In face of beheading, Iraqi children proclaim love for Jesus
More than 250,000 Christians have fled Northern Iraq amidst ISIS persecution.
By ARIEL COHENChristian refugees flee ISIS(photo credit: REUTERS)
Young Christians in Iraq are taking a stand against the Islamic State (ISIS)-- even if it costs them their life.When ISIS militants gave four Iraqi children the choice of converting to Islam or death by beheading, the children chose to follow Jesus, the Vicar of Baghdad, Canon Andrew White, stated in an interview with the Orthodox Christian Network.“Islamic State turned up and said to the children, you say the words that you will follow Mohammed,” White stated. “The children, all under 15, four of them, said ‘No, we love Yesua (the Iraqi name for Jesus), we have always loved Yesua, we have always followed Yesua, Yesua has always been with us.’”Then once again, the ISIS militants forced the children to convert and yet again they refused. The terrorists decapitated all four children.White, who has received personal death threats from the Islamic State, currently resides in Israel. He has said that it is “impossible” for Christians to live in Iraq due to the relentless persecution of the religious minority. More than 250,000 Christians have fled Northern Iraq amid ISIS persecution. These were the last Christians residing in the region, which has been hostile to the religious minority since the beginning of the war.“Things were bad in Baghdad, there were bombs and shootings and our people were being killed, so many of our people fled back to Nineveh, their traditional home,” Canon said, describing the volatile situation for Christians in Iraq.“It was safer, but then one day, ISIS – Islamic State... They came in and they hounded all of them out. They killed huge numbers, they chopped their children in half, they chopped their heads off, and they moved north and it was so terrible what happened."
