ICC Note:
Many Christians in Mosul escaped when ISIS captured it, scattering to neighboring areas like Erbil. Unfortunately, a few Christians were not able to escape in time. They have spent the last two years under ISIS’ rule, trying to maintain their faith while avoiding unwanted attention from ISIS. Ismail and his mother are sharing their experience as Christians trapped in Mosul. Their story is both tragic but empowering, another reminder of God’s provision in dark times.
1/26/2017 Iraq (Assyrian International News Agency) – Ismail al-Kanon had been held captive for more than a year, and threatened with execution more times than he cared to remember. But this time was different.
The people who held him, ISIS fighters, found in his possession a picture of Jesus and two small crosses. They took the items away, burned them, and told him he would be beheaded if they found any more.
Ismail could tell they were serious this time. So he took his last cross — the only one they hadn’t found — and hid it very carefully in the back of a cable receiver box.
“When I left it there, I told myself the cross is not just around the neck, it’s in the heart,” Ismail, 16, says.
It was a small act of defiance — an attempt to retain a part of himself. It was also a symbol of hope. He was telling himself that one day he would be back to collect it. That he would survive.
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