A handful of families have taken refuge in the monastery, as Christians have done for centuries since Islamic armies first swept across the plain in the 7th Century with the Arab conquest.
Thirteen-year-old Nardine is all too aware of what IS fighters do to girls they regard as infidels. “They are very cruel, they are very harsh,” Nardine whispered fearfully. “Everyone knows, they took the Yazidi girls and sold them in the market.”
“Isis have no mercy for anyone. They select women to rape them,” said Nardine’s mother. “We were afraid for our daughters so we ran away.”
Sobering article. From a human perspective things look bleak, but history shows us that God uses the weak and foolish things to shame the wise. One of my favorite Scripture verses is Eph 3:10-11
… so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord,
(Ephesians 3:10-11 ESV)
Even though the church seems frail and broken so often, it is God’s chosen instrument to reveal His wisdom and power to all the principalities and powers on heaven and earth, including all the powers of hell.
I urge people to [b]pray for ISIS[/b] – for God to turn murderous Sauls into Pauls…
Two great resources:
30 Days of Prayer for ISIS:
https://anglicanprayer.wordpress.com/2015/04/14/an-excellent-prayer-resource-30-days-of-prayer-for-isis/
Adopt a Terrorist for Prayer:
https://atfp.org/
One of the things that mystifies me about the young people who leave the UK or US to join Islamic State is the idealism. We look to the young to challenge us with their ideals. We look to their enthusiasm, their sometimes naive idealism, to challenge the complacency of us older folks. But how can youngsters (of both sexes) go to join a group that rapes and enslaves women, drives out minorities and destroys a precious cultural heritage that is millennia old? Is their idealism for a renewed Muslim umma simply to do with guns, bullets and power? Is there no social justice in their idealism? It turns nature topsy-turvy.
It doesn’t turn nature topsy-turvy, Father. It reveals to us clearly what human nature can be without the guidance of God’s genuine revelations of himself in Scripture and in person. This perverted Islamic sect, ISIS, offers young men the opportunity to indulge in their most violent dreams and to pretend that God blesses evil. Social justice? They’re getting theirs, and they care nothing for others.