Muslim student finds Jesus at Islamic school

November 5, 2015November 5, 2015 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Awesome news in Iraq and Syria in the midst of terrible suffering.

Muslim student finds Jesus at Islamic school

As battles continued in Syria and Iraq between flesh and blood, Christian workers watched in awe as the gospel advanced “nearly unopposed” on the spiritual front lines of the same region.

Christian workers in northern Iraq could barely keep up with people’s desire to learn more about Jesus and the Bible, according to a report by Christian Aid Mission. Residents in northern Iraq’s largely Muslim, autonomous region of Kurdistan have been more open to Christianity than other Iraqis and have shown heightened interest in response to the advance of ISIS.

“They’re just sick of Islam,” one ministry director told Christian Aid Mission. “People are very hungry to know about Christ, especially when they hear about miracles, healing, mercy and love.”

The ministry leader said that administrators at a sharia (Islamic law) college recently made contact with him after they learned he was giving away Bibles. They requested 21 Bibles for a comparative religion class so they could equip Muslims with ammunition to defeat the Bible and proselytize Christians.

“In a couple months, after they took that class going through the Bible, five of the students got saved,” the ministry leader said. “They called me and said, ‘Hey, we’re done with Islam.’”

The Muslim teacher reported the conversions to authorities, who demanded the ministry director come in for questioning. A policeman asked him if he had tried to convert the students, and he replied that he had never even met the students.

When the officer asked him why he gave them Bibles, he said the instructor had requested them. The officer confirmed this with the teacher and asked the students why they converted to Christianity.

One student said, “The Bible is strong, powerful; it changed our lives.”

Then the policeman said, “Okay, then go, there is no case here; I can’t do anything.”

As they were walking away the policeman turned to the ministry leader and asked, “Is it true that the Bible has the power to change lives?”

“Yes, of course. It’s been changing lives everywhere,” the man replied.

“Can I have a copy?” the policeman asked quietly.

The ministry leader gladly complied with his request.

In numerous testimonies heard from Kurds every day, the ministry leader cited an “awakening” among Muslims in northern Iraq, according to the report by Christian Aid Mission.

No one refused a Bible or passed up an opportunity to hear the gospel, he said, even if not everyone came to faith overnight. He recounted the story of a Muslim who received aid – and a new Bible.

“OK, but I’m Muslim, I can’t become Christian – I have a big family, and my father is a very extremist radical,’” the man said.

“I didn’t ask you to be Christian,” the ministry leader replied. “I’m not trying to change your religion here. I just want you to read the Bible and know who Jesus Christ is. I want you to have a relationship with God.’”

The Kurdish Muslim thought this reasonable, and he began reading the Bible with his wife and children. There were often power outages in the area, so when the ministry director visited him, often they found him reading God’s Word by candlelight.

The Muslim man presented the ministry leader with a list of questions from his study of the Bible. One day he asked the ministry leader for his perspective on Muhammad.

The surprised director, who normally does not talk about Islam, gave him a summary description of Muhammad but did not include anything offensive.

“Why do you ask me that question?” the ministry leader asked.

“You know what? I don’t like Muhammad anymore,” the man said.

Surprised by this turn, he asked the man, “What now?”

“I want to be a Christian,”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to be Christian before.”

“Oh, I changed my mind.”

As a result of the power of God’s Word and the Spirit of God opening the heart, the Muslim man prayed to receive Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

Kurdish Muslims are discovering a sharp contrast between Christianity and Islam – especially as practiced by the radical militants. “As terrifying and horrifying as ISIS is, they did us a great favor because they came and have shown them all the killing, saying that it’s all in the Koran verses,” the ministry leader reported to Christian Aid.

“So now we don’t have to say much, we just say the truth.”

The indigenous ministry leader said the gospel continues to be well received among displaced people, with 10 house churches meeting regularly in run-down apartments in Erbil, Dohuk and surrounding areas. From time to time the fellowships vanish as displaced people leave the country in search of a better life, but others spring up in their place, he told Christian Aid.

The ministry continues to provide aid to displaced people in tents and whatever dilapidated or unfinished buildings they can find for shelter, with needs for blankets, heaters, food and diapers still being high.

First ministry members show the love of Christ by meeting physical needs, and only later do they bring Bibles, he said.

“We just help because we love them, and maybe the next time we visit we tell them about Jesus and give them Bibles,” he said. “We believe in the power of the Word of God. We don’t have many preachers. We don’t have many missionaries, but we have the Word of God that we’re able to print, purchase and deliver to the people and their children.”

Running From Isis

November 12, 2014 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

From “Sojourners“

Six weeks after ISIS overtook their village outside of Mosul, Iraq, Sief and Jacob Jebrita said they received an official cease and desist letter from the terrorist group saying their work was forbidden under Islamic law. The two brothers, partners in a small photography and videography business, lost their sole source of income. But that was just the beginning.

Sief Jebrita, who fled Iraq after ISIS took over his village, with his sons.

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Sief and Jacob shared their story while sitting in St. Mary, Mother of the Church in Amman, Jordan, with a delegation of religious media. The church, led by Fr. Khalil Jaar, has become home to more than 150 Iraqi Christian refugees who have fled their homes while ISIS continues to push through the region.

Because of their Christian faith, Sief, Jacob, and their families were targeted by ISIS. They told me of a soldier ripping an earring out of a girl’s ear, slicing it open because it was not acceptable for her to wear jewelry. As ISIS militants forced people out of their homes, they would not allow them to bring anything with them at all except the clothes on their backs. They told me the story of one mother walking with her little boy who was forced to leave behind his bottle of milk after a soldier knocked it to the ground and shouted at them. As the situation worsened, they said they saw Yazidi men killed for refusing to accept Islam, and Yazidi woman sold into slavery in Mosul – $500 for younger women and $100 to $300 for older women.

During the initial fighting to overtake their village, the brothers said that two of their neighbor’s children were killed. While the community was literally burying its dead, the militants attacked a second time. That was when the brothers decided to take their families and leave immediately, first to Erbil, where they were assured they could return home if only they paid a tax. But both told me that they knew in their hearts that they could never return.

“We can’t go back because not only of ISIS, but because our neighbors have turned against us too,” Sief lamented.

They spoke sadly of how all the people in their village, Muslims and Christians, had lived together peacefully. But when ISIS came, everything changed. They acknowledged struggles between Christians and Muslims have existed since 2001 – but not like what is happening now. They said their neighbors shunned them, possibly out of fear or apprehension of being seen as abettors.

So with only the barest of possessions, they left Erbil and eventually made it to Jordan, where they ended up at Fr. Jaar’s parish. Sief underscored that this is a tragedy for all Iraqi people, not just Christians. All are suffering at the hands of ISIS. Every night the refugees gather to pray and discuss their situation, trying to figure out what do to next. They are no longer living in constant fear — and they appreciate the generosity of Fr. Jaar and the Jordanians — but no one wants to go back. No one trusts the government — or the neighbors who turned against them.

But despite everything, they believe that from this terrible situation, God can make something good.

One night when some of the men began to despair at how much they had lost, an older woman they thought was sleeping suddenly sat up and said, “Do you want a clearer miracle than this? We have lost everything, but we did not lose our faith.”

With the help of Fr. Jaar, the Christian community in Amman, the Jordanian government, and the support of one another, they are acclimating to their new life. Fr. Jaar said any country would be lucky to receive these families — that they are good people with much to offer. He does not consider them refugees but guests.

I found the courage and fortitude of these displaced Iraqi Christians inspiring. Despite the hardships they faced and the daunting challenge of creating a new life in a new land, they remain faithful.

“This is the time to be strong, to love and help, and to be in solidarity with all people.” Jacob told me through an interpreter.

Amen.

Cynthia J. Martens is Senior Director of Circulation and Production for Sojourners.

Unmitigated Evil in Iraq

August 14, 2014 / newlifenarrabri / Leave a comment

Apologists for Islamic extremists take note of this. There is no justification for this kind of atrocity

From perscution watch group ICC:

5-Year-Old Christian Boy Cut in Half by ISIS Terrorists

Heart-wrenching stories continue to pour in from areas in Iraq and Syria taken over by the Islamic State (IS, better known as ISIS). Following last week’s capture of Qaraqosh, formerly home to Iraq’s largest Christian community, thousands of Christians fled for their lives from the ruthless IS. Two of these Christians were the parents of a 5-year-old boy who was cut in half by IS militants during the attack on Qaraqosh. As IS forces are now pressing into regions previously controlled by Kurdish peshmerga fighters, many Christians are fleeing for their lives once more.

Iraqi Christians continue to appeal for prayer and monetary support, of which they remain in dire need. Learn more about what ICC is doing in Iraq and how you can help Iraqi Christians.

By Melissa Barnhart

8/11/2014 Iraq (CP) – A 5-year-old boy, who’s the son of a founding member of St. George’s Anglican Church in Baghdad, was slaughtered by Islamic State terrorists, better known as ISIS, who cut the boy in half during an attack on the Christian town of Qaraqosh.

“I’m almost in tears because I’ve just had somebody in my room whose little child was cut in half,” Anglican Canon Andrew White of St. George’s Church told the Anglican Communion News Service Friday. “I baptized his child in my church in Baghdad. This little boy, they named him after me — he was called Andrew.”

Christian refugees who fled to Qaraqosh seeking shelter in the Christian town were forced to flee again by the tens of thousands Thursday as Islamic State forces began invading the peshmerga-controlled regions of the country.

The deceased boy’s parents and brother, George, who’s named after the Anglican church in Baghdad, have reportedly fled with other Christians to the city of Arbil where the U.S. consulate is located, which President Barack Obama said would be protected by the U.S. military through targeted airstrikes against Islamic State convoys.