Posted on 08/02/2015 4:04:42 PM PDT by NYer
A Syrian refugee woman crosses into Turkey with her children at the Akcakale border gate in Sanliurfa province, Turkey, June 15, 2015. On Sunday, Turkish authorities reopened the border after a few days of closure, a security source said, adding that they expected as many as 10,000 people to come across.
An Assyrian Christian woman who was kidnapped but recently released by the Islamic State terror group has revealed the jihadists stormed her home and forced her to trample on an image of Jesus Christ at gunpoint.
"They stormed in the door, their faces not covered. They put a gun to my chest and threw an image of Christ hanging on the wall on the floor. They asked me to step on it. I had no choice. My daughters and grandchildren were there. They took all of us to the river," the woman, whos name wasn't shared, told Al-Monitor in an interview posted on Thursday.
The woman was one of 253 Assyrians kidnapped by IS in a raid on 35 different villages along the Khabur River back in February.
Though the militants have released some of the captives, they are still holding over 200 Christians in bondage, and are demanding $100,000 each for their release.
The woman said that the rest of her family is still in the IS-held city of Shaddadeh, though she doesn't know what has happened to them.
She explained that IS took 85 people from her village of Tel Tamer alone, and that she saw her house burned down. The Assyrians were then thrown on a boat as they crossed the river, and then put on trucks to Shaddadeh.
"The first thing they did was to separate the men from the women. Children younger than 11 would stay with the women. From that moment on, we never saw the men and boys again. We were allowed, however, to send letters over to the men and receive theirs," she continued.
"They crammed all of us into a room with a single window. There was so little room we would take turns lying down to sleep. We would take turns by the window to breathe better."
She revealed that although she suffered great psychological fear while in captivity along with the other women and girls, they were not beaten or tortured, and escaped some of the horrific tales other captives have shared of their time in bondage.
Still, the woman said, "our lives were destroyed" by the kidnapping.
"I don't know why we were not beaten or worse, but I can tell you that for the entire time we lived in extreme fear. We were constantly threatened verbally," she said.
"They would say to us, 'We know everything about you. You speak and you are dead.' In our group no one accepted IS 'offer' to convert to be freed. But we knew that those who put up physical resistance from other villages were killed."
Western governments have been accused of not doing enough to help the Assyrian Christians, along with the other minorities being persecuted by IS across Iraq and Syria.
Nuri Kino, a worker with the A Demand for Action group, said back in June that Christians are massively being driven out of Syria, much like they are from Iraq.
"There is a gradual ethno-religious cleansing in the Middle East. It started in Iraq and has now come to Syria and we do not know when it will happen in other countries. There is an ongoing genocide in these countries," Kino said.
Jean-Clément Jeanbart, the Melkite Greek Catholic Archbishop of Aleppo, Syria, has also said that Christians are slowly dying in the war-torn country.
"What horrors must IS commit before the world will take greater action to stop the murderers?" Jeanbart asked in June. "Syrian Christians are in grave danger; we may disappear soon."
Another parishioner from Jordan, who speaks Arabic, spent some time with them and later shared their story. He was an engineer for a petroleum company that served the US. One day, Muslim fanatics confronted him and asked him to convert to Islam. When he refused, they shot him 20 times in his legs! It didn’t stop there. They kidnapped his son and demanded a ransom of $100,000. The man paid the ransom and his son was returned. Unable to walk, they sought medical specialists in Jordan. As christians, the only way they would be allowed out of the country was if they turned over their home and belongings. The Jordanians were unable to assist him and through whatever means, he was sent to the US. His brother still lives in Mosul (now under the control of ISIS). As a christian, the only way he can remain alive is to pay the “giza” - a very costly tax on christians (he rubbed his fingers together and I shook my head in understanding. I’ve read plenty about this atrocious extortion of christians. His wife’s family has suffered a similar fate. Her brother had a gun placed to his head and told to convert. He also managed to escape and is now in Arizona.
We take our freedom for granted in this country. Meeting those christians who have truly suffered persecution and lost everything can be a wake up call. They chose Christ over their possessions. Imagine having to forfeit everything - career, home, car, bank accounts - and leave the US for another.
Please pray for these christians!
We must force our Islamic prisoners (at gunpoint) to trample the image of Muhammad...with their dogs...while eating a ham sandwich. On video.
Butbitbit Jesus is a Prophet of Islam!!!!!!
Leftists might think this is a good idea here.
Of there is no such thing as a image of Jesus. There is nowhere in the Christian faith where graven images are holy or anything else.
ISIS has a CS Lewis fan (That Hideous Strength).
Whod’a thunk it?
Jesus said “Give all you own to the needy and follow me.” So, giving up their belongings was probably not that difficult for those fine people though it was taken from them and not given to the needy. Their faith is to be admired and emulated.
Christians don’t worship graven images or paintings as Jesus. This woman has nothing to worry about.
Thank you for your post # 2 report of this morning at your church.
There are coins with Jesus’ Image on them. I doubt He modeled for them but I’ve always wondered where the image came from.
But I agree that I’ve never read in the Bible that pictures or any other physical objects were holy to Christians. Unless I missed it.
But atheists sure get upset about crosses.
A very moving story, and this family should be in our prayers.
I can’t imagine their loss. Imagine being alone and friendless in Jordan, and going from having a most prosperous lifestyle to having to go about seeking charity for the next meal.
Yeah, but just don’t draw a cartoon of madhammad or touch their krayons because that’s disrespectful.
We gave to CNEWA.org to help. Seems like a good charity. I don’t know how to post info on this site.
This is all the fault of Obama, Hillary and McCain. They armed and created this “rebel” devil squad. Can we arrest and hang all three of them yet? Throw in Lurch and Jarret also.
A very moving story.
Talking with new people is such a gift.
I did it last weekend when a couple I didn’t know was in front of me — they just moved here from California, and later in the week, the woman called to volunteer!
Awful Nyer, just awful. I will pray for these Christians!
Considering it is only an image of what people think he looked like and that the Bible says not to make these types of images, I hope that Jesus would forgive her.
What about this term: ISISopath
Like psychopath or sociopath only tied to their evil ideology.
Will Obambi demand that they stop antagonizing the Christians or will he give them an NEA arts grant?
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