Monday, September 7, 2015

ISIS

2 Timothy 3:12

 The Voice (VOICE)

 Anyone wishing to live a godly life in Jesus the Anointed will be hunted down and persecuted.


[1]
 Sylvia mentioned that some long time friends had sent us an email about ISIS troops going methodically to Christian homes in Qaragosh, a town they recently entered, and beheading their children. Here is a portion of the email.

 ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed, but not the parents. The UN has withdrawn, and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families even if it means their own deaths. They are very afraid and have no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called them for some reason to be His voice and hands at this place at this time.

Even so, they are begging for prayers for courage to live out their vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children, accept martyrdom if they are called to do so. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance.

One missionary was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn't say it, but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten -- no matter what. Please keep them all in your prayers.

Naturally it shocked and saddened me that people could be so barbaric in this enlightened age. I wondered if possibly this might be an exaggeration of an already terrible condition. I looked up ISIS on Snopes[i] to see if what I was reading was simply a very nasty “urban legend”. They list the truth of the story as “Undetermined” and “Mixture”. The two sites listed below tell more of the story. The original report was apparently sent out in August of 2014 by Sean Malone of Crisis Support International and was intended only for Sean’s immediate correspondents. Snopes does include a heart rending photograph of a child beheaded in Syria in 2013. You may want to look at the article first alone and decide whether or not you want your children to see it.

Needless to say it appears that the twenty-first century may have its own Holocausts, Gulags, and Rwandas.

Heavenly Father, my heart is revolted, angered, and saddened by the news I hear. I can only cry out “Come quickly, Lord Jesus!”






[i] http://www.snopes.com/politics/war/isis.asp, and   http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/prayer/seanmalone.asp