  1. Explain the meaning of ”COME HOME EARLY” As used by women (100 words)
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
  2. Give any THREE reasons that can cause a man to sleep outside his house.
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
    __________________________________________
  3. In case of divorce, Who do you think is the owner of the kids between father and mother?
    _________________________________________

Answer the following by Yes or No.

  1. Do you drink alcohol? Yes/No
    2. Do you smoke? Yes/No
    3. Are you short-tempered? Yes/No

LAST PART – BUT EQUALLY IMPORTANT

  1. When can you be free for interviews?___________
  2. When is the best time to interview your dad?_________
  3. When can I interview your mum?___________________
  4. When can I interview your congregation Elders?______________
  5. Please stick your passport size photo below which will be put in the newspaper to check if you have other girlfriends.

Sign here: ________________

Sign again: _______________

Thank you for showing interest in my daughter. Your application will be processed in a year’s time.

You will be acknowledged only if you emerge successful.

As you are waiting…

*Please don’t call me!
*Don’t visit me!
*Don’t contact my daughter!

If you do, you will be disqualified!

Leave your details in case I need to ask you more questions;

Postal Address: _________________________
Email: __________________________________
Phone: _________________________________
Home:__________________________________
Facebook: ______________________________

BEST WISHES

 Will someone really marry this man’s daughter

Source : Facebook/Jesusparrot

Be a Friend

So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ.
— Colossians 1:28

  • Greg Laurie
    (Photo: rever Hoehne for Harvest Ministries)
    Greg Laurie, senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California and Harvest Orange County in Irvine, California, shares the Gospel with a sold-out crowd of 19,000 for Harvest America at the American Airlines Center and Victory Park in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 5, 2014.

Christian Post Report – Somewhere along the line, we have separated evangelism from discipleship. We preach the gospel, but we don’t disciple. We don’t get people on their feet spiritually. But the two go together.

The conversion of Saul of Tarsus, one of the most notorious nonbelievers ever, was so unexpected that a lot of people didn’t think it was true. So God spoke to a Christian named Ananias and told him to visit Saul. After some initial resistance, Ananias obeyed and found Saul (who later changed his name to Paul), prayed for him, and took the time to encourage him. Then God brought another man into Paul’s life, and his name was Barnabas. He introduced Paul to the apostles and vouched for his conversion.

A lot of people want to be an apostle Paul, but would someone please be an Ananias or a Barnabas—a person who works behind the scenes? You may not be the next Billy Graham, but you may the best person who helps to nurture the next Billy Graham.

You can show that person what a Christian family, a Christian man, or a Christian woman looks like. You can befriend that individual who has no friends and bring him or her into your group. You don’t know what God can do in the life of that person.

Discipling someone is not just talking to that person about Jesus; it is also being a friend. And that is what a lot of people need: a friend. That is what I needed as a brand-new believer. Thankfully, someone named Mark saw that I came to Christ and very persistently said, “You’re going to church with me.” I was resistant at first. But he won me over and ended up helping me get grounded in the faith. That is what discipling is.

Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

Used with Permission

Source : Christian Post

ISIS Jihadis Repeatedly Raped Terminal Cancer Patient as ‘Prize’ for Battle; Sex Slaves Beaten for Crying

Yazidis (Photo: Reuters/Asmaa Waguih)

Kurdish Yazidis, relatives of a Peshmerga fighter killed in a suicide attack in Sinjar province, mourn with another relative, also member of the Peshmerga, before the burial ceremony at Mazar Sharaf Eldin, a sacred and cemetery area for the Yazidi minority, north of Sinjar, March 2, 2015. A number of Peshmerga were killed and others injured after two suicide car bombs attacks targeted a building the Peshmerga were using for fighting, according to Peshmerga officials.

Christian Post Report – Recently published testimony provided by an escaped Yazidi Islamic State captive battling a “terminal illness” has revealed more horrifying details into ISIS’ blatant disregard for human rights and how many of the thousands of Yazidi sex slaves were sorted and divided as battle “shares” for militants.

In an op-ed published by the International Business Times, Murad Ismael, a Yazid activist who works for the NGO Yazda, wrote about a Yazidi women named Samia who was taken captive, along with her two sisters, after ISIS seized her Iraqi village of Kocho on Aug. 15 of last year.

Although Samia was diagnosed with cancer in 2007 and was still receiving chemotherapy last August when she was taken hostage — along with 130 other women and girls from her village — that didn’t prevent her from being subject to the total wrath of the group’s sexual and physical brutality that it systemically imposes on religious minority women.

“I met her in a wealthy home, which took her in after she and her 19-year-old sister, Sanaa, managed to escape the IS captors,” Ismael wrote. “Her story shows IS in all its depraved brutality, particularly given she is battling a terminal illness.”

While Samia and her sisters, Sanaa and Sara, were loaded up onto trucks and taken away from their village by ISIS militants, her husband, brother and father were separated and taken away with a large group of other yazidi men. Samia’s mother was also separated and put in a group with other older women from the village. Ismael reported that the large group of men and large group of older women were later mass executed, although Samia’s husband was able to escape before his slaying.

Iraq (Photo: Reuters/Ako Rasheed)

Members of the minority Yazidi sect who were newly released hug each other on the outskirts of Kirkuk, April 8, 2015. More than 200 elderly and infirm Yazidis were freed on Wednesday by Islamic State militants who had been holding them captive since overrunning their villages in northwestern Iraq last summer.

The women and girls were taken to ISIS’ Iraqi stronghold of Mosul. When they got to Mosul, Samia said ISIS militants confiscated all the females’ belongings, including her cancer medication.

Militants later divided up the group of over 100 girls and sent Samia and her two sisters, along with 32 other women and girls, to live with an ISIS wali (chief) named Haji Shaker.

“The wali received us at his residence [in the IS camp] and told us that we are his share,” Samia told Ismael. “Four more Yazidi women were at his residence when we arrived.”

After arriving to the ISIS chief’s quarters, Samia said she and her sister did not eat for six days. The girls were starved so bad that they wanted to cry; however, there was an ISIS militant standing guard with a chain to beat any woman or girl who cried.

“Even tears were forbidden,” Samia explained.

One day, the girls were asked to take a shower. Samia and her sisters knew that meant they would be sexually abused. Although they did not want to subject themselves to that, a militant with a whip forced them into the shower.

In another instance, the militants went around checking on all the women and girls’ faces with a flashlight.

“It was my sister’s turn, the gunman wanted to check my little sister’s face. Sanaa put her head down, but the gunman pulled her by her hair and hit her face with the flashlight,” Samia described. “We cried, we begged them to leave my sister alone, and finally the man moved on to another girl. The other girl was also from Kocho, age 15, she was beaten up with the whip and dragged down the stairs from her hair.”

“We were very scared, we were crying and screaming. They were beating us up every time we cried. They were insulting us, insulting our faith,” she continued.

Samia explained that all the girls that were brought to the chief’s house were eventually gifted away to other ISIS fighters as battle presents. While Samia’s sister, Sara, was gifted away to another militant, her other sister, Sanaa, remained at the chief’s house, where she tried to escape but was caught and punished.

“My sister was beaten up so bad, she could not walk for 20 days” Samia recalls. “She was beaten up by two IS militants. Her body was covered with marks and blood and she was put alone in a room for two days without food or water.”

Samia was gifted to a militant named Abu Ahmed. She explicitly told him that she and her husband had not engaged in sex for three years because of her cancer. However, the militant completely disregarded her condition.

“These pleas went unheeded,” Ismael wrote in IBT. “Samia was raped multiple times by Abu Ahmed; in fact, she was forced to have sex every time he came back from battle, as a kind of trophy, a reward for his efforts in the field.”

The first time that Samia tried to escape, she was eventually caught and pinned down by three militants. However, that did not deter her from trying again. After 25 days of horror, Samia, Sanaa and another girl successfully slid down a scarf from a second-floor window and hid in a nearby abandoned building for two days while they contacted a Yazidi activist. The activist contacted a person in Mosul to pick the girls up and drive them to a Kurdistan border town to meet up with their family members who were lucky enough to escape.

Once Samia reached the border, she was finally reunited with her husband and was able to continue her cancer treatment. She has since moved to Germany to take part in a Yazidi resettlement program offered through the government.

Although Samia was reunited with her husband, she is still unaware of the fate of her brother, mother and father.

“No one has seen them dead. We hope they are alive. We have to hope, We will wait for them forever,” Samia asserted.

Iraq (Photo: Reuters/Ahmed Jadallah)

A displaced Iraqi child, who fled from Islamic State violence in Mosul, sits with her family outside their tent at Baherka refugee camp in Erbil, September 14, 2014.

Source : Christian Post